Tricks of the Trade

[BigUmp56]

I finally decided to hang up my old +POS plate shoes and try something new. I went with the Spot Built U56 high tops this time. Yesterday I worked a double header on a newly renovated diamond that had this extremely dry and nasty redish clay, worse than what I've ever seen before. For a minute I thought I was in Alabama, but I digress. As I had just received the new shoes Friday I didn't have a chance to put more than one thin coat of polish on them yet. At the end of the games they were just a mess. I tried to brush them and then wipe them with a damp rag, but this stuff seems to have permeated every pore in the leather and they still looked like hell. So, I'm looking for suggestions on how to clean them up and do a better job of preparing them before I have to call a game on this crap again.


Tim.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by BigUmp56

I finally decided to hang up my old +POS plate shoes and try something new. I went with the Spot Built U56 high tops this time. Yesterday I worked a double header on a newly renovated diamond that had this extremely dry and nasty redish clay, worse than what I've ever seen before. For a minute I thought I was in Alabama, but I digress. As I had just received the new shoes Friday I didn't have a chance to put more than one thin coat of polish on them yet. At the end of the games they were just a mess. I tried to brush them and then wipe them with a damp rag, but this stuff seems to have permeated every pore in the leather and they still looked like hell. So, I'm looking for suggestions on how to clean them up and do a better job of preparing them before I have to call a game on this crap again.


Tim.

Tim,

I have the same shoes. Here is what you do:

Take a rag soaked with 70% rubbing alcohol and remove all the polish you applied. Take down every bit of black that you can. Order a bottle of Shape-Up Instant Military Spit Shine at the following link. Follow the directions explicitly. Your shoes will have a brilliant spit shine that only needs to be wiped with a wet cloth after games. After about 20 games you may need a touch up, or when a catcher steps on them, but the shine lasts and lasts. It is not a polish, but a special polymer and it is fantastic.

Steve
http://www.shoe-stuff.com/index.htm

[Tim C]

Make things so hard.

Take a pair of shoes . . .

Polish them . . .

Each time you work add Bee's Wax to the finish . . .

Ya'll make it so hard.

Regards,

[tmp44]

I find that spraying my shoes off before and after every game with a mixture of Armor All Tire Shine and Water works very very well...I put liquid polish on them about every 5 games. In the bottle, put about 1/4 a bottle of the Tire Shine and then fill the rest w/ water.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by orangeump

sounds like leather luster, yuck.

Nope, not leather luster, yuck!!! That stuff has a lot of build-up. Not the case with Shape-Up.

Shape-Up is the absolute coolest product (all of their products are cool) out there.

No, Tee, I actually was making it much easier than adding Bee's Wax. You just wipe off the shoes after the game with a damp rag, and do a touch-up occasionally.


http://www.shoe-stuff.com/index.htm

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by Tim C

Make things so hard.

Take a pair of shoes . . .

Polish them . . .

Each time you work add Bee's Wax to the finish . . .

Ya'll make it so hard.

Regards,

Tee:

Do you add a coat of Bee's Wax every time you polish the shoes?

If so, how long before the Bee's Wax builds up and then the finish has to be taken back down to the original leather?

In the service we would use Steele wool after so many coats of polish to take the build up off, but I really don't want to go to that length.


Tim.