Shoe Polish Anyone?

[leathervan]

Or is using shoe polish beneath a professional leatherworker, which I am not. Anyone use good ol shoe polish for their finish?

[Red Cent]

I have been known to use "neutral" as a first finish.

[Chief31794]

I have been known to use "neutral" as a first finish.

Agree, I use it from time to time to get a nice sheen before I apply a final finish, I wouldn't consider shoe polish a "finish", but that's just me, I could be wrong, it happens a lot lately.

Chief

[HippieLee]

I'm embarrassed to ask this but is there a best way to actually polish shoes right? I have a couple pairs of nice leather shoes and so far they haven't needed a big-time polish but I can foresee a time when, after long use, they fall into a disheveled state and it would be downright scandalous to walk around in poorly cared for shoes and also try to call myself a leather worker. I'm new at leather so I give myself that excuse but I can't, in good conscious, continue that charade forever.

Is there something in the manufacturing of shoe polish that makes it good for shoes but not so good for leather-work in general?

And when you guys say "first finish" do you mean even before dye? Or just the first thing after dying? or could be either?

[Chief31794]

I'm embarrassed to ask this but is there a best way to actually polish shoes right? I have a couple pairs of nice leather shoes and so far they haven't needed a big-time polish but I can foresee a time when, after long use, they fall into a disheveled state and it would be downright scandalous to walk around in poorly cared for shoes and also try to call myself a leather worker. I'm new at leather so I give myself that excuse but I can't, in good conscious, continue that charade forever.

Is there something in the manufacturing of shoe polish that makes it good for shoes but not so good for leather-work in general?

And when you guys say "first finish" do you mean even before dye? Or just the first thing after dying? or could be either?

After dying, I just don't think that shoe polish seals the leather to prevent dye "rub off", it is more of a conditioner and "polish", a good finish would be like Clear Lac, Resolene, Mop&Glo, etc. The resolene, tankote, and mop&glo are normally cut 50/50 with distilled water. Either of those is a decent "finish", i also use Fiebings Aussie on leather that will be used outdoors a lot (rifle slings, etc)

Chief

[HippieLee]

Thank you Chief!

[TomG]

You should polish shoes before they even get close to looking disheveled. Take a rag and get a dab of polish on it. Put your other hand in the shoe to hold it. Rub that dab into the leather in a circular motion. Get another dab and rub it in, overlapping the first. Continue all over the shoe, then go back and start all over and repeat 2 or 3 or 5 times. You sort of want to slowly fill the pores.

Let it dry for a while and then use a soft cloth to buff the hell out of it.

In the service, we used a piece of nylon hose (pantyhose), and spit on the shoe, then polished.. hence the term "spit polish". It takes a lot of work to get a mirror shine, but looks great.

The spit polish is optional, but once you have put on your initial coats of polish, usually a single coat rubbed in, dried and buffed will keep them looking new.

[HippieLee]

Thank you Tom! Should I try to find polish colored the same as the shoes or is there a clear/neutral color that works for all? I really like the color of these shoes and I'm worried about changing it by not finding the right shade...

On the other hand, I don't want to derail leathervan's thread even more off course than I already have - thank you very much for the exact instruction I needed. (And thank you OP for indulging my side trip here).

[TomG]

I've only used black and brown on those colored shoes. From what I understand, neutral is for those other colors....

[Red Cent]

If your shoes have no scuffs, abrasions, or deep scratches, you can use neutral. Use same color polish to fix the shoes. Then you could use neutral but I wouldn't.
I work with a lot of natural leather. I started showing a few pictures with tan and some dark color and, apparently, people like it. I use NF first and give it a nice tan. I use the neutral polish to bring out the grain and I finish with Leather Sheen.