Shoe trees:Shoe-trees are essential. Without them the shoes will not hold their shape. Plain, unvarnished cedarwood trees are the best. These will absorb perspiration from the lining.
Shoe Polish:A good beeswax-based shoe polish is best such as Kiwi. The specialist ones produced by Loake, Tricker’s etc are also very good.
Shoe Creams:Shoe Creams are good for those shoes or boots for which you do not want a high shine. Dasco shoe cream is good for this. However, it does tend to settle in the bottle. The problem with this is that if the cream is too thick it can collect in the creases of the shoes and leave a fine white deposit, which spoils the look of the shoe.
Make sure the shoe cream is at room temperature. The colder it is the harder it is to work and the harder it is keep a white film from appearing.
Shake the cream vigourously to loosen it up
Apply the cream in the point of a clean cloth. You can spit onto the shoe and mix the cream into the spit, it becomes easier to work and may give a deeper shine.
Buff vigourously with a very soft cloth.
Cloths:
You need these both to work the polish in and for the final buffing after the shoes are polished.
Ideally you need two sets of cloths, one for polishing in the wax and one for buffing. You also need to differentiate between those cloths that you use for black waxing and any others. This is very important, as black wax can really stain shoes of other colours.
Brushes:
These are mostly used for polishing off. If you have boots then you might want a brush for polishing on.
Once again, differentiating your brushes is important. If you consistently use a brush which has been used on black shoes on brown shoes, you will ruin them. Black brushes turn brown shoes into an in-between colour with a dirty muddy-looking finish
Shoe RacksShoe racks are invaluable. Put your shoes on a rack and let air circulate around them. Shoes on a rack will dry naturally and more quickly than shoes on a floor or flat surface.
A comprehensive selection of shoe care accessories is avaiable at the Bradshaw and Lloyd website: www.bradshawandlloyd.com. here you can view the extensive range available from: Loake shoes, Sebago shoes, Tricker’s shoes, Sanders shoes and of course the Bradshaw and Lloyd range.
