Cobblers, shoe care, DIY

[philip nod]

kicking this off bc its long overdue.
if anyone has specific recommendations for DIY cleaning for ccp boots that would great. i know theres stuff in the booklet, but booklets scare me.
whatever this evolves into, i would appreciate it if advice would be super geeky and detailed.
please post your local cobblers info, anyone know of a good one in park slope?
in the midst of life we are in debt etc etc etc

[Fuuma]

Didn't we already have a thread like this. I know I already posted the way I clean my CCP boots.

[ddohnggo]

in regards to cleaning ccp boots, i use this thing
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._ya_oh_product

i used it to clean and condition my gray ccp boots which got drenched the night of the first A party thing. all you do is use a sponge and apply it all over the boot and then wipe it down.

in terms of care for ccp footwear/cdiem, i vibramed them all and don't use shoe trees. i figure the amount of treatment that the leather goes through, specifically for ccp, it should be durable enough to withstand some foot sweat/moisture. i would get shoe trees for other leather shoes however. the only other rule i follow is to wear your shoes one day and then let them rest for 24 hours.

in terms of cobblers in nyc, i've only had experience with firm shoe repair on 12st and 4th ave and a place down the street from my work.

[philip nod]

redactoid

[Fuuma]

How I clean CCP boots:

-Wipe dirt with moist rag
-Dry with other rag
-Use leather cleaner
-Let them sit for 5 mins
-Buff with rag

I put shoetrees in after using any sort of shoe/boots. I add vibram soles to boots and metal taps to shoes.

[Fuuma]

How I shine shoes:

Wipe dirt with wet rag
Use dry rag to remove moisture
Use leather cleaner spreading it with rag
Let it sit 5 mins
Buff with rag
Use saphir leather conditioner (sometimes) basically the same steps as with cleaner
Apply shoeshine with tootbrush
Spread with rag
Buff with brush

Sometimes I'll use shoe cream instead of shoeshine. I recommend Saphir products.

[Fuuma]

thx fuuma what leather cleaner?

Got to a local cobbler and get something like Allen Edmonds cleaner or even Mephisto (rebranded Allen Edmonds).

[Vikeid]

hm, got my gudi derbys some day ago. anyone have any suggestion what to do and what to avoid? like.. should i get it to a cobbler and reinforce the sole? think its made of leather.. or will it hold up a long time?

[Mail-Moth]

If you can regularly afford expensive reparations, you can walk on the leather sole and get it replaced when it's used. But you'll have to find a cobbler good and serious enough to respect the design of the shoe, otherwise he may put any leather sole on it, without caring about thickness and that kind of things. Good cobblers do exist, but they are rare and don't work for cheap.

If you want to keep your money for something else, rubber soles are the best solution ; but here again, you have to find a good craftsman. Putting rubber soles means that the original leather has to be sanded down a little, and I've seen cobblers doing this so awfully that they even attacked the rear parts of the sole and destroyed the piece of leather supporting the sewing (don't know how it's called in english sorry, that is trépointe in french) - which is a definitive damage.

Once it's done, rubber soles can be changed easily for a very reasonable price ; they will keep you from slipping every time the sidewalk gets wet. Their only real disadvantage is to trap moisture if the shoes have been heavily exposed to water. But even in that case, there alre always means to dry them properly, and that kind of things are not supposed to happen as long as you know the difference between shoes and rubber boots.

[Vikeid]

thanks for the help guys. when i felt the sole it was very soft (for a sole anyway) and had plenty of deep marks after only one use. i will use it for a certain occasion now ths week but then i will try to track down a good cobbler and add some rubber reinforcement or whatever is needed. do you only need it for the heel? or do you have some reinforcement on the other parts of the sole as well?

otherwise, i just treat them as normal shoes? shoe polish now and then and all that. ?

and um.. is it possible to replace or fix a sneaker sole? nop that mine is alarming at this time but it will eventually be. its an ann sneaker if you guys know how the sole looks.

sry for all questions, have never turned in something to a cobbler before. have just wore my shoes til they fall apart.

[drexl]

How I shine shoes:

Wipe dirt with wet rag
Use dry rag to remove moisture
Use leather cleaner spreading it with rag
Let it sit 5 mins
Buff with rag
Use saphir leather conditioner (sometimes) basically the same steps as with cleaner
Apply shoeshine with tootbrush
Spread with rag
Buff with brush

Sometimes I'll use shoe cream instead of shoeshine. I recommend Saphir products.

Slightly OT: Do you know any place in Montreal that sells Saphir products by any chance? I don't feel like ordering them online from Francos or Valmour.

Here's a nice and simple video about how to wax your shoes for those that are interested (sorry, it's in french though):

http://www.linternaute.com/video/592...acage-du-cuir/

[philip nod]

thanks a lot mona, will look into it.
all too often i find cobblers are on their own wavelength, while they immediately appreciate the quality of the boots, for some reason they tend to get artistic or do the all in one job they would for a pair of $50 boots. its very hard for them to leave the boots alone haha.

so here are some questions:

whenever i put on vibram's, i go through the heel of them just as fast as without. i pronate (right word?) on my inner heels so often times they go quick. so i find vibrams relatively useless, i'm in the no rubber camp.
with ccp, i'm not afraid of slipping because the soles have great texture to them.
So how does one replace a few strips of leather with a ccp sole without making it look like crap?
and is there a cobbler in new york that comes close to this?

also, i'm thinking about starting to use back taps to help with the pronation. i guess plastic taps last about a month or so. metal ones obviously longer, but the noise must become bothersome?
I guess i'll just start getting back taps on newish boots and see if that helps...

[stadsvandringar]

I just got a pair of metal taps put on a pair of CDiem shoes I bought. The noise is really annoying actually. I have heard this dissipates some as the taps wear down. Can anyone confirm? How long should I expect the taps to last me?

By the way, I'm not super on top of the cobbler scene, but I think I found a good guy in the Boston area:

Felix Shoe Repair
1304 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138

He does shoe and leather goods repair exclusively, and also sells handmade sandals. Prices seem reasonable and he's a friendly dude.

[Mail-Moth]

Pnod, by back taps, do you mean placed on the heels ? If this is the case, the noise shouldn't be the main thing to worry about. It is not recommended at all for the spine to put metal there. Plastic would be the best option, even if it has to be changed regularly.

[philip nod]

thanks moth thats what i was trying to say. can cobblers replace rubber heel pronation?

[ddohnggo]

i add taps on top of my vibrams on my gray ccp boots. just to add another layer of protection. i have plastic taps on the heels of my cdiems, which help as well. if the rubber wears down due to your pronation, they'll just strip that strip that rubber off and replace it with a new piece of rubber.

[philip nod]

to clarify, i have some MMM german army sneakers. they have rubber soles. the heels are significantly worn down. can a cobbler fix or replace the rubber sole? i was about to buy a new pair but i didn't feel like spending $450 and thought there might be a more reasonable method.

[ddohnggo]

they should be able to do it. i think someone did it with their dix.

[theaddict]

yeah of course he can do it. I had it done to my diro sneakers, its no problem. The cobbler just "scratches" of a bit and replaces it with a new rubber piece. It looks like new from outside:

to clarify, i have some MMM german army sneakers. they have rubber soles. the heels are significantly worn down. can a cobbler fix or replace the rubber sole? i was about to buy a new pair but i didn't feel like spending $450 and thought there might be a more reasonable method.

[philip nod]

cool thx for taking the time to photograph that. no doubt