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Distress Your Own Shoes... and SAVE!

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  • asho
    Senior Member
    • Nov 2007
    • 353

    #16
    bleach on black leather does hardly anything except dry out the leather making it stiff and prone to cracking. do not leave shoes in bleach overnight the result will be shit.

    In the initial post I suspect that the bleach did very little, if not nothing. Sandpaper is what you want to use, specifically wet dry. A light rub with this will make black an distressed grey colour and if you don't like the result polish will reverse the result.

    One thing which is cool though is bleaching black shoelaces to match distressed shoes if you just brush them lightly the plastic covered ends remain black, or whatever the original colour was. nice result.

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    • rach2jlc
      Senior Member
      • Sep 2006
      • 265

      #17
      ^Actually, the bleaching did most all of that coloring in my OP. You've got to dilute the bleach in water... not just full on bleach (as I mentioned above).

      The sandpaper just gave it distressed effects... but, again, it depends a lot on the type of bleach you use and the type of leather in the shoes.

      BUT, if you dilute the bleach and leave it in the water solution, it shouldn't try them out.

      You then, at the end, have to use leather creams and/or leather polish to treat the leathers so they don't crack and such.

      BUT, the bleach still did most of the color changes on my shoes above. It may be different for black or different type of colors, too...

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      • RADO
        Senior Member
        • Nov 2007
        • 118

        #18
        Pitch the black

        Good job John, they look wonderful.
        What about to take a distressed pair of shoes in light colour and pitch them black. Have you ever tried? Do you know what kind of polish cream or natural dye could be use?

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        • rach2jlc
          Senior Member
          • Sep 2006
          • 265

          #19
          ^There are actually leather dyes out there that can change it whatever color you want. If you are a member of StyleForum, do a search as there was a guy who took a pair of cheap Florsheims in black, stripped the color to white, then redyed them in Electric blue to create a really stellar color. Nothing I could ever wear myself (they're quite... LOUD!) but pretty neat for a DIY project.

          If I can find the thread in question, I'll post a link. But, you might try search terms of electric blue, shoe dying, dyes, or something like that. It was a neat read, if nothing else....

          It made me want to play around and dye a pair of shoes Hermes Orange or Asprey purple. :)

          Comment

          • zerkalo
            Junior Member
            • Feb 2007
            • 2

            #20
            Any results yet wire.artist? I'm thinking about distressing a black pair and need reassurance before I do so.

            Originally posted by wire.artist
            I'm trying it with a pair of black wingtips, I'll show you the result soon hehe. I guess that the perforated leather will give some interesting effect when bleached. I hope it gets softer too.

            Nice work!

            Comment

            • BlackSilver
              Member
              • Nov 2008
              • 48

              #21
              i was wondering if it is possible to warp a pair of leather converse chucks in the way ccp does his boots. any thoughts on how that might turn out?
              Looking for a wrap cardigan! odyn vovk or KK, pm me if you have one for sale in 46-48

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              • Brokenaura
                Junior Member
                • Jul 2007
                • 14

                #22
                De-Patenting leather

                so thinking about buying some patent leather marsell lace-ups...good price...easy to dull/depatent or might it crack/damage the leather..anyone??
                He who has rejected his demons badgers us to death with his angels

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                • rach2jlc
                  Senior Member
                  • Sep 2006
                  • 265

                  #23
                  Originally posted by Brokenaura View Post
                  so thinking about buying some patent leather marsell lace-ups...good price...easy to dull/depatent or might it crack/damage the leather..anyone??
                  I'm not sure... but I think patent isn't going to do much except for crack or get damaged. It's not full-grain "leather," per se... it's heavily treated to be plasticky and shiny. So, I don't think I'd play around with patent leather very much as I think all you'll do it ruin it. If the shoes are $10 or less, then experiment. If they are more than $50... then I wouldn't risk it.

                  BUT, again, that's just a guess. I'll let others chime in with their opinions.

                  Comment

                  • asho
                    Senior Member
                    • Nov 2007
                    • 353

                    #24
                    patent is made from the lowest quality leather as is suede. You will not be able to distress patent in a way which gives any sort of similar result to those posted previously. you might be able to paint it though...

                    Another mode of altering leather finishes, and also canvas, is waxing. I do it with wax wheel, not sure of a diy equivalent but the result is quite nice. most shoe repairers have a wax wheel so maybe they can help... typically they will have a black and a brown wheel which can also be used in combination to create a nice effect.

                    also if bleach is going to work, it will almost certainly not be on black shoes. standard black leather is not particularly porous...

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                    • D_S
                      Senior Member
                      • Jul 2008
                      • 116

                      #25
                      very cool, rach2jlc.

                      Gotta try this one day.

                      Comment

                      • dub_xion
                        Junior Member
                        • Feb 2012
                        • 2

                        #26
                        Bump

                        Hey, did you know this thread is at the top of the "how to distress shoes" google search? Anyway, I picked up some Allen-Edmonds wing-tip loafers for $8. They're nice and used, resoled at least once, so I figured I'd give distressing them a try to make them good to go w/ jeans. Already removed the tassles

                        They've got a finish on them, so bleach won't work work (dang, I was hoping to bleach out the toes and heels and put a grey polish on). So, I was thinking of soaking them and doing a little sandpaper/wire brush action all over to roughen them up - any other ideas? Anyone else done anything with finished shoes like this? Any other chemicals that are readily available that might remove/bleach out the black in certain areas?

                        Thanks!

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                        • cowsareforeating
                          Senior Member
                          • Jan 2011
                          • 1032

                          #27
                          ethanol might remove the finish and you can bleach the area afterwards./

                          Comment

                          • dub_xion
                            Junior Member
                            • Feb 2012
                            • 2

                            #28
                            Thanks! Any ideas on how to get an oxidized look? That might work better on shoes with a finish. Kinda like this: http://www.bedstu.com/mens-bedstu/be...ove-shoes.html

                            Comment

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