# Using dark shoe polish to change colorv



## Mr.Inappropriate (Nov 21, 2016)

Short of re dying shoes has anyone successfully changed the color with a darker shade of polish? I have a pair of medium brown shoes that I would prefer to be just a little darker.


----------



## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

Just buy a darker shoe. DIY rarely turns out well.


----------



## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

Horsefeathers. Applying black polish alternating with burgundy on my AE's turned them a lovely dark cherry color that draws compliments. It's a very easy way to alter shoe color. To turn your medium brown's darker just put on a coat or two of dark brown. Works a treat.


----------



## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

Mr.Inappropriate said:


> Short of re dying shoes has anyone successfully changed the color with a darker shade of polish? I have a pair of medium brown shoes that I would prefer to be just a little darker.


Yes, many times.

There are some limitations I suspect are obvious. I.e., it won't completely change the color, like turning pale green to purple, but will influence the tone and make it as dark as you wish. I've found shoe cremes without a lot of wax tend to work well because they have more pigment than wax and penetrate leather better. I've used Meltonian with great success, but it's been discontinued. The sellers have recommended Tarrago cremes as a replacement. One of the best things I've found about using this method is that it tends to be both incremental and fairly linear. I.e., the more applications, the greater the change. I've used it mostly to turn rather red shoes to something closer to a darker, browner oxblood color via use of the dark brown shoe cream. And it's so effective that I was even able to recolor and partially resurface a shoe that I had scuffed and gouged almost completely naked of color.


----------



## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

I use oxblood on my AE Walnut shoes with excellent results (to my eyes, anyway). Turns them a sort of chestnut, mainly it knocks off the "orangy" tone.

You won't get a marked darkening to start, so you can work up to what you want.


----------



## Maljunulo (Jun 25, 2016)

I don't know if this is relevant, but when I was a GI the word came down "Effective [date] all (presently brown) boots will be black." So we dutifully picked up our boot dye, and dyed and then polished our newly "black" boots.

They were the saddest looking things I ever wore.

This is my only experience in trying to do such a thing.


----------



## Front Porch Life (Dec 10, 2016)

Great info! Will try this. 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


----------



## momsdoc (Sep 19, 2013)

Flanderian said:


> I've used Meltonian with great success, but it's been discontinued. The sellers have recommended Tarrago cremes as a replacement.


When did this happen? I just went on Amazon, and ordered a half dozen jars of the odd colors I need for my wife and my footwear. Not only is their product a quality conditioner, but it is IMO safer to use than Saphir, as it is less pigment intensive. I hope Terrago works as well and has as extensive a rainbow of color choices. Meltonian allowed you to really dial in to the color you were looking to maintain.

OP, you can change the shade and tone, but not the color per se with shoe cream. It is important to have patience. A couple of thin coats at a time, then wear them a bit before attempting another round. Even if you wait days, too many coats at a time will just wear off onto your cuffs. It has to be a gradual process.


----------



## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

momsdoc said:


> When did this happen? I just went on Amazon, and ordered a half dozen jars of the odd colors I need for my wife and my footwear. Not only is their product a quality conditioner, but it is IMO safer to use than Saphir, as it is less pigment intensive. I hope Terrago works as well and has as extensive a rainbow of color choices. Meltonian allowed you to really dial in to the color you were looking to maintain.
> 
> OP, you can change the shade and tone, but not the color per se with shoe cream. It is important to have patience. A couple of thin coats at a time, then wear them a bit before attempting another round. Even if you wait days, too many coats at a time will just wear off onto your cuffs. It has to be a gradual process.


I learned of it here a month or two ago. But I'll be surprised if there wasn't still some of their product floating around the marketplace for years.

"April 22, 2016, SC JOHNSON Co.decided to discontinue the Meltonian Brand therefore they are no longer making Meltonian Shoe Cream Polish a favorite of many for years. We do have a limited supply of the colors listed above and will fill your order if possible."


----------



## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

I wonder why the Hell they did that? Someone could buy the rights to that product and make a mint in the niche market. Silly accounting departments!


----------



## CardsHockey (Oct 30, 2014)

phyrpowr said:


> I use oxblood on my AE Walnut shoes with excellent results (to my eyes, anyway). Turns them a sort of chestnut, mainly it knocks off the "orangy" tone.
> 
> You won't get a marked darkening to start, so you can work up to what you want.


Will you please post pics of this? I have AE McCallisters in walnut and have been wanting to tone down the orange but have been afraid to do so.


----------



## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

Oldsarge said:


> I wonder why the Hell they did that? Someone could buy the rights to that product and make a mint in the niche market. Silly accounting departments!


There are tons of useful products once in the marketplace that have been discontinued, not because they weren't making any money, but only because they were viewed as not making *enough* money! I suspect Meltonian falls into that realm. SC Johnson is a large company, and the Meltonian product was a tiny part of their business. And in fairness to them, the percentage of men who actually routinely wear real shoes is small and shrinking, and the percentage of those that even bother to polish them, even less. And for a couple dollars for a pot of creme, Johnson isn't making a lot of money per unit at wholesale prices.

When you go to B school one of the things you're taught is to optimize your product mix for maximum return. So smaller volume products that don't have huge margins are left up to smaller businesses to produce, or not. And more often it's not. You can make a lot more money hawking smart phones than shoe cream, and it's viewed as a lot more glamorous.


----------



## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

CardsHockey said:


> Will you please *post pics *of this? I have AE McCallisters in walnut and have been wanting to tone down the orange but have been afraid to do so.


Oh, man, you want this old dog to learn a new trick? Well, let me check this Instagram stuff and see what I can do.


----------



## CardsHockey (Oct 30, 2014)

phyrpowr said:


> Oh, man, you want this old dog to learn a new trick? Well, let me check this Instagram stuff and see what I can do.




In the past I've uploaded pictures to Google drive and then shared a link to the pictures. Much easier for me.


----------



## mreams99 (Jan 7, 2015)

I've had pretty good results dyeing my shoes. I've done several pairs.


----------



## StephenRG (Apr 7, 2005)

mreams99 said:


> I've had pretty good results dyeing my shoes. I've done several pairs.


Likewise - I've dyed two pairs of light brown shoes navy blue and one pair of emerald green shoes dark green and in all cases they look as though the new colour was the original colour.


----------



## Tiger (Apr 11, 2010)

I wonder what's causing the differences of opinion here on the efficacy of shoe dyeing - perhaps different people have different standards as to what constitutes a successfully dyed shoe?


----------



## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

I think it's a difference between _darkening_ shoes and_ dyeing _shoes. I made no attempt to actually change the hue of the leather, merely the lightness. I doubt that you can successfully change a tan shoe to a green one with just shoe polish. However, as I proved to myself, you can change a burgundy to a dark cherry quite easily. Folks here are arguing about two entirely different processes.


----------



## mreams99 (Jan 7, 2015)

The original question was about darkening shoes, not a wholesale color change. As I mentioned earlier, I achieved something similar using leather dyes. Here are three of the most relevant examples:


----------



## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^
I applaud your results on the first two examples, but must say that with regard to the Christy wedge soled chukka boots on the right, I would have left them as they were before the change in hues. However, you certainly seem to have mastered the technique of re-dying shoes! :thumbs-up:


----------



## cincydavid (May 21, 2012)

I have been pondering a color change/darkening of my own. I have a pair of 1970s era Florsheim PTBs in a lightly grained calf that is a pale, cognac color with a greenish-yellowish cast. I have a devil of a time finding situation where the color looks right to me, and it's so light that I think of them as a summer-only shoe. If I could get them to a warmer, medium tan color with more of a brown cast that would be terrific. I have a pair of AE JoDox lace ups in a color that AE just calls tan...that's what I'm going for, but I'd hate to mess them up in the process. 

What to do, what to do?!?


----------



## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

cincydavid said:


> I have been pondering a color change/darkening of my own. I have a pair of 1970s era Florsheim PTBs in a lightly grained calf that is a pale, cognac color with a greenish-yellowish cast. I have a devil of a time finding situation where the color looks right to me, and it's so light that I think of them as a summer-only shoe. If I could get them to a warmer, medium tan color with more of a brown cast that would be terrific. I have a pair of AE JoDox lace ups in a color that AE just calls tan...that's what I'm going for, but I'd hate to mess them up in the process.
> 
> What to do, what to do?!?


Pick one.

https://shoeshinekit.com/tashcrpo.html


----------



## ran23 (Dec 11, 2014)

I'm trying black polish on the toes of my Stafford Deacon brown boots.


----------

