Makero Report post Posted April 24, 2023 Hello! I've recently recolored one of my old, but loved leather shoes. I've used acetone+alcohol+distilled water (70-20-10 mixture) and some leather shampoo to strip the old finish. Then used fiebing's pro dye. The recoloring turned out to be not that bad for a first try, although the leather lost its old shiny smooth like surface and I might have outdid the stripping a bit because it became a bit rough on the surface. I'm a bit stuck how to recreate the old look. When I tried to apply resolene it horribly darkened the back/heel part of the shoe, as visible on the pictures. Any ideas how to smoothen back the leather to its former glory? Thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted April 24, 2023 shoe polish. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tugadude Report post Posted April 24, 2023 Personally I would never put Resolene on shoe leather. Like Chuck said, shoe polish. If you don't want to darken the leather too much, go with natural color. Shoe polishing is an art unto itself. There are some good instructional videos on YouTube where the basics are explained along with product recommendations. There are some very, very good polishes and conditioners available nowadays. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PastorBob Report post Posted April 24, 2023 shoe polish and hot coffee, an old sock or t-shirt, and a good brush. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doubleh Report post Posted April 24, 2023 (edited) Years ago the local bootmaker's wife refinished ratty looking old cowboy boots. I don't know exactly what the deglazing agent was but she wore a paint respirator for that step and it was most likely acetone. After dying she would reglaze them using an air brush but I don't know what she used as I stayed away from that part of the shop while she was working because of the fumes. It was amazing how she could restore them. You might search for bootmaker forums if there are any. There are still some custom makers still left and that would most likely be your best source of information on this subject. Out of curiosity I did a quick search. it seems bootmaker has changed in meaning and you get a bunch of things dealing with computers. I added "cowboy" and got a bunch of places to buy them. Sorry for wasting your time. Edited April 24, 2023 by doubleh Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MedusaOblongata Report post Posted April 25, 2023 Use a wax based shoe polish, melt it in with a heat gun, then buff it until it's shiny and your arms hurt. This will give it that non-porous top coat. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handstitched Report post Posted April 25, 2023 Geez, talk about great minds thinking alike. I thought of wax or a wax based conditioner ie: shoe polish HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Makero Report post Posted April 26, 2023 Thank you guys for all the insight! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
