Golf shoe care regime

Hi Fieldsy - 

Here's a link that has some basic shoe care tips that will help you extend the life of your shoes.

http://www.footjoy.com/customerservice/shoecare.asp

BTW, FJ ICON shoes will be available in the UK in January.  If you can't wait, you can actually get a pair of FJ ICON MyJoys right now.  Check out MyJoys.co.uk .

Regards,

ML

OK...

Old regime: take shoes off, put shoe trees in immediately. Take home and rinse dirt off using Nikwax shoe cleaner, and conditioned with Nikwax leather conditioner. Once the leather had dried I applied a white shoe cream, brushed off excess with soft brush and polised with a duster. Leather cracked where the shoe bends.

New regime: take shoes off, put shoe trees in immediately. Use the FJ shoe cleaner (from the Premium White Shoe Kit) and allow to dry, then apply the whote shoe cream from the same kit, brushed with soft brush and polished. Shoes crack in same place.

Maybe I should post a photo to show what I mean!

Really looking for a tip to stop this cracking......if its possible!

FieldsyUK

OK...

Old regime: take shoes off, put shoe trees in immediately. Take home and rinse dirt off using Nikwax shoe cleaner, and conditioned with Nikwax leather conditioner. Once the leather had dried I applied a white shoe cream, brushed off excess with soft brush and polised with a duster. Leather cracked where the shoe bends.

New regime: take shoes off, put shoe trees in immediately. Use the FJ shoe cleaner (from the Premium White Shoe Kit) and allow to dry, then apply the whote shoe cream from the same kit, brushed with soft brush and polished. Shoes crack in same place.

Maybe I should post a photo to show what I mean!

Really looking for a tip to stop this cracking......if its possible!

Is this happening on all your shoes or just one particular pair?

All leather develops creases in the forefoot flex area.  White leather is especially prone to these visible creases, not because the leather is any different than black or brown, just that on white it's easier to spot.   Even after a proper cleaning dirt can re-enter these forefoot areas throughout the round.  

Photos do help.  It will allow us identify if the leather is functioning as advertised or could perhaps be defective.

ML

Mink oil works well

i use a simple wet towel

No matter what you do to wipe, clean off the dirt -- SHOE TREES ARE A MUST!!!

I will put the shoe trees in, wipe off dirt with wet towel -- for a more thorough cleaning I will take a soft bristled brush and warm water, mixed with Dawn dish detergent (I find this dish soap works best) and scrub all the dirt away.

After they dry I will put a leather preservative or oil on them so they don't crack or peel

OK, so "mink oil" - is that easily available in the US? What else might it be called ?

And leather preservative/oil - give me an example? The only oil I have to hand is for stopping my putter from rusting and I'm guessing this wouldn't be right ;)

Mike Lowe

 

Is this happening on all your shoes or just one particular pair?

All leather develops creases in the forefoot flex area.  White leather is especially prone to these visible creases, not because the leather is any different than black or brown, just that on white it's easier to spot.   Even after a proper cleaning dirt can re-enter these forefoot areas throughout the round.  

Photos do help.  It will allow us identify if the leather is functioning as advertised or could perhaps be defective.

ML

 

Pretty much all my white FJ's (to be fair I've never owned non-FJ white golf shoes). Remember, I'm in the UK where the weather is mild (in comparison) and wet and I am not a fair weather golfer! I play whatever the weather (unless course closure prohibits me), so theres a high probability my shoes take more punishment than they would in other climates.

I do have an old pair of Reelfits that didn't crack; the bends have creased the leather but unlike my Classics no visible cracking has happened. The ironic thing is that I took no care of the Reelfits, just a quick wipe over when they started to look really bad....

I'll post some pics when I can find my media card reader.

OK.....this is a pair which I have not cleaned since last wear (some time ago) - they're my least favourite Classics and will be mainly used for really heavy conditions from now on. But you can see quite clearly the cracking (as opposed to creasing, which you can see in some areas).

FieldsyUK

OK.....this is a pair which I have not cleaned since last wear (some time ago) - they're my least favourite Classics and will be mainly used for really heavy conditions from now on. But you can see quite clearly the cracking (as opposed to creasing, which you can see in some areas).

Eagle3, I have to disagree with you. I have posted elsewhere under "Shoes" about the care of white shoes and received some good input.

It seems white leather is "painted" more than tanned, which is when leather is dyed a darker color. I'm no expert, but that's my understanding.

Fieldsy's picture shows flaking of that white finish. I've had it happen to a pair of FJ Contours within 3-4 uses. FJ replaced them. Had the same happen to my son's, but they were so beat up after a few months that I couldn't justify returning them.

I have a brand new pair of DryJoys (white with brown iguana saddle) and I've been using a wet cloth to wipe down the white parts. I plan on doing it each and every time. I keep a bottle of water and some clean rags in the back of my van - precisely for that purpose.

Fieldsy, I guess the question is: would they have flaked like that if you had cleaned them more regularly? I don't know, but it's worth the effort. From my experience, no white shoe polish or cream will restore those shoes to their original state.

I agree with Fieldsy, that looks like cracking to me as well.

If the paint comes off of the leather and shows the leather coloring underneath, that is cracking.

While I understand what you are saying eagle regarding leaking, if these were my shoes I'd be upset and wanting some help with replacing.

Fieldsy -

Thanks for the picture.  This is a situation we call delaminating.  It is a VERY difficult issue to detect at the factory level (QA is done on skins before they are cut and after the shoes are complete).  If it's going to happen, it usually happens shortly after the shoes are put into play.  

All leathers are tanned and treated to achieve certain colorations/textures.  In rare circumstances, the finish will delaminate in the major flex areas (you can see it's only happening in the forefoot flex areas).  Even though leather is processed to be a consistent as possible, in the end, it is a natural material ... every single one different from the next in the way it responds to processing.

Though it has virtually no effect on the waterproofing of the shoes, it is an issue we would consider a defect.  

PM me if you do not have our UK office information.  Because these are Classics, if deemed to be defective by our Warranty Department, they will likely replace with FJ ICON shoes.

HTH, 

ML

That's great news for you Fieldsy.  Nice to see FJ has such a great warranty put into place to help out people with little (cosmetic only) defects.