Quote:
Originally Posted by Jorgem2009
what do you guys and gals do when nice shoes are damaged or need a shine or some TLC? since cobblers are not really around or shoe shine guys, do you go to a shoe repair shop?
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Red:
??? There is no shortage of cobblers in the Los Angeles area. Are you perhaps not in L.A. at the moment? (
https://www.google.com/search?q=los+...utf-8&oe=utf-8)
Blue:
What I do depends on what's needed and the time and tools I have at hand when it's needed.
- Repairs -- I take the shoes to a cobbler.
- Cleaning and/or Shine
- If really pressed, I'll have it done at a "quick shine" stand in an airport, train station, department store or something like that. I don't like to frequently use the services of those places because they have to get it done in 10 minutes or so and doing it right takes longer than that. Using them as one's sole and primary shoe care will shorten the overall life of one's uppers because the leather isn't allowed to thoroughly dry before they begin to apply wax and polish.
- If I have time to do it myself, I use basically this method: http://www.theshoesnobblog.com/polis...shoes-properly . I like this method, and especially using wax at the end, because as the shine dulls down, a simple brushing and quick once over with a dry cloth will bring it back up for quite a while -- easily a month with regular wear; far longer with intermittent wear -- before I need to do "the whole shebang" again.
- If I need more shine than noted above, I "fire shine" the shoes using the method above for cleaning and conditioning steps (because my leather is far nicer than is the leather on ROTC low quarters) and this method for the fire shining steps (because a fire shine is a shinier shine): .
I keep the "fire shining" to a minimum (2 times a year at the most and ideally not that often), however, because the technique was developed to effect a very high shine on a relatively low grade of leather. (Low grade in terms of luxuriousness, not in terms of durability.)
Also, because the "fire shine" approach leaves less wax on the surface of the shoes, I'd have to repeat the whole process much sooner -- about two or three wears at the most -- than were I to have used the method in the preceding bullet. So I reserve "fire shining" for shoes I'll wear on the very dressiest of occasions, and those are shoes that, between them all, each only gets worn 5-8 times a year, and that may only need a "fire shine" once. (I also own patent leather shoes, but they only ever need to be cleaned and occasionally given a once over with petroleum jelly.)
If you are like me, you probably want your shoes to last a long time. I wrote some tips for my son and I've attached them to this post.
All the best.