Proper leather shoes

I swear by Saphir products

Some shoes (I think Dr Martens) recommend only mink oil. Not sure who else does boot-wise, maybe yours.

Considering their condition, same thing as I usually say for any dry leather shoe: The go-to is saddle soap to clean the shit out, and then start to add oils back into the leather. Cobbler's cream is magic stuff otherwise look for an all-natural leather cream. Doesn't matter if it's cheapo cherry blossom or timpsons or kiwi at this stage. If you fancy you can even use body shop moisturiser since if it's good enough for humans it's good enough for leather shoes.

In that condition you could go less-is-more with dubbin, but it can create a sticky mess if you apply more than the minimum possible. Takes a lot of time to get it rubbed in and drying. I put too much on a pair of Spanish riding boots and a month later were still sticky.

More useful actually, get Carr's leather oil. Same applies as dubbin, use as little as possible and be prepared for mess and drying time.

Avoid spray-on waterproofers or anything full of chemicals.

Hi all, where is the best (cheapest) place in town for a full Dainite resole?
Also - anyone interested in a pair of off white Barkers, used in size 9.5uk? £20?
Cheers,
Matt

I have a pair of Altberg defenders

Where can I get these resoled????

I probably shouldn't. But have you pics of the Barkers?

Here they are...

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I love them. Totally want.

Bah. Mrs c00ps has spotted me looking and has banned any purchases until I get rid of other things, so it looks like they're yours, dude. Nice and a bargain, @mattyc.

Ah no worries! @pdlouche all yours if you want them! PM and we can work something out...

Cheers,
Matt

Problem for me is I'm in Italy and my next trip back isn't booked. They could be sent to my parents, if not here in Italiaaa. Can we chat by pm a bit later? Bit busy atm. If anyone else is desperate for them (/local) I understand.

Ah no worries, happy to post from here and no real rush so let's chat later/tomorrow etc! Got a mate who is frequently in Rome if internal post is a benefit...
Cheers,
Matt

Just stumbled upon this thread.

I've got this pair of goat leather Luchesse boots from when I lived back in Texas. Not polished or conditioned them in years. What products should I be using for them that is readily available in the U.K.?

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Redwing recommend mink oil on their boots afaik

Standard saddle soap and boot polish. It's how I used to keep my Noconas. A fellow Texan I used work with here in London would back me up. His dad used to run both Nocona and Tony Lama.

Is it possible to remove the glossy coating that new shoes have. I have a pair of shoes that have part of their coating tarnished from storage and I was thinking of stripping them back and then having them with a Matt finish. I read about it somewhere but can't remember where-maybe I dreamt it. Thanks

Er... I've no idea! I'd tried to lightly sand a pair of Oliver Sweeney bench made boots once and royally fucked them before they were even worn in... I will not do it again... But for £20 it's worth a punt?

At some point in life I'd love to be in a place where cowboy boots would be the right choice of footwear.

Isopropyl alcohol and kitchen roll

...

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Cowboy boots are a state of mind.

(But still a bad choice for snow)

Thanks, I'll try that. Hope I don't kill them.
Will it take the dye off the leather or just the gloss and also do I apply something else afterwards to neutralise the Isopropyl?

Dunno, I put widegrip stickasoles on my Valverde del Camino's and wore them through Warsaw in Jan/feb. Got proper workout on the legs, and toasty warm feet.

Depends how hard you rub, and how they were made. Normally the first light rub with the alcohol takes away the gloss. Try not to leave swirly patterns By pressing too hard or not swapping the paper often enough.

In general a shoe's dye won't come out with IPA, because it's not bleaching or stripping like more abrasive or toxic liquids. If you were too generous with a shoe wax you can remove a lot with IPA, but for example if you use oxblood on light tan leather, the leather will forever darken.

Beware they will be dry after the alcohol, and you need to use some leather cream or cobbler's, or whatever.

If you don't want military shine then apply new wax or cream and work into the leather, and then don't buff.

Probably you will apply wax, and say 'what the heck' and polish a little and the next thing they are mirror shine.

Quote of the day

I have some shiny new Dr Martens 1461s in Waxed Leather - these chaps*

Want to take care of them in the wet and Dr Marten's do both a dubbin and a wonder balsam and I'm not sure of the difference - any ideas?

When I used to work in Jones the Bootmaker as a teen I'm pretty sure we just sold "wax" for waxed leather and so am unused to the variations!

*they come up super big btw - I am usually an 8, sometime a 7 - downsized to 6.5 for these.