Leather Shoe Care - Cream vs. Wax Polish

Caring for your premium leather dress shoes is key to maintaining their longevity and classic style. A quality Goodyear welted dress shoe requires careful conditioning, cleaning, and polishing for the best results. At the Hartt Shoe Company, we offer the finest shoe care products from the world-renowned Saphir Medaille d’Or line. Learning about their line of smooth leather cream polishes and wax will help you take the best care of your footwear. 

Saphir Cream

Benefits 

Saphir Medaille d’Or Pommadier Cream Shoe Polish is an all-natural shoe polish specially formulated to provide nourishment and colour to the leather of your shoes and boots. The unique blend of natural waxes offers excellent conditioning for the smooth leathers of your footwear, keeping them supple and soft and prevents cracking and wear. This product also contains a highly concentrated level of pigment, perfect for recolouring any scrapes and scuffs. Applying Saphir's cream polish regularly will help develop a beautiful patina on your shoes, giving them a lovely light shine when buffed out with a horsehair brush. 

How to use 

• Saphir Shoe Cream produces the best results when used regularly as part of your leather shoe care routine. We recommend conditioning and polishing your shoes around twice a month to keep them looking their best.
• When choosing the colour of your Saphir shoe cream, simply choose the colour closest to the colour of your leather footwear. A colour slightly lighter than your shoes will keep them close to the original finish, while a darker shade will add a rich depth to the colour of the leather.
• Before applying any cream polish we advise brushing your shoes to remove any dirt or dust. Then apply one to two coats of cream polish over your entire shoes with a polish cloth, massaging it into the leather as you go. Allow your shoes to dry for at least two to three minutes between applications or before using any other products. When the polish has had time to absorb into the leather, buff your shoes with a horsehair brush to bring out a nice subtle shine.
• Applying Saphir’s Cream Polishes often will keep your shoes soft and smooth, and the rich pigment will recolour any scuffs and scratches to their finish.

Best Product Pairings

• While Saphir shoe cream can be used on its own, pairing it with a few other Saphir products can provide even more impressive results. Conditioning your leather dress shoes is key to keeping them soft and comfortable. There is no better product to do this than Saphir Renovateur. We recommend applying Renovateur prior to any polish as part of your leather shoe care routine.
• Saphir’s Pate de Luxe wax polish is another product that works brilliantly with cream polish. Consistently applying a light coat of wax polish offers protection from dampness and gives your shoes a bright, high gloss shine.
• Applying Saphir Creme de Luxe provides further nourishment, recolouring, and waterproofing to your leather footwear. Incorporating Saphir products into your regular shoe care routine yields unbeatable results that are sure to keep your shoes looking their best.
  

Saphir Polish

Benefits

Saphir Médaille d'Or Pâte de Luxe is widely considered the best shoe polish in the world. Formulated from all-natural waxes, Pate de Luxe offers superior protection to your leather shoes and boots and brings an unparalleled high gloss shine to your footwear. Using Pate de Luxe regularly in your shoe care routine will protect your shoes from minor scratches and scuff marks, and increase their water resistance. In addition, applying several layers of Pate de Luxe is the best way to bring out a glossy finish, the preferred look for many stylish gentlemen and shoe aficionados. 

How to Use

• We highly recommend using Pate de Luxe regularly in your shoe polishing routine. It’s best to apply it last in your conditioning and polishing process.
• Pate de Luxe is a hard wax product so we recommend applying no more than one or two layers to your entire shoe. Too many layers will cause the polish to crack on the areas of the shoe which bend during wear, leaving a white residue behind. However, apply as many layers as you wish to the toe box and heel of your shoes, the key to achieving a mirror shine.
• After each application, give your shoes a good buff with a horsehair brush to remove any excess polish and bring out a bright shine.

Best Product Pairings

• While Pate de Luxe is a fantastic product to incorporate into your polishing routine, we highly advise pairing it with Saphir Renovateur and Cream Polish. When used together, these three Saphir products will keep your shoes in their best condition for hundreds of wears.
• Saphir Mirror Gloss pairs excellently with Pate De Luxe polish and will produce an unrivalled mirror gloss shine. Applying several layers of each to the toe box and heel of your leather shoes will give your shoes a glassy, mirror shine finish.

Cleaning

Finally, we recommend giving your shoes a thorough clean and polish, once or twice a year. Saphir Renomat is an excellent cleaning product for removing any grease, dirt, or wax buildup that has accumulated over time. After using Renomat, it’s best to recondition and polish your footwear with one to two coats of Saphir's Renovateur, Cream polish, and Pate de Luxe wax polish.

It’s really important to use the right products in your shoe care regimen to get the best results. While Saphir Shoe Cream and Pate de Luxe wax polish are both premium leather shoe care products, understanding the best tips on how and when to apply them will offer the most promising results in caring for your shoes. We cannot recommend using Saphir leather care products in your shoe care routine enough.