Neutral Wax: Use It or Lose It?

Neutral wax is not for shoe shine novices. Far too often novices use it thinking they have found the Holy-Grail one-color-fits-all all wax polish, only to later ruin their new shoes by stripping its finish and/or having white residue form throughout any crease points in the shoe. And that's why it's not for novices.
Neutral wax is a finishing wax. That means you use it to complete your shine, not start your shine or use it for your entire shine process. It is a complementary product but nothing more.
Therefore it is good to have for that reason only, but never have it thinking you are smart to have one wax for all color shoes. You will only have yourself to blame if/when you ruin your shoes.
Waxes by Saphir: saphir.com/
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[@Maitreya0208]

I’m very skilled and know exactly what I’m doing…and this 👆 is absolutely correct. Neutral wax can be especially problematic is you are mirror-shining a toe cap right to the edge of the cap. Just a tiny bit too much will cause a noticeable white buildup at the seam of the cap. Great advice, Justin.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thanks for sharing! And my pleasure 🙏

[@russ9921]

I was advised by a professional shoe shiner to use dark blue wax on black shoes as it deepens the shine. It does work.

[@theshoesnob_official]

I know the trick myself ;-)

[@neilmackel]

Thanks for the heads up. 👍

[@theshoesnob_official]

My pleasure

[@gritsteel4559]

I am a novice, and one day, I noticed white residues on my shoes too late - i.e. I was already outside walking in them ! Grrr ... I correctly deduced that it was the Saphir neutral polish (I don't know about other brands) ... I had to heat up my shoes to remove traces of it and repolish with the proper color. What irked me more is that I used it on 2 more pairs, so I had to do the same for the other two.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thanks for sharing. Its not about brand. Its the nature of neutral wax in general. Meant to be applied later. Not as a starter polish. But we often learn the hard way, me included ;-)

[@SALTINECRACKUH]

Same for neutral shoe cream?

[@theshoesnob_official]

Better and easier to use but can still strip the finish if one is not careful

[@alternateunreleasedshellac505]

but, is natural cream ok? I'm less than a novice in shoe care.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Yea cream is okay but always best not used in excess

[@alternateunreleasedshellac505]

@@theshoesnob_official thanks.

[@mahirhaque1801]

I used neutral wax on my walnut Allen Edmonds strands and boy was that a mistake. The coloured cream came off and the dark spots are even more pronounced.

[@theshoesnob_official]

@@mahirhaque1801 thanks for sharing and hope that you were able to fix it!

[@mahirhaque1801]

@theshoesnob_official I have no idea on how to get rid of the dark spots to be honest.

[@theshoesnob_official]

@@mahirhaque1801 yea thats a tougher job. Hard to remove dark spots on tan shoes. Wish I had a remedy for you but that usually requires an expert fix

[@pgopal6]

Thanks for sharing this insight. I have a few custom patina shoes from 7L. If not neutral wax, what would you recommend using on them? Thank you as always… Cheers!

[@theshoesnob_official]

My pleasure. I always shine patina shoes with the closes color lightest wax i.e. tan. Wax doesnt hold much pigment so the chances of changing the color are pretty slim unless you are really trying to.

[@frankv7068]

Now I know 👍🏽

[@theshoesnob_official]

🙏

[@Klingsohr]

How about museum calf? Isn't neutral wax recommended in this case?

[@theshoesnob_official]

Especially dont use it on museum calf which is not as delicate as people think. I always use a colored wax on museum calf. A lighter cream is one thing but a colored wax for sure

[@Klingsohr]

@@theshoesnob_official good to know, thank you! Some shoemakers do recommend neutral waw for museum calf, so they might need to revise their guidelines!

[@theshoesnob_official]

@@Klingsohr yes they should

[@ForTheLoveOfSuits]

Does that include shoe cream like Saphir neutral cream?

[@theshoesnob_official]

Shoe cream is less harsh but if used in excess can also cause issue. But more often than not its fine, especially Saphir's. I use theirs ;-)

[@marekm9609]

Not to be "that guy" but there's a typo in the title :) Appreciate all the videos though!

[@theshoesnob_official]

Not at all, I appreciate it!

[@MauricXe]

What about museum leather? What would you recommend instead?

[@theshoesnob_official]

Answered below in another comment ;-)

[@MrKudosx]

You won't see white residue if you don't use too much and use a cloth after brushing to get the extra taken off.

[@theshoesnob_official]

Hence saying that novices should avoid. They wont know this until they become better shiners.

[@gagecarty4290]

Is that why people who shine shoes for a living never have neutral color shoe polish 😮

[@theshoesnob_official]

Maybe ;-)

[@HaErBeSo]

That’s not my experience. Just use a tiny bit and polish everyday. Using a tiny bit will never lead to white residu. The warmth of your feet will have the wax impregnate the leather. I have had a miltary career and wax (every so often colored wax) worked great.

[@theshoesnob_official]

You sound like you are not a novice which is what I mentioned in the video. But thanks for sharing

[@taimurchoudhry.]

Absolutely True!!!!

[@kaikaichen]

Not that I own any, but what would you recommend for shoes that have an elaborate custom patina for which one cannot ‘color match’?

[@theshoesnob_official]

@@kaikaichen sorry just saw this now. I always used the lightest wax in the patina. Most waxes pigments are not strong. So.if the lightest color is tan, i use that. It wont change a blue or burgundy color on the shoe

[@angrywargamer8836]

Thank you! I had no idea.

[@theshoesnob_official]

My pleasure

[@kbrett2004]

Great advice!

[@theshoesnob_official]

Thanks!

[@upsbear]

Thank you

[@theshoesnob_official]

My pleasure