[[Esq]uire]

I have scuffs on the toe of my Merlot Park Avenues. I tried polishing them with the AE branded merlot cream polish, but it did not help. This photo is after the polish. Is there anything I can do to get rid of these scuffs, or at least lessen their prominence?

 

[Flanderian]

1. Purchase the appropriate shade of Tarrago shoe creme. (I usually purchase the 3 I think closest, and decide by using some of each on an inconspicuous bit of shoe.)

2. Take a Q-tip and get a goodly amount of shoe creme on it.

3. Work it into the scuff!

4. Let dry a bit, and buff it with a horse hair brush.

5. Repeat until the scuff is gone.

I have repaired far, far worse with this method. Shoes that were not only scuffed, but actually gouged. The damaged area can now only be discerned through deliberate and close examination.

I don't know what the current AE product is like, but when I last used it, it didn't have as much pigment and didn't color leather as effectively as some other cremes.

Edit: Looking again at your photo, it appears the hide has a lot of dark patina added over the color of the hide. You may need to replicate this if you want a uniform appearance. I'd try doing so with a small amount of black shoe cream once you get the color restored over the color, applying it very sparsely.

 

[Shawl Lapel]

Have you waxed the toes? If so, the polish won't cover on top of the wax. I'd strip the wax off, re-polish, and then wax on top of that.

 

[[Esq]uire]

Have you waxed the toes? If so, the polish won't cover on top of the wax. I'd strip the wax off, re-polish, and then wax on top of that.

No. They are fairly new and the cream polish I just applied is the first time I treated them in any way.

I guess a wax polish will be the next thing to try.

 

[Shawl Lapel]

In that case I'd do as Flanderian says and try to really work the polish in.

 

[Flanderian]

I guess a wax polish will be the next thing to try.

Wax polish is significantly poorer for adding pigment to hide than high pigment quality cremes such as Tarrago is, or Meltonian and Propert's used to be. If you use wax, you will partially seal the hide making additional attempts to recolor it more problematic.