Question to the Vintage Shoe Experts

[Rudie]

I have a question regarding shoe care and making dried out leather of vintage shoes supple and wearable again. Many of you guys probably use Saphir Renovateur conditioner and a cream polish. But what about museum grade leather preserver like Pecard's or Elephant Leather Preserver? They are awesome for beat up old leather jackets and probably for furniture as well. Does it make sense to use these products on shoes to nourish leather that has been neglected for decades? Or could there be any negative side effects that call for specialized shoe care products instead?

Thanks,
Rudie

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I can give testimony to use of cadillac shoe cleaner and conditioner to restore very dry leather. I had a pair of new never worn slip on summer loafers, they were made early 1950's, and the leather was dry, hard, and felt like a potato chip, as it would have just "snapped" off if I would have desire to even try to bend the leather. The shoes literally sucked up about 4 ounces of conditioner, but it made them fully wearable, restored the leather to it's soft and supple original state. The bottoms of the shoes had a crepe sole, and those were dry and rock hard as well. I used the conditioner on them for a few days, and then used some clear liquid silicone that was designed for automotive trim protection. In fact, the shoes were two pairs, one a loafer and one a lace up. I still have the lace ups, and those were in the same dry hard ready to rip/break if bent shape, and used the same 4 ounces of cadillac to restore them. What ever products you can use, common sense thinking would be it will have to be thin enough of a conditioner to absorb into the leather. If the shoe leather is really dry, use of conditioner that will absorb well into the leather is the goal, and it takes time. I have used every leather conditioner popular that is out there, (no...not any elephant leather preserver), but the standards such as pecards, leather honey, lexol, allen edmond, etc., and after using them all the one that did the best job for me, and left the best "feel" to the surface and finish of the leather is cadillac, thus I openly give the product my vote. It has been used on perhaps every pair of shoes I have and used on many vintage shoes that were totally dry leather, brittle, and brought the shoes (boots as well) right up to feeling just like brand new. If the leather is dry, really dry, you will have to just apply it about every 40 minutes, slop if right on everywhere inside and out, and when you feel the leather start to soften up a bit, then rub the applications of it in, I use my fingers to do this. Do not expect to wear the shoes the next day after using the conditioner for just one day of application of the conditioner. It takes time for the leather to really soak up enough conditioner and to get really supply. Just as it took time for the leather to get dry to begin with. I would suggest at least several days or more of using conditioner. My determination had always been, use the conditioner until the leather stops "sucking" it in, even if that takes a week to do so.

I am sure others will swear by the use of some other products, the lexol will (if you get the thin formula) absorb into leather, but if you did one shoe with that (as I have) and the other with the cadillac, you will be able to see and feel a difference, and you will stick to the cadillac. I have tested them all to see what does the job and leaves the shoes or boot leather feeling the best. The cadillac also leaves a nice finish on the leather, and has no waxes in it, it is all "food" for the leather, oils and nutrients.

 

[Rudie]

Thanks for the detailed answer.

What are the ingredients of the Cadillac conditioner? If they are similar to the Elephant stuff I might as well use the tin I already have. Would you say Pecard's works well, too? I am asking because it seems to be very similar to the Elephant Leather Preserver I have.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Oh yes, I forgot, if you have old dry suede leather and you can get to the leather itself from the inside of the shoe, so that putting some cadillac on the inside (back side of suede) you can use it to also restore the suede. I had to do this with a pair of vintage footjoy spades that are spectators. I literally soaked the inside surfaces of those shoes for about a week. But however, if you use the cadillac or any other conditioner on the outside surface of the suede, you will make it look caked up and splotchy. I used a brush made for suede for a few hours a day for several days also on the suede, as white suede was having issues with some black due to past wax/polish from prior owners getting the black on the white suede. I avoided use of a suede eraser, as for the most part, older suede can be fairly frail. Use a eraser very lightly on any shoe, and brush more than not...and yes...the bunny bag.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Thanks for the detailed answer.

What are the ingredients of the Cadillac conditioner? If they are similar to the Elephant stuff I might as well use the tin I already have. Would you say Pecard's works well, too? I am asking because it seems to be very similar to the Elephant Leather Preserver I have.

How thin is that, Rudie? Does it feel like a hand lotion, thin? The one Pecards conditioner I have used was thin like the cadillac. If the conditioner is thin, I would think it would absorb into the leather. I know nothing about the elephant products, but "isshy" probably would as he has shoes/boot made of elephant leather ( or has had some), and he may have used a elephant specific conditioner? The "Cadillac shoe and boot care" leather conditioner does not list what is inside the bottle, but, it has no wax in it, and states that on the bottle. I had one larger container of it a year or so ago, it listed the ingredients but I no longer have that large size of it. I recall oils from things maybe banana or some other plants but I really do not recall? I do know it has lanolin in it.

 

[Rudie]

No, it's more like a cream or soft wax. It's 100% synthetic fat. I just found their website and they say it can be used for shoes. But probably not good to use it on the inside. Elephant is the brand name, it has nothing to do with elephant leather.

I just used the Saphir Renovateur I have on the inside of the shoes. Previously I had treated only the outside. Sucked the stuff right up.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Thanks for the detailed answer.

What are the ingredients of the Cadillac conditioner? If they are similar to the Elephant stuff I might as well use the tin I already have. Would you say Pecard's works well, too? I am asking because it seems to be very similar to the Elephant Leather Preserver I have.

Cadillac is a liquid, thin, you can use it on any leather/exotic leathers.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

No, it's more like a cream or soft wax. It's 100% synthetic fat. I just found their website and they say it can be used for shoes. But probably not good to use it on the inside. Elephant is the brand name, it has nothing to do with elephant leather.

I just used the Saphir Renovateur I have on the inside of the shoes. Previously I had treated only the outside. Sucked the stuff right up.

If it is absorbing, you should be o.k., rub and massage the leather to see how stiff it is after using it a few times and see what it feels like. Oh yes, when you are all done with conditioners, toss a pair of white cotton socks on and the put on the shoes/boots you are working on, to help "clean up" any excess conditioner and keep it from bleeding onto dress socks later! I can tell you the Cadillac is a bit more of a liquid and thinner than Saphir, and cost a whole lot less. Saphir also has some wax in it, and for actual softening of leather that is old, may hamper some absorbing, but if is is soaking in, I think you will be just fine.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I do the same with any shoes or boots, I always treat them just as soon as I obtain the shoe or boot. Liberal application of leather conditioner before I do anything else, if a shoe or boot has laces, they get pulled off and then I drench the insides all over and then outsides including tongue and soles/heels. I do this with new NOS/deadstock or brand spanking fresh from the factory new shoes. I also use the conditioner on any leather products from wallets to suit/brief cases/bags made of leather. It also works on patent leather.

Also, after you drench the insides of a shoe or boot a few times, I go ahead and then shove in some shoe trees and adjust them to be fairly tight on any used shoe or boot to help aide in "pulling" out any creases that may be on the top apron area of the shoe/boot, helps smooth the leather back out.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

One other thing, if you have the heel pad come loose or anything else in the footbed/insole of the shoe come loose from age or even from the leather conditioner, you can glue it back down with any "barge" type contact cement, even shoo goop type repair cement will work, just use a small dab of it and press and "tap" it with anything fairly solid for a few moments to help start to set the glue and placement of what you are gluing.

 

[Rudie]

So you are using this stuff, right?

Or is it this one?

Definitely a lot cheaper than Saphir.

 

[Rudie]

How about this one - good or bad? Does anyone have experience with Grison? Would also be much cheaper than Saphir.

Thanks about that tip with the heel pads. Just what I needed.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

So you are using this stuff, right?

Or is it this one?

Definitely a lot cheaper than Saphir.

I use the top bottle, and it leaves a really nice finish when you are done.

I just today from my mail carrier had the delivery of a pair of Jarman shoes, they have the suede apron top, two tone, and they are like wood, they are so dry. I'll post some pictures later, but I have already used a full bottle of the cadillac on them and they are starting to get soft. The insole/footbed area is really absorbing the conditioner in, and is so very needed to be treated. I literally made a small swimming pool inside the shoes with so much conditioner there. Now these shoes present a few problems. One, the shoes had some very old metal shoe trees in them.. Those had been in the shoe for far too many years, the back part of the shoe trees actually turned to rust, and transferred some rust to the leather on the inside of the back heel area. Next problem, the entire stitching on the outside of the shoes, other than the white welt stitching, seems to have conducted rust onto the surface of the stitching. The shoes had been in a box stored for so long, a shoe box, that the entire box, and all the tissue paper that is used to wrap a shoe in, was dry. So dry the paper actually "fused" in some small particles into the leather in spots on the shoes. The paper is so badly decayed that if you touch it, it flakes apart, same with the box. So, I as a detective on this sum up that these shoes had been wet at one point, but also stored in a very warm place for a long period of time, like a non insulated attic. A large build up of dust on the shoe trees also points to that, even though the shoes had been inside a shoe box. I will post some pictures of all of this later. The suede is so dry it would crack and or just snap if I attempted to bend it very much, however, after 8 hours of working the cadillac into the shoes, the suede is getting to feel soft, same with the outer leather of the shoe. I applied the cadillac to the back side of the suede by only rubbing small amounts with my fingers inside the liner of the shoes that touches the suede, and not directly on the outside of the shoe on the suede. Now all I will have to do is brush it with a suede brush and it will look new again. After several hours of putting on the cadillac, on the outside leather, I was able to "rub" off some of the paper that was fused to the leather, and also worked off some of the rust from the stitching, making the stitching have a more normal look to it, and making it have some life. As dry as these shoes are, they will get a few more days of application of the cadillac. A few minutes ago, I was able to slightly bend the shoes to see how the sole will flex, and the snap and crackle of the leather is now gone, but still fairly stiff.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

How about this one - good or bad? Does anyone have experience with Grison? Would also be much cheaper than Saphir.

Thanks about that tip with the heel pads. Just what I needed.

I would guess the product Grison, is a close to Cadillac product if it is thin liquid, which is what you need to have it absorb into the leather.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I just posted a few pictures of my shoes and what a challenge they are, problems etc, on the show us your shoes thread....