Question:
Wore my new cordo boots in the rain, came home and found the bumps people have described in many of the cordovan posts.
Does anyone know how long it takes for the bumps to recede completely? Thanks.
Answer:
About a week or less.
Answer:
Is it bad for cordovan to get wet, then worn a few days later while still bumpy and get wet again?
Answer:
It really should be allowed to dry well. Cordovan takes longer to get wet and longer to dry. I have cordo chukkas that are somewhat "beater" boots and continual re- wetting does take its toll. But they are about 15 years old.
Answer:
maybe i've been lucky but i've worn my shells in the rain all the time and i haven't gotten bumps yet... they have been polished a little bit more than recommended though... maybe that's what's protecting them.
Answer:
what's the negative to polishing cordovan more than recommended (which is like 1-2x/year?)
Answer:
@ Get Smart:
While you may polish them with a dry cloth as often as you want, you should avoid using shoe cream on them. Use wax only and very sparingly. Otherwise the leather will get dull and somewhat cloudy in appearance.
Answer:
Different pairs of shell cordovan react differently to water. Some of mine have developed bumps from rain, others haven't. One pair has spotted, seemingly permanently, others shrug it off and dry spotlessly. And I treat them the same - a bit of wax, rarely.
Answer:
i think what happens is that the natural color of the cordovan leather gets lost. i see this a little in my shoes. when i look at other people's cordovan shoes, i see more of a varied redish tone, but my shoes are a little bit darker--probably due to over polishing. i believe that this is irreversible.
however, polishing is good for your leather. it will prevent cracks and drying. so, you should polish, but not so much.
my black cordovan shoes, i polish more because i prefer a solid black on those.
Answer:
I polish mine more often than recommended, but I am very careful to use a lot of elbow grease to avoid layers of polish building up and obscuring the natural beauty of the shoe. I've purchased used corodvan shoes where the owner has made this mistake and the shoes looked 100x better after all of that gunk was removed.
Answer:
how do you remove the gunk?
Answer:
Cordovan colored polish and a ton of elbow grease. A TON.
Answer:
but, that doesn't remove the underlying gunk, though, right? what if the polish is the gunk?
Answer:
is it possible to remove the bumps with the shoebone?
Answer:
I find that the solvent in neutral wax will remove previous layers on shell. You have to rub it off soon after application and rub it thoroughly. Then repeat it until the wax comes off colorlessly.
