How to dye leather shoes

We first need to strip the shoes from as much shoe polish as possible. A product which does this perfectly is Saphir Renomat. Apply the Renomat with the included applicator cloth and rub it into the shoes. You will notice that all shoe polish from the shoes will end up on the cloth. Apply and rub the whole shoe for about two times, normally, this should be sufficient.

Now we are ready to start attacking the factory finish on the shoes. Pulling out the old dye out of the leather can best be done with Saphir Decapant. This can take quite a while and due to the vapors we recommend working outside or in a well ventilated room. Keep rubbing the leather with Saphir Decapant until you see no more colour bleeding onto the cloth. Use a cotton swab to get in between the sole and upper of the shoes.

It is finally time! We are going to put some dye on the shoes. Apply the Teinture Francaise leather dye using the cotton swab included with the dye. Squeeze out any excess dye out of the swab before applying. You want a light, but still even coating each application. Dye the entire shoe and colour hard to reach places using a small brush. Most likely you are going to have to apply a couple of layers to obtain a rich and deep colour.

After the first layer the colour will be quite spotty and will show streaks. This is normal. On average, you need to do 3-4 applications to get an even result. And even then some of the spotting will only dissapear after using shoe polish. After applying a layer of dye be sure to let the shoes dry for at least an hour in between. Usually the darker colour of dye the easier it is to get an even finish (such as dark brown or black).

With Saphir Médaile d'Or Pommadier cream you can further finetune the colour of the shoes. You probably noticed after using Renovateur that some of the spots already have dissapeared. That usually is because these were dry spots in the leather. We recommend picking a well matching colour Pommadier shoe cream. Be sure to check out our Saphir colour guide to help you make the right choice. Did you apply a lot of patina or darker highlights on the shoes? In that case use a neutral Pommadier cream to highlight those even further.

Apply the cream and try to really massage it into the leather using a cloth. That way you massage the pigment into the leather. Allow the cream to adhere to the leather for about 5 minutes. Afterwards, use a horsehair brush to shine the shoes. Feel free to repeat this step 2-3 times depending on your results.