Repairing an old pair of Church's Shoes
The attached photos show the status of the shoes I want to repair.
First, what I did.
The right shoe was the one most damaged, with deep cracks on the top and the right side, so last year I bought a kit for repair and tried the restoration, with horrible results: the filler had to be heated with a small flat tool, the filler looked like plastic, the color was a mess. So, I forgot about it and left the shoes alone for nearly one year.
Some days ago I decided to restart from scratch, so I removed all the layers and build-ups first with alcohol, thinner and acetone, then sandpapered all the affected surfaces, basically removing also the original top skin of the leather.
What you see is the final result of the process.
I am an Italian leaving in Malaysia, in Italy I would have sent the shoes to a good professional , there are some, but in Malaysia there is no such a thing; I read in your blog your reply to a fellow that had a similar problem http://www.leathercleaningrestoratio...is-dress-shoes, and I thought to try and do the repair myself with the products I bought from you.
Of course your tips would be most welcome.
The issues I see:
1. Can the products I bought be applied to the raw leather, especially the top? Do I need to apply different products to prepare the shoes for restoration other than the ones I bought?
2. What about the finishing using your aniline dye, how can I match the original color of the shoes, by mixing different aniline colors?
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