Leather Shoe Cleaning - Conditioning - Polishing Product Video Overview - Real Men Real Style
Q&A
Hi.
This is Antonio Centeno with Real Men Real Style.
And today Iím going to be answering a question from a reader.
He came back and he asked, ìI recently invested in a pair of Allen-Edmonds, and I couldnít
be more pleased.
To keep them looking fantastic, Iím wondering about shoe care products.
Do you recommend any particular brand of condition and polish and perhaps any other kind of tools
Iíll be needing?
Iím fairly sure I want a cream versus a polish wax.
I know Allen-Edmonds themselves sell these products, but Iím unsure as to where I can
get them and how I should be using it.î
All right.
So Iím quickly going to go over a general overview of how to take care of your shoes.
Iím not going to be showing you exactly, you know, how to shine them and everything.
That could go on for ñ spend quite a bit of time doing this.
And so, this is a general ñ because I find there are lot of confusions between what is
a, you know, why use saddle soap or why use a conditioner or whatís between a polish
and a wax.
So, again, quick overview, let me go ahead and ñ first thing, weíve got a couple of
tools in the tray.
This small brush right here, when youíve seen this, this used for putting on a polish.
And Iíd like to have multiple brushes like this because I find that, you know, they ñ
itís hard to clean them and itís actually cheaper and I think easier just to have multiple
brushes.
What you donít want to do is mix up darker cleaners or darker polishes with lighter polishes.
And thatís why I like having multiple brushes like this.
A brush like this can be used to polish or can be used to clean.
This is made from horse hair and itís a bristle that isnít going to be really abrasive on
a shoe but itís going to be abrasive after we remove the dirt.
The key is you want to have two of this.
You want to have one that you use to polish or shine and then one that you use to clean.
And the reason you want the difference ñ and I like them actually when youíre having
different sizes.
Mark Onen who wants a cleaning brush, he wants a polishing brush.
The reason being one of them is going to collect dirty, the other one is going to collect polish,
and you donít want to mix the two.
You donít want to be rubbing small bits of sand into your shoe.
Thatís going to actually damage the leather overtime and itís not something you want.
Another great thing polishing tool is a polishing mitten.
This is specifically made for polishing shoes.
I love ñ whenever I travel to hotels, I always get this for free and I pick them up.
But if you donít have a mitten, simply an old shirt or something made from cotton or
really a nap cloth is what you want something thatís going to absorb a little bit of polish
or moisture and be able to get a really nice shine on your shoes.
Okay.
So those are the tools.
Now, letís get into the polishes or ñ and the cleaners and the conditioners.
First, cleaner that youíll see out there are the ones that, you know, gets a lot of
air play is saddle soap.
And this is by Fibbingís or ñ I like butchering that name.
I like that theyíre made here in Wisconsin.
And Iíll have a link to them down below.
Now, saddle soap and what its use.
Saddle soap is a cleaner.
Notice the word soap is in there.
So, you should be able to use, you know, you can use a mitt like this or just ñ I would
use just, you know, a piece of an old rag or a t-shirt and you can actually get it in
leather.
And then youíre going to use that to clean the shoes.
Itís not a conditioner.
Itís not a polish.
Saddle soap is soap.
And it is used on, you know, tougher leathers usually.
Youíll see, you know, saddle soap used on saddles, used for, you know, really cleaning
up a lot of dirt ground.
And thatís what you want to use saddle soap for.
So if youíve got a pair of shoes that you havenít cleaned for a long time and they
perhaps got a waxing build up for a multiple layers of polish, thatís when you want the
saddle soap.
You donít have to use saddle soap every time you clean your shoes.
And in fact, it just give me an idea, on a shoe ñ pair of shoes that I wear, letís
say 20 to 50 times a year, I will maybe use saddle soap on them one time a year.
And I do that whenever I want to go with a deep cleaning.
But if youíre going to start with anything and you need to do a deep cleaning, saddle
soap is a way to go.
There are also all-purpose cleaners and conditioners.
So this is a combination of a cleaner and a conditioner just like it says.
The difference between, you know, something like this.
Actually, I want to bring the soap made by melatonin.
The difference is the cleaner conditioner is actually going to be putting a bit of moisture
back into the shoe.
Itís not going to be as good as saddle soap when it comes to cleaning, but itís more
ñ itís gentler and itís something that I would recommend for more normal use if youíre
going to be ñ you know, this is something that I know you could use it pretty much maybe
every fourth or fifth time that youíre cleaning and polishing your shoes.
This should be one of the first things that you apply.
Itís going to nourish the leather a bit and itís going to go in and moisturize.
So leather ñ itís skin and it needs to be moisturized because what happens, itís basically
number of these fibers and theyíre all ñ okay, so you can imagine a protein-based fibers,
they go over like this.
And thatís what makes leathers so tough.
And these fibers been ñ but overtime, kind of like your skin, think about putting a ñ
you know, a lotion on your skin during the winter months.
I know my skin gets cracked.
That same thing happens to your leather.
Whenever the moister leaves, thatís when you can damage and destroy the leather and
thatís why conditioners are so important.
And in fact, if you use saddle soaps, you have to use a conditioner afterwards because
that soap is going to dry out a little bit.
Itís not as abrasive or hard as detergents or any of these other soaps that we use on
our clothing, but saddle soap does pull a little bit of moisture out.
And so, you want to be using a conditioner.
I recommend ñ again, this melatonin all-purpose cleaner is something I would recommend probably
more than the saddle soap because for most men, youíre not clogging through, unless
youíre wearing, you know, boots that youíre going out and going through mud.
I mean, you donít have a lot to clean.
Now, there are specific conditioners.
And this is leather, honey.
This is a product thatís fairly new, although actually itís been around for 30 years, but
Iíve spoken with the ñ itís a family-owned business.
I really like their product as of the viscosity of the liquid.
I mean, itís really thick.
It almost looks like ñ itís clearer but it almost adds viscosity of motor oil.
I really like it though because it goes in and it penetrates.
Itís also waterproof.
It does a great job conditioning.
And how do I know this, because it slightly does change the color of the leather.
This isnítí happening with all conditioners, but I really like how this goes in there,
and you can just see it penetrate.
Itís thicker.
It goes on really well.
But this is not so much a cleaner as a conditioner.
Although theyíll probably say that you can use it as a cleaner as well, Iíd like to
think a leather, honey, more than the conditioner.
The difference between melatonin and leather, honey, Iíll talk about later.
But letís talk quickly about mink oil.
You hear this thrown around.
Now, mink oil is for, I think, tougher leathers.
I donít recommend it for shoes.
And the reason being is that it normally does change or darken a leather.
And any of these products Iím talking about, you make sure to test them.
I mean, you need to always test.
Donít go by what they say.
I mean, good luck trying to get, you know ñ they end up darkening your shoes and in
your mind ruining them trying to get money back from one of these companies.
Theyíve got lawyers which protect them and theyíre very clear.
Always test a small part of your shoes.
So take your shoe or you put a little bit on the tong where no one is going to see it,
and make sure that it has the effect you expect to have.
So weíve cleaned the shoe, weíve conditioned the leather, the next part would actually
be polishing the shoe.
But before we get to polishing, there are these things called creams.
And this is Cole Haan shoe cream.
Iíve also got melatonin.
It makes a great neutral cream, which I love because in this neutral cream, you can use
a wide variety, you can use it on black, you can use it on browns.
It doesnít really matter what color your shoes are.
Although another reason I love melatonin products is theyíve got a wide variety of colors.
So, you can actually get a brown cream or a black cream or walnut cream or ñ all these
other variations of the colors.
The difference between creams and ñ creams are kind of like a hybrid.
Theyíre not a polish but theyíre also not a conditioner.
They are a little bit of both.
So, you can match it ñ theyíre conditioner that has polish in them.
And they do provide some conditioning, but theyíre ñ like any hybrid, it never, in
my opinion, does the best of both.
But I like creams because if youíre travelling and then you only want one thing, use a cream.
This is if youíre travelling to an airport, usually this is what the guy there is using
because he only wants you there for five minutes.
He does a good solid cleaning of your shoes in which, you know, you go from cleaning to
polish.
Itís usually going to take you anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.
By simply using a cream, you cut that down to a couple of minutes.
Now, the cream, youíre never really going to get is good of shine as you never going
to condition the leather as well.
But if youíre going to ñ if youíre lazy, if you want one thing that youíre going to
use on your shoes, I recommend the cream.
And thatís simply because, you know, it does do both.
And for most men, weíre not out wearing out shoes in an extreme weather.
And the cream will take care of your shoes for a long time, although it does not replace
a wax with shoe polish ñ shoe polish wax.
This is the last thing that youíd be putting on a layer.
And this is not meant to condition.
This sets on the outside of the shoes and it forms a waxy layer which gets you that
super shine, if thatís what youíre looking for.
Now, I donít recommend this for something like western boots.
And the reason being western boots, they have leather thatís really soft and is meant the
sole over in multiple spots.
But for most menís dress shoes, like the Allen-Edmonds weíve talked about, if you
want to get a really nice shine, using something like the mitt, youíre going to be putting
on layers of wax.
And those layers of wax are going to form a film, and that film is what gives you the
really sharp shine.
In addition, think about it, youíre forming a layer of wax, wax repels water, so youíre
getting ñ youíre putting out a layer of protection.
The thing is that once that layer is gone, you need to reapply it.
So wax needs to be reapplied pretty much after every time you wear your shoes.
And even the wax, theyíll probably ñ and thatís why you get buildups because you apply
it on so much.
But wax is pretty much ñ there has to be a seal.
There has to be that layer.
And anywhere that you donít have that seal, obviously the wax cannot protect.
And thatís one of the things like, you know, water and stain protector, you know, again,
this one is made by melatonin where these things come in really handy because you can
spray them on areas of shoes, especially if youíre going to be in increment weather,
you know.
When youíre in Seattle, letís say and you know youíre going to be walking through paddles,
youíre not wearing a pair of glosses, you know, this is where ñ this is going to become
really useful because itís going to really be above that layer.
Youíll see a few other products out there.
And Iíll talk briefly, this one is made by Torego, and this is an instant shine.
Youíll see a lot of ñ I know a lot of coddlers use this.
This comes out in Spain.
So, harder to find off the rack.
Iíll try to find a link to it.
But this is something where you can apply it on to the shoe and it gives an instant
shine, no buffing required.
So, thatís a little time-saving.
Youíll see that a lot of guys are doing shoe polishing for a living or working with shoes.
Theyíll use this.
Itís a quick shortcut.
Itís a good product, but it never provides the same level that you get from using all
of these products together.
Well, that is an overview of shoe products.
And Iím going to get...