# shell cordovan - the most resilient leather there is !



## srivats (Jul 29, 2008)

I recently received these vintage shell PTBs (made my Keith Highlander) .. they have had minimal wear (just 3-4 times, looking at the scuffs on the sole)










While the shoes are in great shape, the shell cordovan has some roughness in the areas where it has creased. Remember, these shoes are OLD. The leather actually looks dried out at first glance but as you will see, that is not the case really. Here are a couple of photographs showing the roughness (esp on the left shoe) in more detail:

















As you folks have seen many times, shell cordovan is an amazing material. Most of the time, old shell can be restored to near new condition with not too much effort. These Keith Highlanders were by no means in worse condition at all, but the rough spots on one shoe bothered me. I set about "restoring" them to better shape. I followed the uncle mac procedure.

I took a terry cloth towel and wet it with water just to make it damp (not dripping wet). I wiped each shoe a few times, letting them dry before I wiped again. After that, I started vigourously brushing with a horsehair brush. I spent atleast 15 minutes brushing each shoe. Next, I wiped them down with the damp towel again, and let them dry. After this, I applied a tiny, tiny bit of alden #8 wax polish on each shoe and let the shoes dry out.

After 15 minutes, I brushed them again for like 5 minutes (each shoe), and then buffed them with a flannel cloth. As you can see, a lot of the dryness/roughness is already gone. With regular brushing and maintenance, these shoes will look perfect in a few weeks. I'll post more pics after a few months.

Here are the pics:


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## chiamdream (Aug 7, 2009)

Wow, gorgeous shoes. A great primer.


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## mcarthur (Jul 18, 2005)

Sri,
Thank you for posting your pictures


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## Got Shell? (Jul 30, 2008)

Could the roughness have been polish buildup? I've done your exact procedure and found that light colored roughness in the creases was just polish built up over time. Just as yours do, the leather looked amazing after wiped with the damp cloth.


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## srivats (Jul 29, 2008)

Got Shell? said:


> Could the roughness have been polish buildup? I've done your exact procedure and found that light colored roughness in the creases was just polish built up over time. Just as yours do, the leather looked amazing after wiped with the damp cloth.


I don't think so - I did not any polish residue on the damp cloth after wiping and I did wipe those areas hard. Just due to age/storage conditions I think. I have seen other older shells do this too. This roughness looks as if the area near the creases has become pitted due to corrosion (for lack of a better analogy). Note that it is present severely only on the left shoe before the procedure.

You are right that in that polish buildup causes this kind of rough apprearance too, but it is usually darker in color in my experience. Infact, I have had this "roughness at the creases" with one pair of new alden shells too. It was much milder than this one though!


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## Got Shell? (Jul 30, 2008)

I bought a pair of Alden #8 full straps once that had very rough lighter creases. I did this same procedure and found it was polish, maybe neutral, but strangely enough, after i got the caked up polish off, the creases were darker than the rest of the faded shell. It appeared that the buildup preserved the shell in a darker color than the portions exposed to sun. While darker, it was very smooth after the treatment.


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## srivats (Jul 29, 2008)

Got Shell? said:


> I bought a pair of Alden #8 full straps once that had very rough lighter creases. I did this same procedure and found it was polish, maybe neutral, but strangely enough, after i got the caked up polish off, the creases were darker than the rest of the faded shell. It appeared that the buildup preserved the shell in a darker color than the portions exposed to sun. While darker, it was very smooth after the treatment.


That's very interesting ... do you by chance have any photos?


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## Got Shell? (Jul 30, 2008)

Surprisingly no, when I got them the shell was faded with light, rough creases. Similar to how shell creases look anyway, but more roughness in the creases. After the creases were eggplant colored and very smooth just like the rest of the shell but un-faded, unlike the rest of the shoe. They turned out much better than I expected, I hadn't realized initially how bad the polish buildup was. It's surprising that someone could own shell and know so little about it to keep applying polish to this extent.


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## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

Just piggy-backing on Sri's experience polishing some old shells. I purchased these Alden 684s on eBay for $20 shipped since they were only labeled "Italian loafers". I spent about an hour polishing and brushing and the cordovan looks great - the color #8 has even darkened to a deep brown. Unfortunately, I'm not really a loafer guy so these are just going back to eBay (they also need an immediate restoration since the sole is about one wearing away from a hole). Enjoy the beauty that is shell cordovan :aportnoy:


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## Green3 (Apr 8, 2008)

What size are those?


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## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

They're 8.5 B/D - if you're interested they should show up on eBay in a couple of hours with a $0.99 starting bid (3-day auction).


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## Green3 (Apr 8, 2008)

Cardinals5 said:


> They're 8.5 B/D - if you're interested they should show up on eBay in a couple of hours with a $0.99 starting bid (3-day auction).


I needed you to say 9.5E.

They are great looking shoes.


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