Hello fellow B&Bers Im Dave. Im new to wet shaving so cant contribute much to the discussion in that regard, however I know a thing or two about shoe care and I see there are a few Saphir fans here and being inspired by this thread and this one I thought Id throw together a quick DIY restoration and care tutorial to contribute to the haberdashery.
These are my two year old pair of Cole Haan Air Dempsey. It was time for them to get a good cleaning plus I wanted to make them a darker brown. I ordered all the stuff to do that and in the meantime the rains came and they got soaked, so after letting them dry thoroughly this is what they looked like.
And here is what well be using to make them look good again:
Now Im not going to bore you with pictures of me scrubbing my shoes but Ill do my best to describe the process and products used to get the end result. All the products I use are made by Saphir with the exception of the brushes. Saphir has two lines of products, basic and MDO. I use the basic stuff as the MDO is considerably more expensive and I cant imagine it works that much better.
Step one is Renomat, this is your cleaner/wax stripper, before use I suggest a good brushing with your shoe shine brush to remove any lose surface crude. Shake well and pour 2oz or so into a old bowl you dont use anymore. This stuff produces a good bit of fumes so use it in a well ventilated area unless of course thats how you party.
I use the brush on the far right to apply and scrub with, divide the shoe into fifths or quarters, put it on pretty liberally and scrub in a circular motion. It will be mildly sudsy when you begin, once the suds subside and it begins to thicken wipe it off, you dont want to allow this to dry on your leather. Repeat as needed until youre not wiping off dirt or polish. The box tells you to allow it to dry 15 minutes, on lighter colored leather I let them dry over night then spot treat any stains that I didnt see while the shoes were still damp.
After cleaning they look like this:
Step two is Decapant, this is dye stripper/leather prep. More or less you wipe the shoes down very thoroughly and it will remove dye and any oils on the leather getting them ready to take the new dye. Once again I allowed this a full day to dry rather than the recommended hour. Use in a well ventilated area.
Step 3 is dye, I wanted to go with a darker brown so I chose dark brown No.5. (more on color selection at the end). A dauber and gloves are included with the dye. Using the dauber I applied two coats of dye to the shoes, let them dry overnight, then touched up any light spots the next day.
Step 4 is the application of Renovateur, its a mild cleaner/moisturizer and will provide a pretty killer shine all on its own. A cloth is included in the box to apply it, from my experiences with it I would strongly discourage using the cloth. Due to the consistency of the Renovateur it deposited copious amounts of lint on my shoes the first time I used it. I use the straight dauber brush in the above picture to work it into the leather. A little of this stuff goes a long way so dont put it on too thick or youll have a mess. Also you will raise a good bit of excess dye during the application so I wear gloves for this. After letting the Renovateur dry about 15-20 mins give your shoes a good brushing with your shine brush.
Step 5 is laying on some Cream polish. In reading a shoe blog by a gentleman that makes and repairs boots and shoes he recommends using a brush to put this stuff on, I found that applying with a brush you end up with far to much on the leather. Slight problem with that is while both the cream and wax are No.5 brown they are two different shades.
Now the dye matches the paste wax exactly, so I had very dark brown shoes with lighter brown streaks running though them and of course it got into the stitching as well. Thats a no go, so I buffed and buffed and buffed until I worked the cream off the shoes. In hind sight I would have just skipped this and applied a couple more coats of Renovateur.
Addendum: After I wrote this I was doing some reading on the cream wax and it was suggested that you apply it as the 4th step rather than the 5th so when applying the Renovateur it will remove any excess cream not absorbed by the leather. I still feel I would skip the cream due to the inconsistent color between the cream and wax.
Step 6 is application of the paste wax, I use strips of an old T shirt to put it on. Buff it on, let it dry, brush it off, do this twice then give it a good buffing with a flannel cloth.
Continued below.
These are my two year old pair of Cole Haan Air Dempsey. It was time for them to get a good cleaning plus I wanted to make them a darker brown. I ordered all the stuff to do that and in the meantime the rains came and they got soaked, so after letting them dry thoroughly this is what they looked like.
And here is what well be using to make them look good again:
Now Im not going to bore you with pictures of me scrubbing my shoes but Ill do my best to describe the process and products used to get the end result. All the products I use are made by Saphir with the exception of the brushes. Saphir has two lines of products, basic and MDO. I use the basic stuff as the MDO is considerably more expensive and I cant imagine it works that much better.
Step one is Renomat, this is your cleaner/wax stripper, before use I suggest a good brushing with your shoe shine brush to remove any lose surface crude. Shake well and pour 2oz or so into a old bowl you dont use anymore. This stuff produces a good bit of fumes so use it in a well ventilated area unless of course thats how you party.
I use the brush on the far right to apply and scrub with, divide the shoe into fifths or quarters, put it on pretty liberally and scrub in a circular motion. It will be mildly sudsy when you begin, once the suds subside and it begins to thicken wipe it off, you dont want to allow this to dry on your leather. Repeat as needed until youre not wiping off dirt or polish. The box tells you to allow it to dry 15 minutes, on lighter colored leather I let them dry over night then spot treat any stains that I didnt see while the shoes were still damp.
After cleaning they look like this:
Step two is Decapant, this is dye stripper/leather prep. More or less you wipe the shoes down very thoroughly and it will remove dye and any oils on the leather getting them ready to take the new dye. Once again I allowed this a full day to dry rather than the recommended hour. Use in a well ventilated area.
Step 3 is dye, I wanted to go with a darker brown so I chose dark brown No.5. (more on color selection at the end). A dauber and gloves are included with the dye. Using the dauber I applied two coats of dye to the shoes, let them dry overnight, then touched up any light spots the next day.
Step 4 is the application of Renovateur, its a mild cleaner/moisturizer and will provide a pretty killer shine all on its own. A cloth is included in the box to apply it, from my experiences with it I would strongly discourage using the cloth. Due to the consistency of the Renovateur it deposited copious amounts of lint on my shoes the first time I used it. I use the straight dauber brush in the above picture to work it into the leather. A little of this stuff goes a long way so dont put it on too thick or youll have a mess. Also you will raise a good bit of excess dye during the application so I wear gloves for this. After letting the Renovateur dry about 15-20 mins give your shoes a good brushing with your shine brush.
Step 5 is laying on some Cream polish. In reading a shoe blog by a gentleman that makes and repairs boots and shoes he recommends using a brush to put this stuff on, I found that applying with a brush you end up with far to much on the leather. Slight problem with that is while both the cream and wax are No.5 brown they are two different shades.
Now the dye matches the paste wax exactly, so I had very dark brown shoes with lighter brown streaks running though them and of course it got into the stitching as well. Thats a no go, so I buffed and buffed and buffed until I worked the cream off the shoes. In hind sight I would have just skipped this and applied a couple more coats of Renovateur.
Addendum: After I wrote this I was doing some reading on the cream wax and it was suggested that you apply it as the 4th step rather than the 5th so when applying the Renovateur it will remove any excess cream not absorbed by the leather. I still feel I would skip the cream due to the inconsistent color between the cream and wax.
Step 6 is application of the paste wax, I use strips of an old T shirt to put it on. Buff it on, let it dry, brush it off, do this twice then give it a good buffing with a flannel cloth.
Continued below.
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