Shoe care

For a basic shoe care kit how would this suffice:

Horsehair brush
Cotton rag (for applying product)
Condition/cleaner: Bick 4
Shoe Cream: Venetian Shoe Cream

Do I need anything else?

Relevant:
Saphir vs. VSC (Subjective test)
http://imgur.com/a/EC8gN
 
this is a very good point of departure, imo.

personally, I miss a stiffer brush to remove dust & dirt before you start. symbol pic.

brush.webp


afaik, venetian is neutral, right? probably you can add a tin of wax in the colors required for protection.

Darkside said:
For a basic shoe care kit how would this suffice:

Horsehair brush
Cotton rag (for applying product)
Condition/cleaner: Bick 4
Shoe Cream: Venetian Shoe Cream

Do I need anything else?
Click to expand...
 
Darkside said:
For a basic shoe care kit how would this suffice:

Horsehair brush
Cotton rag (for applying product)
Condition/cleaner: Bick 4
Shoe Cream: Venetian Shoe Cream

Do I need anything else?

Relevant:
Saphir vs. VSC (Subjective test)
http://imgur.com/a/EC8gN
Click to expand...

Champagne (vintage), Chianti or Pinot Noir (or is it extract of Cravatte_noir?) to dissolve excess wax and impact a sparkling shine.
 
Thruth said:
Champagne (vintage), Chianti or Pinot Noir (or is it extract of Cravatte_noir?) to dissolve excess wax and impact a sparkling shine.
Click to expand...

:bigtears:Don't mock me. I can't decide. I just know not to use the swill from Kiwi.

My real question is, is VSC adequate to act as a protective cream/polish for all shoes?
 
Thruth said:
No! You know I do not take care of my shoes. That is for the Euro elites.
Click to expand...
yes, I know. playground is a metapher for engaging in gibberish talk, while the facts are available. e.g. darkside sees shoe care as burden. he doesn't want to engage in it, so he ignores advice, hence my playground tag. easy
 
walker said:
yes, I know. playground is a metapher for engaging in gibberish talk, while the facts are available. e.g. darkside sees shoe care as burden. he doesn't want to engage in it, so he ignores advice, hence my playground tag. easy
Click to expand...

Didn't intend to give off the impression. I actually enjoy shoe maintenance; I see it as a zen practice.

I just can't find a consensus on which 1. Conditioner/Cleaner is the best for calf/chromexcel and 2. Neutral Cream/Polish is the best. Hence my inquiry of whether the Bick4/VSC combination is adequate or not.
 
darkside - it isn't a big deal.
As long as you clean them every now and then even Kiwi is fine
 
Darkside said:
Didn't intend to give off the impression. I actually enjoy shoe maintenance; I see it as a zen practice.

I just can't find a consensus on which 1. Conditioner/Cleaner is the best for calf/chromexcel and 2. Neutral Cream/Polish is the best. Hence my inquiry of whether the Bick4/VSC combination is adequate or not.
Click to expand...
Did you see this article from The Sweethome? I think it would be up your alley.

The Best Products for Maintaining and Shining Leather Shoes
 
I only use Kiwi every month and a half and lexol cleaner and conditioner once a year. shoe trees is where the real care is at. Haven't bothered with Saphir, although Pauly swears by it.
 
Leitmotif said:
I only use Kiwi every month and a half and lexol cleaner and conditioner once a year. shoe trees is where the real care is at. Haven't bothered with Saphir, although Pauly swears by it.
Click to expand...

I feel like you should be using cleaner/conditioner more often than the polish.
 
imo, the product itself is not the deceiding factor. especially for beginners, probably you're not, anyway. all what counts is rehearsing again and again. you'll get a grip and find out which product(s) you like best. I don't use neutral polish much. its an igent urban myth that it doesn't change anything. it darkens the leather from slightly to nasty in almost any event. especially, when you don't want it and/or its your favorite pair of shoes(murphy's law). its a trial and error process and after more than 35 years, I don't think too much about it, as it has become a routine like brushing your teeth. which toothpaste and brush, is the best ...?

ps: doesn't mean, I haven't messed up things. I know how to fix them, though.

Darkside said:
Didn't intend to give off the impression. I actually enjoy shoe maintenance; I see it as a zen practice.

I just can't find a consensus on which 1. Conditioner/Cleaner is the best for calf/chromexcel and 2. Neutral Cream/Polish is the best. Hence my inquiry of whether the Bick4/VSC combination is adequate or not.
Click to expand...
 
To bring this thread to life a bit...



After a lot of work I finally could get a nice mirror shine on my shoes. I tried a lot of times the general method, little bit of wax a drop of water and apply. I did get a shine but it was not as the ones I saw that some member got here. I do not have access to products like Saphir, the best products I could get here are Kiwi and a Santoni bees wax they gifted me when I bought my shoes.



So I finally saw I video from @The Shoe Snob, if I remember correctly and boom, the shine came out. I did certain things different cause I don't know where to buy creams in here and usually the wax products are cream with wax so, I used as a cream a Collonil product I bought. I let it dry and buff with a cotton cloth. Then I started applying the wax, the first pass is with a generous amount of wax and one drop of water. I gave them a few passes, 2 or 3 trying to polish the selected part completely. Then I let them dry for 20 minutes and then with the beeswax I grab just a touch of it and a drop of water and try to aplly it a bit faster. With the first part I already got a nice shine, but that last step make them look like a mirror. I'm happy with the result. Some pics:



Santoni Dubmonks!





5 Year Old Prada's







Grand Potentate Grand Potentate -eazy fav shoes, Cuadra. :lolguy:





Zampiere





Cuadra Boots!





Santoni Chelsea's




Sanotni's



 
Guys, do you think it would be good to put Saphir cream on my Red Wings? I wanted to buy the Red Wing cream but they don't ship to Mexico and don't accept international credit cards. So I was thinking to use Saphir cream but it might leave them too shinny. The other option I can buy is Alden Boot Cream. I want to condition and give them cream so the leather stays in good shape.
 
very disappointing. gunked toe to the max and the rest of the shoes needs attention dearly. glad, you think saphir did this to your shoes. kiwi does a better job. really and seriously. try again. ps: are you a car salesman wearing doublemonks? de rigeur is low vamp loafers and blouses. look at LKP , he is a great champ.

Betelgeuse said:
After trying Saphir products.

tumblr_obz2cmEGH01spqdezo1_500.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Betelgeuse said:
Guys, do you think it would be good to put Saphir cream on my Red Wings? I wanted to buy the Red Wing cream but they don't ship to Mexico and don't accept international credit cards. So I was thinking to use Saphir cream but it might leave them too shinny. The other option I can buy is Alden Boot Cream. I want to condition and give them cream so the leather stays in good shape.
Click to expand...
It would be fine. I used Saphir on my Wolverines.
walker said:
very disappointing. gunked toe to the max and the rest of the shoes needs attention dearly. glad, you think saphir did this to your shoes. kiwi does a better job. really and seriously. try again. ps: are you a car salesman wearing doublemonks? de rigeur is low vamp loafers and blouses. look at LKP , he is a great champ.
Click to expand...
Give me a break.
 
walker said:
very disappointing. gunked toe to the max and the rest of the shoes needs attention dearly. glad, you think saphir did this to your shoes. kiwi does a better job. really and seriously. try again. ps: are you a car salesman wearing doublemonks? de rigeur is low vamp loafers and blouses. look at LKP , he is a great champ.
Click to expand...

In fact before using Saphir I used Kiwi and to get the shine I needed a lot more product than with Saphir plus I don't know were to find Kiwi Cream. What I noticed is that with Kiwi, the shine was hard to get it even.

And no, I'm not a car salesman.
 
dear betel,

sorry for getting you involved into inflictions. imo, you did a great job, its just not my style(I'm a professional)

betel: on the topic: when you're more happy with saphir - perfect. boot black, never had the chance to use it before, it looks good. you didn't make a poor decision, for sure.
 
Sure, and best vamp is like winning gold in the paralympics. You know, congratulations and all, but do you really want to be there?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top Bottom