Shoe Polishing - recommendations, process, tips, tricks???

DJ_JonnyV · 11-21-07, 07:31

I recently purchased some new business casual / dress shoes and looking to keep them in tip-top shape. I've always just used some Kiwi's shoe polish. Recently been doing some research and see brands out there like Meltonian, Lincoln, Angelus, and a few others. See some folks talking about cleaning shoes first with leather cleaner like Lexol and then polishing. Some folks talk about polish vs. cream vs. wax. Any recommendations out there???

EdLancer · 11-21-07, 07:57

Stick with Kiwi polish, brush and polishing cloth for the ultimate shine ...take it from an military guy !

First build a base coat and then spit shine and polish with the cloth.

bert31 · 11-21-07, 08:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ_JonnyV

I recently purchased some new business casual / dress shoes and looking to keep them in tip-top shape. I've always just used some Kiwi's shoe polish. Recently been doing some research and see brands out there like Meltonian, Lincoln, Angelus, and a few others. See some folks talking about cleaning shoes first with leather cleaner like Lexol and then polishing. Some folks talk about polish vs. cream vs. wax. Any recommendations out there???

When using a shoe polish or shoe cream, you are trying to accomplish two things, put a good shine on the shoe and treat the leather to keep is soft and prevent it from drying out so the leather and the shoe itself will last longer.

A shoe polish contains a larger amount of polish rather than leather conditioner so it will do a better job shining the shoe than treating the leather. A shoe cream is the opposite, it contains more leather conditioner than polish so while it does not put on as good of a shine as a shoe polish, it will treat the leather better and give the shoe a better life.

I use a shoe cream because I am willing to sacrifice a little shine to get a few extra years out of my Johnston and Murphy's and Allen Edmond's. The best cream I have used is sold by Johnston and Murphy. It is much thicker than a typical shoe creams such as from a brand like Cavilier so it provides a really good shine for a shoe cream but still does a great job of treating the leather. I have been using it for about the last year. Allen Edmonds makes a shoe cream and I am sure it is great to but I have never tried it. There is a Johnston and Murphy retail store in Louisville (where I live) but there is not an Allen Edmonds so I use Johnston and Murphy.

Along with using shoe cream, I always put shoe trees in my dress shoes when I am not wearing them and never wearing the same shoe two days in a row. A shoe tree is a device that is made of cider and you slide it in your shoe after you take them off. One good thing about shoe trees is they maintain the shape of the shoe. When a shoe starts to lose its shape, creases in the leather form and weak points start forming. The most common way a shoe loses its shape is the toe of the shoe over the months/years will start to point upward somewhat. This will create a very noticable and unsightly crease along the top of the shoe A shoe tree will prevent this.

Another benefit of a shoe tree is how it moderates moisture INSIDE the shoe. When you wear a dress shoe for several hours, a few ounces of perspiration accumulate in the interior leather of the shoe. If you don't believe me, weigh your shoes before putting them on and then weigh them again hours later when you take them off. The couple of extra ounces the shoes picked up is sweat from your feet. The shoe trees you put in your shoes will absord a large amount of that sweat but not 100%. You don't want it to absorb 100%, you want a small amount of moisture to stay in the shoe so it will not dry rot. So long as the shoe trees are in your shoes, they will maintain a small amount of moisture for well over a month.

Lastly, at all possible, don't where the same pair of dress shoes two days in a row. The shoes need about 24 hours for the excess perspiration to leave the shoe - leather dries SLOWLY. If you are wearing a shoe several days in a row, the shoe is staying excessively moist for too long which will cause the leather to break faster over time. Because of using a shoe cream, using shoe trees and never wearing the same shoe in two consecutive days, the Allen Edmonds I bought in 1999 still look wonderful and could be mistaken for shoes only 6 months old. I feel confident the Johnston and Murphy's I bought about four years ago will do the same.

I am a believer in buying good quality shoes like Allen Edmonds and Johnston and Murphy's Aristocraft series (J & M also makes some cheap lines too) so I don't have to worry about buying new shoes for over a decade. (Actually, I will just send them back to the manufacturer to have them recrafted. Only costs around $100). Back in my younger days when I bought Cole Hanns, Bostonians and Florseims, my shoes never got near the life my Allen Edmonds and Johnston and Murphy's get. I have never paid retail price for my J & M's or my AE's. There used to be a shop in Louisville that sold factory seconds. My Allen Edmonds have a slight error in the stitching which can only be seen if you are holding the shoes right up to your face. Instead of paying $300 for them, I got them for $100. My J & M's have a slight error in one of the holes where the shoe laces go through (can't remember what those are called), again barely noticable but I still got the shoes for $100. Unfortunately that store when out of business so I will have to find somewhere else to get cheap AE's or J & M's.

DaGonz · 11-21-07, 09:51

I like applying a fine boutque polish via PC and a sonus finishing pad . I start on sepped 3 and buff up to a fine lustre, finishing on 6.

DJ_JonnyV · 11-21-07, 10:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaGonz

I like applying a fine boutque polish via PC and a sonus finishing pad . I start on sepped 3 and buff up to a fine lustre, finishing on 6.

Hehehe, nice...might burn the leather with my Flex!!!

Accumulator · 11-25-07, 06:14

What bert31 and EdLancer said, though I've had better luck with the Kiwi than bert31 might've expected (better than *I* expected to tell the truth).

Kiwi shoe polish works great and I can't get that ultra-mirror spitshine look with the others I've tried. My Johnson & Murphy and Allen Edmunds dress shoes are mostly from the late 1980s and they're holding up just fine with the Kiwi (which sorta surprised me). I had wondered if the leather would suffer from not being treated with something more "nourishing", but that hasn't been the case.

Last time I had some old AE's resoled (via the AE rebuild service) I told them to do a complete refurbishing if they thought they could render any improvement; they said there was no need for anything other than the new soles, that the shoes were holding up great.

They did polish them and give me new laces...heh heh, their factory polish job wasn't up to my standards so I spent some time getting them back up to snuff with the Kiwi

bert31 · 11-25-07, 07:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

What bert31 and EdLancer said, though I've had better luck with the Kiwi than bert31 might've expected (better than *I* expected to tell the truth).

Kiwi shoe polish works great and I can't get that ultra-mirror spitshine look with the others I've tried. My Johnson & Murphy and Allen Edmunds dress shoes are mostly from the late 1980s and they're holding up just fine with the Kiwi (which sorta surprised me). I had wondered if the leather would suffer from not being treated with something more "nourishing", but that hasn't been the case.

Hmmmm. My dad uses Kiwi. Maybe next time I will have to swing by the house and give Kiwi a try. Not that I doubt you Accum, but I just can't see it doing a better job than my J&M shoe cream. You know what has become popular now as the best form of shoe preservation??? Answer - Carnauba Wax!!! If you don't believe me, check out Allen Edmonds website. How ironic on this site!

One thing I really like about using a show cream is being able to use a shoe dobber. Using a dobber I can reach places I could never reach using a cloth. Polish may be too thick for a dobber.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

Last time I had some old AE's resoled (via the AE rebuild service) I told them to do a complete refurbishing if they thought they could render any improvement; they said there was no need for anything other than the new soles, that the shoes were holding up great.

You have to love the quality of AE's and J&M Aristocrafts. My friends poke fun at me for buying such "snobby" shoes but while they are tossing there Florsheims and Bostonians in the trash every few years, my AE's and J&M's just keep holding up wonderfully. I think I like AE a little more than J&M but both are great quality shoes.

When it comes to shoes and suits, I won't pay big dollar for the "designer" brands but I will pay more for good quality. For suits, I don't mind paying for a Hartz Schaffner and Marx or Austin Reed suit. I will never buy an Armani or Versace suit, period. You are paying for 90% hype.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

They did polish them and give me new laces...heh heh, their factory polish job wasn't up to my standards so I spent some time getting them back up to snuff with the Kiwi

DJ_JonnyV · 11-25-07, 08:03

Thanks for the feedback fellas. I went to a local store here in St. Louis on Friday morning, and had a good converstation with the guy who owns the store. I had 3 pairs of shoes that he is going to do a "factory renew" on (2 being Peal & Co. from Brooks Brothers). I bought them when my wife did a brief stint at a sister store and got a 50% discount at Brooks Brothers. As I normally wound't be buying that expensive of a shoe.

The owner was super nice and gave me the rundown on the process he uses. I picked up some Lexol cleaner and conditioner (like the fact that I can use this stuff when detailing as well). Also, picked up some brushes and some polish from Lincold and Angelus. He really likes the LIncoln for it's higher wax content. I bought some edge dressing as well for cleaning up the sides of leather soles. So, instead of detailing my car this weekend, I detailed my shoes. Very similar to exterior detailing as you have to clean, condition and polish/wax. Good times...

bert31 · 11-25-07, 08:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ_JonnyV

Thanks for the feedback fellas.

No problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ_JonnyV

I went to a local store here in St. Louis on Friday morning, and had a good converstation with the guy who owns the store. I had 3 pairs of shoes that he is going to do a "factory renew" on (2 being Peal & Co. from Brooks Brothers). I bought them when my wife did a brief stint at a sister store and got a 50% discount at Brooks Brothers. As I normally wound't be buying that expensive of a shoe.

If they are from Brooks Brothers, I am guessing it is a good quality shoe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ_JonnyV

The owner was super nice and gave me the rundown on the process he uses. I picked up some Lexol cleaner and conditioner (like the fact that I can use this stuff when detailing as well). Also, picked up some brushes and some polish from Lincold and Angelus. He really likes the LIncoln for it's higher wax content. I bought some edge dressing as well for cleaning up the sides of leather soles. So, instead of detailing my car this weekend, I detailed my shoes. Very similar to exterior detailing as you have to clean, condition and polish/wax. Good times...

I have a pair of nubuck hiking boot I use Lexol for, good stuff. Also, the ship skin leather lining of my wash mitts were drying out, Lexol took care of that.

WilliamHBonney · 11-25-07, 08:33

In for later

Accumulator · 11-26-07, 10:26

DJ_JonnyV- One of the great things about better shoes is that you *can* do rebuilds

bert31- On the differences between pastes and creams, different techniques probably explain a lot. I learned what I do by watching the guys do my shoes every Friday at the local shine parlor back in the day and they were using the same Kiwi paste. After a zillion tries at doing what they did, I finally got it right

You and I seem to have a lot in common on this stuff...I wear Hickey and Oxxford, no Italian stuff for me either. And I too prefer my AE shoes over all my others and yeah, I saw that on their website about carnauba!

bert31 · 11-26-07, 10:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

DJ_JonnyV- One of the great things about better shoes is that you *can* do rebuilds

bert31- On the differences between pastes and creams, different techniques probably explain a lot. I learned what I do by watching the guys do my shoes every Friday at the local shine parlor back in the day and they were using the same Kiwi paste. After a zillion tries at doing what they did, I finally got it right

Hmmm, the next time I am in Stuebenville, I may ask if I can swing by for a demonstration.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

You and I seem to have a lot in common on this stuff...I wear Hickey and Oxxford, no Italian stuff for me either. And I too prefer my AE shoes over all my others and yeah, I saw that on their website about carnauba!

Very, very good quality suits there. If I still had a job which required wear suits daily, I would probably splurge for a Hickey Freeman or an Oxxford or possibly even a Baker (another great quality suit). But since I only where a suit 8-10 times a year, I stick with my old Hartz Schaffner Marx's.