Shoe colour problem - staining?

[LordBest]

I picked up a pair of leather brogues from a thrift store for $5 recently, but there is a problem in that they seem to be stained. I thought it may be excess polish or some such but no matter how hard and long I brush them it does not come off. Result is rather shiny filthy looking shoes. Any advice on what to do with them?

 

[bigshoe]

You have three choices. The most obvious is leave it alone and have a classy pair of knockabouts.
The second is to check with your local repair man and see if they have a product called Sellaris machine cleaner and wax remover which will clean up any old wax products and then try to re polish, risky but you still have a classy pair of knockabouts.
The third would be to find a shop that specializes in dying womens shoes for weddings, They will be able to strip the old color from them and redye them . A shop such as this will have a wider choice of colors but the most succesful dye job is black. This however has the risk of destroying rayon and cotton thread, poly and nylon thread will survive the stripping.
Tom

 

[John in Covina]

Lacquered.

Are they new or really old shoes? From the pix it seems that the original color was painted over with a darker color similar to when paint is used to simulate wood grain on a plainer background. If it was from too much polish you'd expect to see a build up of sorts in the holes and along the edges of the high sections of leather, and it does not look like it has much.

Many modern shoes are not polished but "lacquered" to achieve a shine and seal in the color. Lacquer will keep any polish coloration from reaching the leather. If yours are lacquerd you could try wiping with something like acetone or MEK to strip it off and it also may remove the swirled colorations. If the lacquer is removed you can then try polishing with real shoe polish or try dyeing them if you want to change the color.

Better life thru modern chemistry.

 

[LordBest]

Well, finally managed to get to the local leather repair shop, they said they could restore the shoes back to their original state but it would be both pricey and risky, far better to accept the rather odd patination and use neutral polish to avoid any further dificulty.
They appear to be fairly old shoes, but I can not be certain. Brand seems to be Roller or Rollers, made in Poland.