Cordovan Polishing Tips

Cordovan shoes are a shoe lover's dream. The beautiful luster of this rare leather is often referred to as the "jewel of leather," but it is vulnerable to water and tends to become white and cloudy when worn. In this issue, Takashi Araida, the current Japan Shoe Shine Champion, will introduce the proper way to care for your shoes. Let's learn how to make your beautiful shoes last longer.

Everyone who loves shoes would like to have a pair of "cordovan shoes" at least once. Cordovan is a very rare type of leather, made from the core of the leather, called the "cordovan layer," which is found only in the center of a horse's buttocks, and is then shaved to reduce the fluff and give the leather a glossy finish. The unique luster of cordovan is so brilliant that it has been described as the jewel of leather...

While cordovan has a wonderful luster, it also has a weak point. It is susceptible to water, and the creases on the surface of the shoe tend to become white and cloudy. These characteristics of the leather's core make it a weak point. Therefore, there are some tricks to polish shoes, and we will explain them today!

Today's person in charge is Takashi Araida, the current Japan Shoe Polishing Champion. I will be polishing Alden's long wingtip cordovan shoes. It is a pair of shoes that has grown up very well. If you look closely, you can see that the wrinkles are whitish and fluffed up. Let's take good care of this area while making it the best cordovan shoe.

Let's start with stain removal. The trick to cordovan stain removal is to "remove stains so as not to damage the surface. Moisture penetrates quickly, so if you use a strong liquid cleaner to remove stains, the surface of the leather will become crumbly.

Use "THE CLEANER for mirror shine" (Miracle), a solid cleaner, to remove stains. It will clean the surface of the leather without damaging it.

The next trick is to "crush the fluff. The leather will turn white with fluff at the bends, so rub the area to reduce the fluff. It is best to use an abby-horn or a cassa stick for this, but if you do not have one, rub it with something that does not have sharp edges to clean it.

After the fluff has been reduced, apply a generous amount of THE CREAM; THE CREAM is color-matched to Alden's burgundy, so it's a perfect match. Apply it thoroughly with your fingers and allow it to penetrate deep into the leather. It is difficult to feel how the cordovan leather absorbs the product, but the leather is definitely reacting to it, so trust me and apply it.

After that, lay the crease down again with a grizzle. Doing it again after applying the cream will reduce the furring of the wrinkles and bring out a beautiful luster.

Finally, of course, apply a mirror polish with wax. In this case, too, a hard wax like THE WAX (wax with low oil content and high wax content) works best with cordovan. Apply a generous amount of wax to make the surface of the leather smoother.

Another trick is to use less water when mirror polishing. By using 80% less water for mirror polishing than for calf, even cordovan, which tends to soak up water easily, can be polished beautifully without failure.

Here is the finished product. The surface of the wrinkle part is now quite clean and beautiful.

This time, we polished only the left leg so that you can easily see the before and after of the left and right sides. The whole leather is moist and shining beautifully, and it is enchanting. By understanding the characteristics of leather and reflecting them in polishing techniques and tools, you can make your own shoes beautiful.

However, if you find that your shoes have blisters due to rain stains or that the shine has not returned, there is a danger of ruining the leather by overdoing things, so please always leave it to us. Please use our "Online Shoeshine Service" and we will do our best to make your shoes as beautiful as possible, no matter what the condition is.

Now that the weather has finally cooled down and the fashion season has arrived, let's enjoy our feet as well.