Polished black shoes turned white
May 10, 2015 4:14 PM   Subscribe

Polished a pair of black shoes and after awhile the toe caps turned white. Can this be fixed?

I polished my SO's pair of black shoes today. He wears it during the winter time, and it's never been polished before. The shoes were a bit dirty and dusty but were all black.

My SO washed the boots off and quickly wiped it clean/dry. I used black Kiwi polish, age unknown, a little dry but didn't look like it's "gone bad". I put two coats on with the applicator brush and then used the polishing brush. Right after, I noticed the toe caps had turned a little whitish (very small part). I figured I'd put another coat on just the toe caps but this time using a slightly damp polishing cloth and worked the polish in with my finger.

When I finished the whole boots were nice and shiny. After an hour or so, I noticed the toe caps are once again white and the area has become bigger. Picture here

I've plenty of experience polishing boots having been in the youth cadet and army for a few years, however this has never happened to my boots before.

Could any of these be a factor?
- old polish
- salt from winter usage

Can this be fixed?
posted by lucia_engel to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (5 answers total)
 
I would guess salt from winter usage is the most likely.

I have heard that wiping the boots down with vinegar before re-polishing can help. IIRC my oldest pair of black boots had some salt marks a while back, but I defeated them through repeated polishing and stubbornness.

It is an annoying and persistent problem, though.

One thing I do is always wipe my shoes with a wet wipe when I come in. I haven't had many salt stains lately and I think that could be one reason why.
posted by tel3path at 4:26 PM on May 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


It looks like salt stains, and perhaps polishing drew out the salt. Try white vinegar solution now (there's salt stain remover, but time is of the essence) to neutralise the stained areas, which may take a bit of time, then clean with plain water, then once the stains are drawn out apply leather conditioner and re-polish.
posted by holgate at 4:30 PM on May 10, 2015


Best answer: Yep, salt; the destroyer of shoes here in Canada.

Vinegar sort of works, but rubbing alcohol (the 50-70% kind, not the 99% isopropanol, and preferably without menthol or other additives) works best of all. Get a paper towel good and wet with rubbing alcohol and swab the shoes down. They'll look really nasty, but they'll take polish well. It may take a few wears/cleanings/polishings to get the salt out.
posted by scruss at 4:52 PM on May 10, 2015 [2 favorites]


nthing that it's salt from the winter. You can remove it by mixing one tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of water, and using a sponge or paper towel to clean the salty area. You might have to do it two or three times in order to get it all cleaned, but it works great.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:29 AM on May 11, 2015


Response by poster: I dabbed at the spots with a cotton ball soaked with rubbing alcohol 70% (vinegar would probably work too but didn't try) and re-polished. Looks brand new now!

I used to live in rainy west coast so never had to deal with this. Thanks all!
posted by lucia_engel at 12:34 PM on May 12, 2015


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