Experienced Alden owner advice for color change.

maboot38 · Post by **maboot38** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:36 pm

I have a pair of Aldens that are the brick color that we all seem to know and love but wish we could change.

I'm looking for someone who successfully changed the color of their Aldens to be screen accurate color (as best as they can tell). I'd like to know how they changed the color (dye, polish, etc.) and what product they used.

Thanks,

Maboot

IndianaGear Hunter · Post by **IndianaGear Hunter** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:55 pm

I just recently received mine but prior to delivery from Schmidty, we were discussing having them dyed to get them more SA. Schmidty suggested an alternative to dying: Shoe polish.

Schmidty suggested alternating between black and brown shoe polish to slowly get to the desired color. (I said, black?? but Schmidty reassured me that believe it or not one does get closer to SA using this method.) I have only applied the brown to my pair. I'll wear them for two weeks then apply the black and alternate for a month or two and see how things turn out.

IG Hunter

Indiana G · Post by **Indiana G** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:17 pm

shoe polish comes off and dying is scarey considering that they are $300+ boots. i tackled this issue last year and ended up just buying the AF64's from carmel........then i got schmidty to resole them.

i do recall a search here and CMIIW...minnesota jones had success with using dye on his aldens.

Doug C · Post by **Doug C** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 8:41 pm

Just polish them with Kiwi cordovan, then go right over it with Kiwi dark brown, I think I actually used Kiwi medium brown.. but, whatever.. I love the way mine came out and really I doubt it would completely wear away for a very long time. Matter of fact I wouldn't doubt that it ends up being a permanent change because the nature of the base leather. I read this was how alot of guys used to get their early WWII boots to darken up from the russet. Applying polish isn't all that hard even if you did have to re-do them at some point, some might even say it's relaxing

.

Doug C

sneakertinker · Post by **sneakertinker** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:00 am

Here is a pic of my two pairs...

The darker pair started out as the general color for the 405's (I got them from Schmidty)...

To darken them I used good ol Pecards...

All I did was put a coat of Pecards on there...and made sure it was on even and not clumped on...

Next I got a blowdryer and put it on low heat and gradually went over the entire shoe with it...Basically it melted the Pecards that was on the shoe into a liquid and it soaked all into the leather.

I did this about 4 times or so until I was happy with the color...I put a final coat of Pecards on there and let it sit for 24 hours to kind of just seal the color in...Finally I put on some Johnston and Murphy Natural Shoe Cream to polish them up...I wen't with the Natural Shoe Cream color because like I said above I was already happy with the color and I didn't want to darken down the stitching at all. That's how they turned out. The whole process took a day and a half or so (Since I let the final coat of Pecards sit on there for a full day).

Zach R. · Post by **Zach R.** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:45 pm

How did you manage to keep the stitches so white?

sneakertinker · Post by **sneakertinker** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:07 pm

The stitching is surprisingly resistant to the Pecards and the natural shoe cream I used...Plus it seems like the blowdryer dried it out before it had a chance to really soak into the stitches...That picture is about 2 months old now and they are even darker after I have given them that treatment again...

Zach R. · Post by **Zach R.** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:19 pm

Maybe it was the shoe cream that did it, because I used Meltonian Shoe Polish in "brick" in addition to the pecards on mine and it is not so easy on the stitches.

sneakertinker · Post by **sneakertinker** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:53 pm

I actually used the pecards first when I got the shoes out of the box...Then after I wen't through that process with the blowdryer I added the shoe cream last...It was the natural color shoe cream so that's (I assume) why stitching is still light...

The Brick color is what darkend your stitching I bet...

Shagbd · Post by **Shagbd** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 12:29 am

my answer to darkening Aldens?: WEAR THEM! lol

knibs7 · Post by **knibs7** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 4:36 pm

Shagbd wrote:my answer to darkening Aldens?: WEAR THEM! lol

actually, with mine, wearing them only made them lighter as seen in KOTCS

sneakertinker · Post by **sneakertinker** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 5:14 pm

knibs7 wrote:
Shagbd wrote:my answer to darkening Aldens?: WEAR THEM! lol
actually, with mine, wearing them only made them lighter as seen in KOTCS

Ditto on that...Take a look at my picture up there at how my old pair is really starting to lighten in the creases and toe area's...

maboot38 · Post by **maboot38** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:36 pm

OK, so I've tried the Pecard/hairdryer thing. Here are my Aldens before treatment:

And here they are after 5 rounds of Pecards/hairdryer.

Does anyone see a difference? I think if I do more Pecard coats, I might get somewhere.

Post by **Dalexs** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:43 pm

Dying isn't really all that hard to do yourself.
You could even just bring them to a local shoe repair shop and they'll do it for you for about $25.

Mine were the original bright pumpkin orange that some of know and love from back in the early 2000's.

I just used Fiebrings Dark russet dye on them.
The left photo was when I first did it, and then after being worn a bit.

sneakertinker · Post by **sneakertinker** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:00 pm

maboot38 wrote:OK, so I've tried the Pecard/hairdryer thing. Here are my Aldens before treatment:

And here they are after 5 rounds of Pecards/hairdryer.

Does anyone see a difference? I think if I do more Pecard coats, I might get somewhere.

Looking good...Like I said in my earlier post it took me 4 times to get that pair as dark as they are...So clearly it takes a bunch of treatments to get them good and dark...They are even darker now since I have added another 2 coats of pecards in the past couple months since I took that picture...I will take a picture the as soon as I can to show the difference in color...

sneakertinker · Post by **sneakertinker** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:09 pm

Here is a new picture...

Texas Raider · Post by **Texas Raider** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:47 pm

Why don't you just get some brown Pecards? ;-)

TR

maboot38 · Post by **maboot38** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:04 pm

Will that change the color of the stitching?

sneakertinker · Post by **sneakertinker** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:36 pm

Texas Raider wrote:Why don't you just get some brown Pecards? ;-)

TR

Because the brown Pecards will turn the stitching brown as well. I want the stitching to remain light...

jones the whip · Post by **jones the whip** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 11:38 am

I FOUND THAT A DARK BROWN LEATHER DYE DID THE TRICK - USING A MEDIUM PAINT BRUSH IT WENT ON A BEAUTY.
JTW