Favorite/best brand of shoe polish?

I have a nice pair of Kenneth Cole dress shoes and likely will be taking the plunge and getting a pair of Allen Edmonds shoes as well. As such I am beginning to research shoe shine techniques and materials and my first question is what brand of shoe wax polish to go with. Of the higher-end products, or at least higher than Kiwi, what do my fellow badgers consider the better/best choice - Lincoln Wax, Meltonian, Collonil, etc.?

Your advice and suggestions are much appreciated. And, while you are at it, what product is best to repair scuffs to the leather surface that have bared the underlying undyed leather color? I understand a shoe stain as opposed to a shoe polish is in order.

And, while you are still at it, what brushes seem to perform best with regard to easy application of polish, softness of bristles, and lack of significant hair loss from the brush?

Tim

Call me old fashioned but I've gone with "parade gloss" polish from Cherry Blossom for years. A little elbow grease and my dress / parade shoes come up better than new. Also good on boots that don't need a high buff or sheen. .

I use Kiwi for a once in a while high polish and Johnston & Murphy for the everyday tidy up.

The guys "in the know" all swear by Saphir. I've used it and really liked the results.

Tim:
Since my Army days (and beyond), it's always been Kiwi ('Parade Gloss')!

"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy [shoe] polish...and that's kind of the same thing". Author Unknown

Lincoln and Saphir are both excellent. That said, all the high street brands work perfectly well in my experience - Saphir smells a bit less toxic. If your looking to a top grade shine, technique counts for more than the polish I think. There are many threads on how to get a shine or even bull if you dig around in the archives a bit.

I use Lincoln, Allen Edmonds and Saphir and they are all great. I'd by three brands in different colors and decide for yourself.

"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy [shoe] polish...and that's kind of the same thing". Author Unknown

I just love the above quote. See we did get a few thing to bring home from the Army.

Kiwi as that is all I have every used or seen here.

What makes the polish better? Is it the shine level you can get or how long it looks good after a polish?
I have never considered using a different polish, so just curious what it is that makes one better than the next.

cleanshaved said:

Kiwi as that is all I have every used or seen here.

What makes the polish better? Is it the shine level you can get or how long it looks good after a polish?
I have never considered using a different polish, so just curious what it is that makes one better than the next.

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This is a really interesting, and important question, as the Kiwi is roughly half as expensive as Lincoln Wax which is half as expensive as Saphir (at ~$19 for a 100g/2.8oz tin).

Tim

Saphir is the best, but they all work. How fussy are you? How many years do you keep your shoes?

cleanshaved said:

Kiwi as that is all I have every used or seen here.

What makes the polish better? Is it the shine level you can get or how long it looks good after a polish?
I have never considered using a different polish, so just curious what it is that makes one better than the next.

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Stuff like using natural turpentine as the solvent rather than naptha or Stoddard solvents. Also, beeswax and a higher pigment density. Better solvents are better for the leather. It also smells WONDERFUL whereas Kiwi makes your shoes smell like you were careless while fueling you car, hah.

From a practical standpoint, Saphir is very easy to bring up to a high shine versus Kiwi. Not magically so, but enough to notice.

Saphir is certainly an "investment", but a can of polish lasts long enough that the price is marginal. If you need to buy something cheaper, then good options are Lincoln for wax polish and Melatonin for creams.

I swear by Saphir.

I've become a Saphir convert. That said, if you only get the Renovateur you will be ahead of the game. Then use something like Meltonian and Lincoln.

It may be my imagination, but the Kiwi I bought most recently just doesn't seem as good as it used to years ago.

used Lincoln for years good stuff but now a saphir convert

LogisticEarth said:

Stuff like using natural turpentine as the solvent rather than naptha or Stoddard solvents. Also, beeswax and a higher pigment density. Better solvents are better for the leather. It also smells WONDERFUL whereas Kiwi makes your shoes smell like you were careless while fueling you car, hah.

From a practical standpoint, Saphir is very easy to bring up to a high shine versus Kiwi. Not magically so, but enough to notice.

Saphir is certainly an "investment", but a can of polish lasts long enough that the price is marginal. If you need to buy something cheaper, then good options are Lincoln for wax polish and Melatonin for creams.

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Thanks. I'm not sure I am too concerned about the use of naptha as it seems to be also used in the tanning processed as well.
I have always just associated the smell with polishing shoes.

"Saphir is certainly an "investment"", That is an understatement for me, as my first look for it, I found a site that had it for $19. Yeah I could do that but they wanted $43 to ship it to New Zealand.............my words can not be printed here. Will have a better look when time permits.

That takes me back to what makes a good polish by ingredients. Then I can see what can be found locally that has the same or similar to the good stuff.
With all that said I'm still not sure that the my shoes will last longer or look better by changing but I'm curious.

cleanshaved said:

"Saphir is certainly an "investment"", That is an understatement for me, as my first look for it, I found a site that had it for $19. Yeah I could do that but they wanted $43 to ship it to New Zealand...........

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Yowza.

Saphir certainly seems to be the "polish of choice", but if you don't want to plunk down that kind of dough, I've had very good results with Meltonian.

As for brushes, buy the Kiwi kit and toss the polish. I usually use a cloth rag as an applicator, but the Kiwi horsehair applicator works just fine. The buffing brush is fine. You can certainly find nicer ones, but the Kiwi brushes get the job done, IMO.

I like and use Saphir, but for an inexpensive one I'm a big fan of Meltonian.


Edit: just noticed Price's near identical choice.

Has anyone used Woly? It is coming up in a lot of my searches.