Going through my shoe kit last night revealed the need to resupply on some essentials - black, brown and neutral to be precise.
Before I follow my usual course and contact EG on Jermyn street to mail me a care package, I thought I'd ask the questions what's best and where may I find it? To add a little more depth, do you have a preference between waxes and creams? Use them interchangeably on a pre-determined rotation? Do you ever "strip and restore" or just let the funk build and burnish? Do you subscribe to the Olga Berlutti theory of polishing shoes by moonlight with champagne (if I understood the most recent National Geographic)
I've read allusions to products by Sapphir, but have never seen them or found a source on the web.
With apron on and horse-hair brush in hand,
DDM
Shoes - polish, paste & creams
See: http://www.valmour.fr
or http://www.avel.com
You can order from the first one; the second is the webiste of the manufacture (who produces for EG. LCA.; etc. as well). The Gold line is superior.
First you use the polish: it nourishes the leather and restores (or alters a little bit) the colour. You let it dry and buff it up. Then you apply the wax which creates the mirror-shine if you the 'spit & polish'-method. So polish and wax are quit different products! (and they don't need to be applied in the Berluti way.
Sometimes it is uuseful to strip down all polish and wax, viz. if you have used the woring colour/product/etc. in the past.
Good luck,
Paul
or http://www.avel.com
You can order from the first one; the second is the webiste of the manufacture (who produces for EG. LCA.; etc. as well). The Gold line is superior.
First you use the polish: it nourishes the leather and restores (or alters a little bit) the colour. You let it dry and buff it up. Then you apply the wax which creates the mirror-shine if you the 'spit & polish'-method. So polish and wax are quit different products! (and they don't need to be applied in the Berluti way.
Sometimes it is uuseful to strip down all polish and wax, viz. if you have used the woring colour/product/etc. in the past.
Good luck,
Paul
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SouthPender
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If your French isn't fully functional, you can get Saphir products from Franco's in Virginia (close to your home, if I remember correctly):
http://www.francos.com/items/index.asp? ... =Men/Shoes
Franco's seem to have pretty much the full Saphir line. There's been much written about Saphir, and the consensus seems to be that it is superior to other creams and polishes. I've tried most of them, and am not certain that Saphir is really much different from other products. It is turpentine-based, rather than Stoddard solvent-based (like Kiwi), imparting a smell that many prefer to that of other polishes. I've had some difficulty in detecting a superior result from using it, however, over other products.
My drill, for what it's worth is the following:
1. Brush shoes to remove surface dirt.
2. Give a once-over with a damp cloth to remove fine particles that could scratch leather if rubbed in.
3. Give a quick treatment with leather cleaner/conditioner. This is the best way to nourish the leather and keep it moist and supple. Lexol is fine, but I use the Allen-Edmonds product. Let this soak in; leave for 15 minutes, and wipe off excess.
4. Give a cream treatment to get color just right. If leather is scuffed, cream will restore color better than will wax polish, and it also provides moisturizing and nourishment. Buff pretty quickly after application. Cream build-up is hard to remove.
5. Give a top coat of wax polish. Match color of cream or use neutral. (Or, in the event that you would like a final color that is slightly different from that of the cream, you could use a wax that differs from the cream this way. I've done this to get a slightly brown-tone oxblood finish, using oxblood--or burgundy--cream and dark brown wax.) Wax polish, in my experience, will produce less color change than will cream. Use a toothbrush to work polish into gap between welt and upper. I also apply wax to the sole and heel edges, using care not to get it on the bottom. The wax will give far better protection against rain, snow, and ground water than will cream. Buffing a wax polish finish will produce a brighter shine than will buffing cream alone. (You could, if desired, do a traditional "spit" polish at this point with the wax.) I start this final, buffing phase with a brush, and finish up with a soft cloth. I end up giving the finish a good rubbing with the cloth to reduce the amount of wax that ends up on the trouser cuff bottoms.
6. Apply edge dressing if polish wasn't applied to sole and heel edges. Actually, I do both, applying the wax most of the way down (but being careful to get any on the bottom) and finishing up the edges with edge dressing.
This completes the polishing session. Between sessions, brush briefly after each wearing. I find that this regimen gives me a good polish that lasts about 7-8 wearings, sometimes 10. To remove a built-up finish, ordinary isopropyl (or rubbing) drugstore alcohol (70% or 99%) works well. If you want to alter the color a little, this is a good way. You would then follow the cleaning with alcohol with application of the right-colored cream. I have found that, if I wear my shoes for 8-10 days between polishing sessions, and give them a brushing after each use to keep the shine up and remove dirt, very little build-up occurs. However, I suppose after maybe a year or two of wearing, it wouldn't hurt to remove any buildup and start over.
Some might consider this overkill, and admittedly, it takes a little time to do a pair of shoes really well. I like to do several pairs in the same session, so that waiting times for conditioner to soak in, for example, can be used for other steps on different shoes. I find that I can do a good job on maybe three pairs in about an hour, and I should note that, for some reason, I find polishing a pair of shoes therapeutic, so that this is usually a pleasant hour!
Re the Olga Berluti ritual, it's champagne, is it? For some reason, I had thought it was vodka. In any case, it's the alcohol that does the work, removing buildup!
http://www.francos.com/items/index.asp? ... =Men/Shoes
Franco's seem to have pretty much the full Saphir line. There's been much written about Saphir, and the consensus seems to be that it is superior to other creams and polishes. I've tried most of them, and am not certain that Saphir is really much different from other products. It is turpentine-based, rather than Stoddard solvent-based (like Kiwi), imparting a smell that many prefer to that of other polishes. I've had some difficulty in detecting a superior result from using it, however, over other products.
My drill, for what it's worth is the following:
1. Brush shoes to remove surface dirt.
2. Give a once-over with a damp cloth to remove fine particles that could scratch leather if rubbed in.
3. Give a quick treatment with leather cleaner/conditioner. This is the best way to nourish the leather and keep it moist and supple. Lexol is fine, but I use the Allen-Edmonds product. Let this soak in; leave for 15 minutes, and wipe off excess.
4. Give a cream treatment to get color just right. If leather is scuffed, cream will restore color better than will wax polish, and it also provides moisturizing and nourishment. Buff pretty quickly after application. Cream build-up is hard to remove.
5. Give a top coat of wax polish. Match color of cream or use neutral. (Or, in the event that you would like a final color that is slightly different from that of the cream, you could use a wax that differs from the cream this way. I've done this to get a slightly brown-tone oxblood finish, using oxblood--or burgundy--cream and dark brown wax.) Wax polish, in my experience, will produce less color change than will cream. Use a toothbrush to work polish into gap between welt and upper. I also apply wax to the sole and heel edges, using care not to get it on the bottom. The wax will give far better protection against rain, snow, and ground water than will cream. Buffing a wax polish finish will produce a brighter shine than will buffing cream alone. (You could, if desired, do a traditional "spit" polish at this point with the wax.) I start this final, buffing phase with a brush, and finish up with a soft cloth. I end up giving the finish a good rubbing with the cloth to reduce the amount of wax that ends up on the trouser cuff bottoms.
6. Apply edge dressing if polish wasn't applied to sole and heel edges. Actually, I do both, applying the wax most of the way down (but being careful to get any on the bottom) and finishing up the edges with edge dressing.
This completes the polishing session. Between sessions, brush briefly after each wearing. I find that this regimen gives me a good polish that lasts about 7-8 wearings, sometimes 10. To remove a built-up finish, ordinary isopropyl (or rubbing) drugstore alcohol (70% or 99%) works well. If you want to alter the color a little, this is a good way. You would then follow the cleaning with alcohol with application of the right-colored cream. I have found that, if I wear my shoes for 8-10 days between polishing sessions, and give them a brushing after each use to keep the shine up and remove dirt, very little build-up occurs. However, I suppose after maybe a year or two of wearing, it wouldn't hurt to remove any buildup and start over.
Some might consider this overkill, and admittedly, it takes a little time to do a pair of shoes really well. I like to do several pairs in the same session, so that waiting times for conditioner to soak in, for example, can be used for other steps on different shoes. I find that I can do a good job on maybe three pairs in about an hour, and I should note that, for some reason, I find polishing a pair of shoes therapeutic, so that this is usually a pleasant hour!
Re the Olga Berluti ritual, it's champagne, is it? For some reason, I had thought it was vodka. In any case, it's the alcohol that does the work, removing buildup!
Well, that seems like a very good "funamental care" drill. I do the same, essentially, with the exception of conditioner, which I don't use. I also alternate between neutral wax and grease for the sole (I don't know how you call that product in English, it's a waterproofing grease known as "seal grease" in French).SouthPender wrote:Some might consider this overkill
In my experience, that kind of care lasts many wearings. In between, in addition to brushing, I like to add some wax about every 2 wearings, on the whole shoe or just on the toe, in a mirror buff.
There is a video of a hands on demo showing the polishing of a pair of shoes on the J W Weston website which might be of interest
http://www.jmweston.com/
go to "Art and the Material" section
then to "Maintenance"
and, finally to "see the video"
http://www.jmweston.com/
go to "Art and the Material" section
then to "Maintenance"
and, finally to "see the video"
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