Leather care

[MikeN]

yeah but if you're using something that doesn't have it... then it's just deodorant, not antiperspirant

[kunk75]

we are meant to perspire....

[michael_kard]

/\ exactly. i strongly reccomend you stop using antiperspirants, they are very bad for your body by themselves, while basically blocking a function thats very important.

[MikeN]

As soon as I get health insurance I'm getting botox in my armpits. I sweat too much.

[Enaml]

What health care plan covers armpit cosmetics?

[MikeN]

it's called hyperhidrosis

[Shucks]

it seems the worst offenders for staining contain aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly. the one i have uses aluminum chlorohydrate, which hasn't stained anything for me. might cause a bit of alzheimer's though...

[MikeN]

Back on track... so I did a light steaming on my leather to get rid of the smokey smell... and now of course the leather has dried out and become stiff. Can I bring this to my normal dry cleaner (who is a higher-end dry cleaner) to fix, or should I bring it to a leather specialist? Has anyone heard of Superior Leather Restorers in NYC? Seem to have pretty good reviews on all Google, CitySearch, NY Mag, but strangely have nothing on Yelp. Has anyone used em?

[Who?]

The dry cleaner will more than likely just send it to a leather specialist anyway. Go to superior leather, I remember some one on sufu had a vintage bomber done there and was very impressed with the work.

[Real Real]

Anyone know of any leather polishes or creams that could be used to give a gray cast to a pair of brown boots?

[starsailor]

You can mix neutral (white) and black shoe polish to get grayish color and add that to the shoe but it wont be permanent change if true color is brown. Its actually pretty easy to get different undertones to leather boots.

[phong]

For my Guidi reversed stag derbies I use a smooth leather shoe cream and clean them from dust after each use. Do you guys recommend me to use other treatments as well? oil, etc?

any more suggestions for taking care of reversed leather shoes?

[seatbelts]

any more suggestions for taking care of reversed leather shoes?

Help this guy out! I don't want my Guidi backzips to get trashed :P. Take good care of them phong! Definitely get them soled.

[docus]

^^^^^ I would also be interested to know more about this! (for my Margiela reversed leather zip-ups)

[neonrider]

i use a suede cleaning kit with brush, copious amounts of a good silicone-based spray to waterproof (waxes/polishes tend to harm the finish of the suede), and try to make sure both get used regularly. works well, even in rainy london weather.

i think the trick is making sure the silicon coating is refreshed (unless you want to age your shoes, but that's easy--just don't do anything :)