Office Leather Shoes Care

mr1974 · 22 January 2014 at 6:08PM

Seakay wrote: »

Kiwi Parade Gloss is great for a high shine. You put the polish on with a (very slightly) damp cloth and then use a brush to take off and a duster for final polish. They will gleam!

Thanks - however I think the "Dark Tan" variety I have is for Dark Brown leather, rather than my boot's black leather.
I see online there is a "BLACK/NOIR" variety, but that is not what I have.

So that I understand the tools of the trade better:
Cloth -> Any cotton piece of cloth, even recyce from old cotton t-shirts / towels.
Brush -> what type exactly? There are soo many.
Duster -> Microfibre duster?

Thanks
MR

mr1974 · 27 January 2014 at 6:35PM

mr1974 wrote: »

Thanks - however I think the "Dark Tan" variety I have is for Dark Brown leather, rather than my boot's black leather.
I see online there is a "BLACK/NOIR" variety, but that is not what I have.

Thanks
MR

In the end I bought 2 of these for £1 in Poundland.

Upon double checking online, I could now find any image matching the one I bought.

It makes me think that perhaps these Poundland tins are fake.

Any thought?
MR

mattyoung1990 · 31 January 2014 at 9:25AM

mr1974 wrote: »

Thanks - however I think the "Dark Tan" variety I have is for Dark Brown leather, rather than my boot's black leather.
I see online there is a "BLACK/NOIR" variety, but that is not what I have.

That's how I understand it. The tan variety is for brown shoes, so even if it's dark tan I probably wouldn't use it on my black shoes.

mr1974 · 3 February 2014 at 8:21PM

mattyoung1990 wrote: »

That's how I understand it. The tan variety is for brown shoes, so even if it's dark tan I probably wouldn't use it on my black shoes.

OK so now I have a pair of medium quality, black leather Jones the Bootmakers boots, covered with the wrong Kiwi tin...

Grr....

While I try and work out how to recover them (shoe-shop visit?) I got myself a pair of new Clarks, my favorites.
I want to make sure I start on the right here - do I need to do *anything* to the shoes before a first wear? I put some wooden stretcher in them and am keeping them with paper in the box while I don't use them.

Any "cream" application needed?

Thanks
MR

Austin_Allegro · 5 February 2014 at 10:51AM

mr1974 wrote: »

OK so now I have a pair of medium quality, black leather Jones the Bootmakers boots, covered with the wrong Kiwi tin...

Grr....

While I try and work out how to recover them (shoe-shop visit?) I got myself a pair of new Clarks, my favorites.
I want to make sure I start on the right here - do I need to do *anything* to the shoes before a first wear? I put some wooden stretcher in them and am keeping them with paper in the box while I don't use them.

Any "cream" application needed?

Thanks
MR

No you don't need to do anything. Be aware though that a pair of good shoes sometimes need to be 'broken in' a few times before they become comfortable, so don't wear them for a very long walk just yet. I find wearing two pairs of socks helps stop any chafing you might get.

BitterAndTwisted · 5 February 2014 at 2:21PM

Black leather shoes or boots cleaned with dark brown polish probably won't make any difference unless you use it long-term. Just keep with the black polish from now on and if they get soaking-wet stuff them with newspaper until they've dried out completely. Then re-polish. The worst mistake is to wear them every day

With a bit of care they could last you for decades.

As for the newest ones, you could use a bit of leather stretcher solution if they're tight. I understand if they chafe putting some petrolium jelly on your foot where they rub can help until your feet get used to them.

mr1974 · 16 February 2014 at 5:13PM

mr1974 wrote: »

Thanks - however I think the "Dark Tan" variety I have is for Dark Brown leather, rather than my boot's black leather.
I see online there is a "BLACK/NOIR" variety, but that is not what I have.

So that I understand the tools of the trade better:
Cloth -> Any cotton piece of cloth, even recyce from old cotton t-shirts / towels.
Brush -> what type exactly? There are soo many.
Duster -> Microfibre duster?

Thanks
MR

I found an excellent tutorial here that seems to answer all my questions above, and more.
MR

meritaten · 16 February 2014 at 7:32PM

a tip my old nan taught me - rub the shoes all over with a coating of shoe polish - leave overnight. next morning buff with a pair of old cotton knickers - or an old T-shirt, you will get a high gloss for the minimum of effort as most of the polish will have soaked into the leather giving them extra protection against the wet too.