Aye and you really need more shoes…. 😁

I bought 2 pairs (I was a little tipsy) one refund on a pair that it said were low in stock, and one dispatch for the other pair. No gripes here to be fair,I knew it was a shop and not Wiggle. Was it the Fearnley’s? @boblo

Yeah the brogues, size 9. Nae bother.

Boblo the shop is tiny but holds a good stock Lisa will be trying to do everything herself so she can pay her staff, probably went out of stock.

I am extremely tempted but am resisting. Despite barely wearing shoes for a month (we go out once a day for a bike ride or a walk, and normally wear boots for that) I have treated myself to some nice Cheaneys and am tempted both by the Murdocks from the OP’s link and these lovely looking beasts from Pediwear. It does help that I have tiny feet so not often the first size to sell out…

But I am holding off. One new pair per month is enough and I’ve alreay bought the Cheaneys. MUST resist…

25% off over at Barker shoes too

Anybody want to share their care tips? As the proud owner now of a beautiful pair of John whites and 2 pairs of loakes I’ve done as I always do now with new shoes and piled the nourishment on them. Get them flexible, softened and ensure they don’t crack and help to break them in. They’ve had two coats of hide food first, then a coat of punch Dubbin. I like the hide food as it’s high in lanolin and beeswax but thin enough to soak in to the leather reasonably. I reckon the loakes may have been sat around a while as the leather soaked up the 2 coats totally over 24 hours, suggesting it was quite dry, so really glad I nourished them! I then apply the Dubbin, a thicker nourishment more waxy. I like it as a second coat to give more waterproofing but it often won’t be absorbed much. Again the loakes have sucked it up completely, which is making me consider another layer. Finally the shoes will get a couple of coats of wax polish and a shine. I usually use kiwi parade gloss but since I need some tan/light brown polish anyway I reckon I might push the boat out and try Saphir. I may mirror shine the toes, and I may use a dark brown wax on the toes for a different look. Although I like to look after nice things so polishing shoes can be enjoyable I have never yet done the proper ‘bull’/mirror shine….I do a cheat instead, done in 10 seconds not 30 minutes…. Maybe the loakes we will get a proper mirror though.

Anybody else got favourite regimen?

Anyone know anything about this shop as I have been trying to contact them for 3 weeks about a return and no one is responding to emails and nobody is picking up the phone?

Anybody else got favourite regimen?

Nope, I just wear them and rub a bit of sofa leather conditioner every few months. Life’s too short. They’re nice shoes; they’ll age respectfully.

I got a swift reply when I emailed them when this was originally posted. Drac knows them

Shoe trees are good for keeping shoes in shape when you haven’t got feet in them. The shoe snobs will tell you you really want cedar trees made to the same last as the shoes, I’m sure they’re great but IKEA have the spring type in stock in genuine plastic at £1 a pair, OMSORG is their made up name for them if you’re searching.

I’ll happily say that I know very little about shoes and my shoe care regimen is notable only for the fact thatnit barely exists.

However, my mate who takes this stuff very seriously is adamant that you use wooden shoe trees (though he’s never said anything about cedar). Apparently this is because the wood draws out and absorbs sweat from the leather, thereby preventing it from rotting from within. I can see the logic, though don’t know if its actually correct

Shoe trees to maintain shape; if that’s the only consideration, plastic will work.
If you want ability to absorb sweat from shoe leather and a bit of deodorisation, bare wood is best; ranked as cedar by preference, then any other bare/untreated/unsealed wood, sealed wood, plastic.
You can get wooden shoe trees which are designed for the specific last the shoe was made on; they’re no more expensive than a standard decent quality tree.
Don’t wear leather shoes on consecutive days; give them at least 24 hours to dry, several days if possible but this depends on how many pairs of leather shoes you have.
Why would you apply dubbin to any half decent pair of shoes? It will waterproof but no use for shine or colour.
Saphir have a fantastic range of shoe care products.
Not surprisingly, lots of sales on at the moment…Trickers, Russell & Bromley, Barkers, Grenson, Jeffery West, Oliver Sweeney, Pediwear; if you’re bothered about where the shoes are made, not all of these are UK but you can ask.
Sweeney have permanently closed their stores and are offering a 20% discount off sale prices – use online20.

Why? You answered it, for waterproofing. Once it’s absorbed you can apply a wax polish over the top for shine.
How often do people condition their leather shoes? Before lockdown, I had 2 pairs of leather shoes in the office and they were worn on alternate days. Regular use shoes like these I polished when needed which would often be 2-4 weeks, and condition twice a year, autumn and spring. Think perhaps I will move to conditioning 3 times a year though as I had a shoe develop cracks in the upper not long ago.

Good quality shoe polish contains 3 waxes – bees, vegetable and mineral; water resistance is provided by the mineral wax, vegetable wax conditions.
Each to their own but I have never used dubbin on leather shoes and have never had a problem caused by wet shoes; let them dry naturally with shoe trees in and then my usual polishing routine.
Dubbin is a grease which I’ve used on walking/work/footie boots and, in my experience, it never dries or is fully absorbed.

I don’t look after mine as well as I probably should but use shoe trees (budget cedar ones), Renapur & decent polish.
Probably only do anything 3-4 times a year.

Some say a good pair of shoes is cheaper than multiple cheap pairs in the long run but it’s nonsense these days.
At £70-£80 for a new welted sole every 2 years, you’ll never save money over something like Berties or Clarkes which are perfectly decent and I’ve gotten a good 6+ years out of them with a few (much cheaper) resoles.

Ouch, £70-80 for resole every two years? I just paid £37 for resole and heel and new corking on my jodhpur boots last week. I think it’s their third sole and I’ve had them at least 25 years. I do get heels more often as I prefer not to have metal quadrants on the heels, I’d rather not scratch peoples flooring and rubber gives more grip too.

Yep 2 years wearing daily, probably more frequent than that actually as I split between 2 pairs.
That’s with Dainite soles & a proper welted resole at a local cobblers.

I’ve had leather soles last barely 6 months, they just aren’t fit for purpose in a rainy South Wales winter.
£37 is a bargain. Assume they are stitched if you have new corking?

Heels will get done separately where needed but with the Dainite soles the ball tread is wearing as quickly as the heel 🙁

I polish leather shoes every time I wear them, using traditional wax polish, applied with a cloth then brushed to shine, and depending on the occasion a final layer of Parade Gloss.

Four years of wear and my brogues were getting a bit stained so I stripped them using saddle soap and took out as much staining as I could, then used a waterbased conditioner, before a base creme layer , then several layers of wax polish. A final layer of parade gloss and they’ll last me a good while yet. They had a full factory refurb by Loake last year, (or was it the year before….) New sole, new insole, heel, new eyelets.