# Adventures in stripping corrected grain.



## Fiddlermatt (Jul 3, 2013)

I picked up a pair of NOS USA made Bostonian balmorals on ebay for a song. I knew when I purchased them they were corrected grain, and I also knew I was going to use them for a test bed of de-correcting corrected grain leather (almost sounds Orwellian!) I received the shoes yesterday and they were the hideous, painted-on burgundy I expected. Here is a before picture:









I set to work with much elbow grease and noxious chemicals. Although I am still not quite finished, the improvement has been vast. My method was a rag soaked in acetone, followed by a toothbrush soaked in the same. I then doused both shoes in Lexol conditioner. Here is an after picture:









I now have to decide whether to leave them natural or whether to dye them. I find it rather neat to be able to still see the range marks of the leather, so I may just use a few coats of brown polish.

The point of posting this is to show that even lower-tier, corrected grain shoes can still turn out to be nice footwear. Not everyone can afford a full wardrobe of Alden or AE, and older vintage shoes can be just as nice with a little work.


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## zzdocxx (Sep 26, 2011)

What is a range mark if you please?


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## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

Dyeing is tricky. I'd try polish first. You can always strip it off again.


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## Fiddlermatt (Jul 3, 2013)

zzdocxx said:


> What is a range mark if you please?


Marks on leather from the cows ranging (ie grazing) Things like scars from barbed wire or wounds. It gives leather some character.


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## wacolo (Jul 21, 2006)

Excellent work Matt! I did something similar with a pair of USA Weejuns, but yours certainly came out cleaner than mine :thumbs-up:.

For those thinking of giving this a shot please adhere to the warnings on the Acetone / Color Preparer of your choice and choose a well ventilated area. It is truly nasty stuff.


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## Adventure Wolf (Feb 26, 2014)

So when you see this on the main page, it shows the name of the thread as "Adventures in Stripping". I was wierded out for a moment. Sorry, had to share.


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## Fiddlermatt (Jul 3, 2013)

Adventure Wolf said:


> So when you see this on the main page, it shows the name of the thread as "Adventures in Stripping". I was wierded out for a moment. Sorry, had to share.


I can see the thread now:
"What does a trad stripper look like?"


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## zzdocxx (Sep 26, 2011)

Fiddlermatt said:


> Marks on leather from the cows ranging (ie grazing) Things like scars from barbed wire or wounds. It gives leather some character.


Very good sir, thank you.

Fun project.


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## blue suede shoes (Mar 22, 2010)

Nice job; I like the way they turned out, and I also like the range marks. I am surprised at the outcome because the leather used to make corrected grain is always of lower quality than polished calfskin.


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## Fiddlermatt (Jul 3, 2013)

blue suede shoes said:


> Nice job; I like the way they turned out, and I also like the range marks. I am surprised at the outcome because the leather used to make corrected grain is always of lower quality than polished calfskin.


I am tickled how they turned out too. I live right in the middle of cattle county (my across-the-road neighbor runs 500 head) so seeing some leather with character is right up my alley.


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## sbdivemaster (Nov 13, 2011)

Fiddlermatt said:


> I can see the thread now:
> "*What does a trad stripper look like?*"












https://nypost.com/2014/03/13/a-porn-star-is-born-with-support-from-duke/


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## Doctor Damage (Feb 18, 2005)

Fiddlermatt said:


> I now have to decide whether to leave them natural or whether to dye them. I find it rather neat to be able to still see the range marks of the leather, so I may just use a few coats of brown polish.


I'm amazed to see how much character those shoes have after being stripped. Personally I'd just use some shoe polish and see what happens.


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## jlbundy (Sep 7, 2012)

Fiddlermatt said:


> I can see the thread now:
> "What does a trad stripper look like?"


BB #1 or grey flannel thong, maybe a bustier made of shell...


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## Fraser Tartan (May 12, 2010)

My understanding is that the Lilly Pulitzer G-string comes off during the third song.

The pink needlepoint 5 in. pumps stay on, of course.


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## Doctor Damage (Feb 18, 2005)

If I recall correctly, one of her most vocal critics turned out to be a subscriber to a website she's worked for.

Fiddlermatt: did you ever decide what to do with those AEs?


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## ricardofrancisco (Jan 1, 2013)

This is inspiring! It makes me want to look for a pair of cheap bluchers and give it a shot as well. Good on you!


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## calfnkip (Mar 21, 2011)

blue suede shoes said:


> Nice job; I like the way they turned out, and I also like the range marks. I am surprised at the outcome because the leather used to make corrected grain is always of lower quality than polished calfskin.


blue suede shoes:

I don't usually haunt this section of the forums so I hope no one will mind my chiming in on this topic.

Corrected grain isn't always of lower quality than polished calfskin. One notable exception to your statement is leather made under contract for the Department of Defense (i.e., military shoes/boots).

I can remember contracts for military leathers that specified a minimal hide quality of 60% #1 grades and 40% #2 grades. That's awfully good leather. Thing is, these beautiful hides had to have the grain abraded off and replaced with resins. In some contracts, the DOD would specify plating with a hair cell. That means the natural grain is replaced by an artificially applied one.

And the DOD would have their own people come to the tannery for the final sort. Unless we could sell what was rejected, the tannery would have to eat the costs. More than once I (and other salesmen) had to hustle find a home for these DOD rejects that were actually quite nice leather.

Just thought you might like to know.


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## scholl43 (Jul 22, 2013)

If this was posted on a blog with photos of the progress from start to finish, I have a feeling it would start making the fashion forum/blog rounds.


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## dkoernert (May 31, 2011)

Did you ever wind up polishing or dyeing these? I found a pair of NIB weejuns yesterday I am thinking of stripping with your process.


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## TradThrifter (Oct 22, 2012)

I'd also love to see the full process in action. This would be an awesome experiment for my old plasticky corrected-grain bass weejuns from El Salvador.


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## dkoernert (May 31, 2011)

My only hangup is the process once they are stripped. I would think the Weejuns wouldn't look quite right in the natural leather, so I would like to re-dye mine, but I'm not sure what I would use.


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## sleepyinsanfran (Oct 24, 2013)

even after stripping corrected grain, the leather typically still refuses to take polish well. I tried this with a pair of old (really old) CG burgundy mcallisters - while the burgundy came right off, the underlying leather (pale red now) isnt taking much polish or shoe cream... oh well, at least the acetone high was interesting :icon_scratch:


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## meanoldmanning (Jan 10, 2015)

I had a similar adventure with 3 pairs of shoes recently, a pair of Cole Haan chukkas, Capps uniform ankle boots and an old pair of Hy-Test steel toe longwings. The long wings were the most successful, kind of blotchy but I can certainly live with them.


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## meanoldmanning (Jan 10, 2015)

Nothing exciting with this boot. Just needed something to wear at work plus they are made in the US. Stripping took a while, but they came out pretty clean. I made sure I got all the old finish off, otherwise it would resist the new color/cream polish. Not sure how durable the finish is yet as I haven't worn them since.





After light coat of Lexol


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