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Shoe polish reviews

Angelus dark brown.....I have lived in Northern California all my life,but only recently found Angelus shoe wax online recently,I have never seen it in Northern California,even though it is manufactured in Southern California.It is a fairly dry wax in the can,but does not "cake" as much as Penguin black or Kelly Stain black.It exhibits a slightly more oily feel and daubs onto the leather easily.On a pair of simple work shoes,I first cleaned them with Angelus Blue Foam cleaner,buffed with older horsehair brush,then applied a coat of Venetian cream to sit for 20 minutes.The cream was buffed off with the same brush,then brushed again with a high quality pro horsehair brush from Italy.Next a dauber of Angelus dark brown wax was thoroughly massaged into the leather,and let sit to harden for 20 minutes.Old brush,quality brush,then a quick buff with an ancient shine rag.I wasn't looking for a spit shine here,the shoes are pebbly,but not a Scotch grain type of corrected leather.The resulting luster was very pleasing on a well worn shoe.The Angelus products seem to be very good quality.
 

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Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
I wonder if we have a wiki for this stuff.

Or if you find anymore put them here as a one stop shop.
 
Kelly Stain black...Unkown to me until recently.In the 50's and 60's in my area I remember having Shinola,Griffin,Kiwi,Esquire and Cavalier.In the mid sixties I discovered Lincoln,and found it to be superior than the others.Meltonian creams were not popular in my area until the 1980's ,If memory serves me correctly...........I used the Kelly Stain black utilizing the same method as the Angelus dark brown wax.Some guys like to apply the Venetian cream with a fingertip at the very end,buffing with a cloth,but I find that technique removes the pigment of the wax,so Venetian always goes on first for me.The Kelly seems to have a lot of color in the formula,it covers very nicely and buffs to a high gloss lustre,but I think Penguin may be glossier by a small margin.Glossier may mean a nicer appearance to some,and others just look for a warm glow,or "luster"....Actually,the waxes that give the highest gloss may not always give the greatest protection,so it's a matter of choice.Kelly does sell a "Miltary Shine" wax for those who desire maximum gloss.Kelly is a worthy product for any shoe stand.
 

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I wonder if we have a wiki for this stuff.

Or if you find anymore put them here as a one stop shop.

I didn't see a wiki exclusively for polishes,but I am hoping other aficionados of a great shine will post their findings here as well..
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
I didn't see a wiki exclusively for polishes,but I am hoping other aficionados of a great shine will post their findings here as well..

I think it's a great idea. I know the wiki was/is being updated to the latest software so it might be tough to navigate. I'll dig around see what I find.

Posted here or started as new threads would be fine.
 
i've used KIWI brand all my life.good stuff.they have a wide variety of products and ive never had a problem with them.
 
$z22222.JPGThe regular Kiwi sold in supermarkets is not like it was years ago,it's had several formula changes ,and Kiwi started losing sales do to the lesser quality.Now Kiwi has come out with a "premium" line,which is probably on par with the great polish they made prior to the 1980's.I won't judge it since I have not tried it,but maybe someone on the forum has ? The new Premium Select waxes are priced the same as Kiwi "Parade Gloss" ,and these run about a dollar more per can than the lower quality supermarket stuff.
 

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View attachment 531268The regular Kiwi sold in supermarkets is not like it was years ago,it's had several formula changes ,and Kiwi started losing sales do to the lesser quality.Now Kiwi has come out with a "premium" line,which is probably on par with the great polish they made prior to the 1980's.I won't judge it since I have not tried it,but maybe someone on the forum has ? The new Premium Select waxes are priced the same as Kiwi "Parade Gloss" ,and these run about a dollar more per can than the lower quality supermarket stuff.

It's sad they would sell their name for a dollar.
 
Kelly Stain black...Unkown to me until recently.In the 50's and 60's in my area I remember having Shinola,Griffin,Kiwi,Esquire and Cavalier.In the mid sixties I discovered Lincoln,and found it to be superior than the others.Meltonian creams were not popular in my area until the 1980's ,If memory serves me correctly...........I used the Kelly Stain black utilizing the same method as the Angelus dark brown wax.Some guys like to apply the Venetian cream with a fingertip at the very end,buffing with a cloth,but I find that technique removes the pigment of the wax,so Venetian always goes on first for me.The Kelly seems to have a lot of color in the formula,it covers very nicely and buffs to a high gloss lustre,but I think Penguin may be glossier by a small margin.Glossier may mean a nicer appearance to some,and others just look for a warm glow,or "luster"....Actually,the waxes that give the highest gloss may not always give the greatest protection,so it's a matter of choice.Kelly does sell a "Miltary Shine" wax for those who desire maximum gloss.Kelly is a worthy product for any shoe stand.


I have used all of those listed and a cream named Proppert's which I think may have been made in England which was my favorite but may have been discontinued or morphed into Meltonian. I use conditioners more than polishes and creams and polish black footwear with a coat of black followed by a coat of brown and another coat of black all of which are rubbed into the leather similar to a spit shine.
 
Many years ago, an old working saddler whose boots and shoes were always flawless, told me on no account to ever use shoe polishes. He advised that they were absolutely hopeless, that they dry up and make and make a disgusting mess. He advised me to always use a decent shoe cream. In the past I used Meltonian, when that disappeared I turned to Kiwi Select, but now I use Woly which is excellent. The brand name Meltonian still exists, but it is made in India or somewhere and is not the same thing at all.
 
knlgskr...ever try black-neutral-black or black-cordovan-black ??...How does the middle coat of brown come out appearance wise ?....fuzzypeg.... Meltonian is manufactured by Kiwi.Sara Lee sold Kiwi to Johnsons Wax a few years back,however Kiwi is made in several countries,but it looks like the Chinese version,one I have seen in Africa,is "unauthorized"... http://www.bootdog.com/goop.html.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(shoe_polish).... Another legendary shoe polish is the British Cherry Blossom brand,once almost destroyed by Sara Lee ,but was forced to resell the brand.Still being made in Britain with great care ,I am trying to obtain a few cans to try.This is another classic being counterfeited in PRC.NOTICE,this article states Johnsons wax has farmed out production of Kiwi waxes (probably Meltonian as well) to Jakarta. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...polish-maker-puts-a-shine-on-its-profits.html
 
Many years ago, an old working saddler whose boots and shoes were always flawless, told me on no account to ever use shoe polishes. He advised that they were absolutely hopeless, that they dry up and make and make a disgusting mess. He advised me to always use a decent shoe cream. In the past I used Meltonian, when that disappeared I turned to Kiwi Select, but now I use Woly which is excellent. The brand name Meltonian still exists, but it is made in India or somewhere and is not the same thing at all.
.....My experience has been that good quality creams have lots of nourishment and conditioners for leather,generous amounts of pigment as well.But for maximum protection from light scuffs ,and from the elements,I think a few well buffed coats of quality wax is much better.If you are wearing a $700 pair of Aldens,or a 1940's pair of Florsheim Imperials on a rainy day ,I don't think you want to have only cream on the leather,and you sure don't want to coat those fine classics with dubbin or shoe grease.A Goodyear welted shoe with several coats of buffed wax is protected and nice looking.As for wax buildup,that is possible,but it is certainly not a problem.A rubdown with "Renomat" ,then a "wash" with Angelus leather cleaner (Blue Foam works great) gets you down to a nice clean starting point for your conditioner,then your waxes or pigmented creams.
 
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.....My experience has been that good quality creams have lots of nourishment and conditioners for leather,generous amounts of pigment as well.But for maximum protection from light scuffs ,and from the elements,I think a few well buffed coats of quality wax is much better.If you are wearing a $700 pair of Aldens,or a 1940's pair of Florsheim Imperials on a rainy day ,I don't think you want to have only cream on the leather,and you sure don't want to coat those fine classics with dubbin or shoe grease.A Goodyear welted shoe with several coats of buffed wax is protected and nice looking.As for wax buildup,that is possible,but it is certainly not a problem.A rubdown with "deglazer" ,then a "wash" with Angelus leather cleaner (Blue Foam works great) gets you down to a nice clean starting point for your conditioner,then your waxes or pigmented creams.
I do something similar. I really like creams like Loake, Saphir and Woly, especially the way they can rejuvenate the colour. But once my shoes are conditioned and the colour looks good, I put a few thin coats of wax polish on top - and it's easy enough to take it off when it's time for reconditioning and cream again.
 
I have a couple of pairs of shoes that are the same color. One pair is the AE Strand in Walnut and the other is a pair of casual loafers by Rockport. I purchased some Tarrago Walnut cream as it most closely matched the color of the shoes. I used the loafers for this review as they were a bit beat up and I was interested in seeing if the polish would color some nicks/slashes on the shoes.

Both pictures included here are from the same angle in the same place the lighting was somewhat different as the before shot was taken during the day and the after shot was taken after the sun had set. There were a couple of imperfections in the shoes, but the largest & deepest was on the heel of the left shoe. I am not sure how that happened, but it was a significant cut in the top layer of the leather. The after picture was taken after applying and brushing one coat of the cream. I did not apply a neutral wax as I was not going for a high shine, but rather a more matte finish which was the style of the shoe originally - they are casual shoes.

I was very impressed with the pigment performance of the Tarrago cream. I did nothing more than apply the polish evenly over the shoes and then, after a few minutes drying time, brush it off. I spent no extra time or effort on the area that had cuts/nicks/slashes. The polish, as you can see in the pictures, did very well at repairing/hiding these imperfections. I had similar results with my AE Strands, but I used a neutral wax topper for the shine they require. All in all, my local cobbler was very high on the Tarrago cream and I agree with him that it did the job well. Because the polish was such a close match to the shoes original finish, and Tarrago has a myriad of colors to pick from, the shoes do not appear to have changed color. Here are the pics.

ETA - the cream did color the stitching which had been a contrasting color - this was anticipated.

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