Shoe care discussion thread

[FreeLitres]

Until now, my shoes have been fairly cheap, leather shoes with rubber soles. My only shoe care treatment was a scrub with a toothbrush under a running tap and an application of Kiwi wax polish to get a reasonable shine.

I recently bought some Barker shoes with leather welted soles and I want to look after them. Having done some online research on shoe care, I realise I have a lot to learn!

For a through clean and polish, I believe you need;

Decent brush - Got a large Barkers Horse Hair one

Polish remover - for occasional strip down of old wax layers. I have heard of Renomat, anyone used it?

Cleaner or saddle soap - Any recommendations?

Leather Conditioner cream or coloured cream - Got Barkers premium wax shoe cream (black). It is worth also getting a dedicated conditioner?

Wax polish - Got a tin of Barkers black wax with the shoes. Worth upgrading to another brand wax?

I also have some cedar shoe trees on order and a shoe horn to save the back of the heel.

Are there any other products that would be worth getting? How can I keep the edges of the leather soles nice and black for example? Worth applying anything under the sole?

Feel free to share your shoe care tips and techniques!

[Shaw Tarse]

A second pair if shoes, wear one rest one.

[wolfracesonic]

Shaw Tarse said:

A second pair if shoes, wear one rest one.

[wolfracesonic]

Shaw Tarse said:

A second pair if shoes, wear one rest one.

And a good valet.

[FreeLitres]

I wish I hadn't googled Shoe Valet. Want!

Is there a default brand of mid to high end shoe care products that people tend to use?

I saw a UK shoe website pushing Saphir (French brand?) which seems to offer a wide range of products at about £7 for a small pot/tub - any good? Are the shoe makers brand products generally the best? (Churchs, Barker, Loake, etc.)

[FreeLitres]

Gentle bump for the Sunday crew. I'm sure you have all just finished polishing your Church's Oxfords. Any tips?

[Kiltie]

Automatic Electric Shoe Boot Shine Cleaning Polishing Polisher Machine Housewife

[Condi]

Just keep polishing, polishing and polishing!

[Bebee]

I use this to get a great finish, it's a furniture restorers drill brush and takes seconds to bring up to very nice shine.

[randlemarcus]

Condi said:

Just keep polishing, polishing and polishing!

This.

Layers and layers are the key to a good deep shine.

I personally put on with an old duster wound tight round two fingers, brush up, and repeat about three times per pair. Please don't expect a single pair of shoes worn daily to last any time at all.

[LordGrover]

The shoes I care for most are my Cheaney black oxfords, Cheaney chestnut brogues and Loakes brown punched toe derbys. When I got them it was a decent 'investment' for me so care is important. Bought trees from ebay and a care kit from Amazon.
Very happy with the trees, not so sure about the cleaning kit - pretty sure there are better value kits out there. I've had to add an additional soft finishing brush and microfibre cloths to finish.
As for the soles, I just use a little dubbin every now and again - caution: it's like walking on slippery ice with added oil for a while.
If you're a saddo like me, lots of videos out there, e.g. click.

[Garvin]

Don't wear new leather soled shoes when it's wet. Wear them in the dry for a few weeks to compress the leather soles and make them more resistant to soaking up moisture.

I have worn nothing but leather soled shoes for the past 35 years (apart from training shoes at the weekend). Unfortunately the soles wear out rather quickly on the regularly worn shoes and a quality re-sole is very expensive and each new sole has to be broken in again. Eventually the upper gets to a point where it just can't have new soles stitched on due to the 'welt' becoming too weak.

To overcome this I get a thin rubber sole applied after the sole has been broken in. These require replacement regularly but don't affect the dynamic of the shoe. New rubber soles and heels are significantly cheaper than than having new leather soles stitched on and last about the same length of time. In doing so the shoes I wear for work (two pairs of black brogues I swap around regularly) have a useable life of about 15 years and, once broken in the first time, remain supremely comfortable for all that life. Other occasional shoes last significantly longer - my record being 30 years and still going strong!

[Tidybeard]

FreeLitres said:

I wish I hadn't googled Shoe Valet. Want!

Is there a default brand of mid to high end shoe care products that people tend to use?

I saw a UK shoe website pushing Saphir (French brand?) which seems to offer a wide range of products at about £7 for a small pot/tub - any good? Are the shoe makers brand products generally the best? (Churchs, Barker, Loake, etc.)

Saphir stuff is fantastic - more expensive than most of the rest but it works brilliantly. The Renovateur is great at cleaning and conditioning and the creams do a great job of protecting and polishing the shoes. The protection lasts for ages too. It even smells great!

Most of the shoe makers' stuff is rebadged Kiwi or similar. Get some Saphir, you won't regret it.

You do need another pair though as wearing them every day will kill them exponentially faster than you'd kill two pairs in rotation, if that makes sense.

[FreeLitres]

Thanks for the comments. I'll get some Saphir items to try out.

My cedar shoe trees arrived today so I'm all set! I still have my old shoes for rotation, but they do feel and look a bit crap in comparison!

[Mobile Chicane]

Tip: Wear a leather-soled shoe a few times to roughen the surface, and then get a thin rubber sole overlaid.

That way, you'll only ever wear out the rubber sole, not the expensive leather one underneath.

It also gives the sole a bit more wet grip.

[Magic919]

Buy three pairs if you like them. Means you can alternate and still have a pair for when the others go back to the factory.

[Shaw Tarse]

Ex FiL was a shoe repairer he used to put stick on soles on all the family's shoes from new.

[FreeLitres]

I am tempted by the stick on rubbers to make them more winter friendly.

However, I was browsing another forum and there was a bit of snobbery regarding stick on rubber sole covers. They said it looks ugly and takes away the benefits of having a leather sole (breath-ability, moulding around your foot, etc). Also, they said that the shoe makers will refuse to change the leather sole if it has a stick-on.

Any truth to these points?

[Garvin]

FreeLitres said:

I am tempted by the stick on rubbers to make them more winter friendly.

However, I was browsing another forum and there was a bit of snobbery regarding stick on rubber sole covers. They said it looks ugly and takes away the benefits of having a leather sole (breath-ability, moulding around your foot, etc). Also, they said that the shoe makers will refuse to change the leather sole if it has a stick-on.

Any truth to these points?

As you say, just snobbery. Once the sole is broken in and moulded the rubber sole will not affect comfort. As for looking ugly, who goes round admiring the soles of shoes - have to be a bit sad to do that unless you are a sole snob! Can't really comment on what individual shoe makers will or will not do but It sounds a bit far fetched and I've never had any problems.

[Esders]

Looking after shoes is a lot more complicated than I thought - http://thelearnedgentleman.com/that-polished-appea...