Sh!t from Shinola

[John from Indiana]

I was thinking about using one of the old Alcohol dye formulas from a long time ago. Using liquid shoe polish with Isopropyl alcohol to create a truer brown color...Sounded good on paper; but they don't really make liquid shoe polish anymore. I can get it online; but I don't know how well it will mix in the alcohol. I found some Kiwi brown liquid polish and might try it. Has anyone tried that old formula for weathering compound?

 

[TLOC]

I still use India inks that i thin with isopropyl alcohol. Works great for washes especially for wood structures

Looking at Kiwi Brown I believe it’s an Arcylic paint based. IPA and Arcylics don’t generally mix. The kiwi brown may curdle! Use tap water instead

Have fun

 

[1PatZAK1]

I have used tap water with Acrylics for a wash, with good results. It does dry quick though.

 

[John from Indiana]

Looking at Kiwi Brown I believe it’s an Arcylic paint based. IPA and Arcylics don’t generally mix. The kiwi brown may curdle! Use tap water instead

Have fun

That just goes to show you, that you cannot assume anything anymore. I remember liquid shoe polish for the fifties

 

[TLOC]

That just goes to show you, that you cannot assume anything anymore. I remember liquid shoe polish for the fifties

I remember a roll on shoe polish in the late 50s.

Twice a week for the Catholic school black shoes we had to wear got polished. No idea what was in it but you rolled it on, got a few bubbles if you rubbed too hard because more polish came out of the rolling ball thing. After college my leather shoes I polished with a paste. The roll on stained the hands and the nuns always seemed to see that. Mr O……. try to get more polish on the shoes next time

Thanks for the memories.

 

[westtexjohn]

That just goes to show you, that you cannot assume anything anymore. I remember liquid shoe polish for the fifties

I remember liquid black shoe polish in a glass bottle. The cap was a push on deal with a cork to seal but it had a piece of wire connected to the cap and a cotton dauber on the other end of the wire to spread the polish on your shoes.
My dad always had a "shoe polish box" with liquid and paste polish, a couple of brushes and some rags.
I also remember a "shoe shine boy" and stand with a couple of elevated chairs at the barber shop, usually on Saturdays. I also remember that shine boy popping the polish rag, something I could never do.

As TomO said.....thanks for the memories.

John

 

[John from Indiana]

It appears I was looking under the wrong heading. I found quite a few listings on the internet for alcohol based shoe-DYES. I usually use inks to dilute with isopropyl alcohol. But; at 14 bucks a bottle, I can make all kinds of browns by varying the ration of dye vs. alcohol