Leather care - Shoe shining products

Discover all the shoe care and polishing products in the Saphir Médaille d'Or range.

Saphir Médaille d'Or is renowned for the excellent quality of its shoe care products.

Here you will find the range of shoe polish, brushes & accessories and also access to our shoe polishing workshops.

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The Importance of Shoe Polish Products

Leather care is an essential step if you want to extend the lifespan of a pair of shoes. Indeed, even a pair of high-quality leather shoes will not age properly without adequate maintenance. That’s why we are committed to offering you the best shoe polish products.

Saphir, the Benchmark for Shoe Polish Products

Since its founding in 1920, Saphir has continuously invented innovative and impeccably high-quality products for leather care. It notably stood out in 1925 by winning the gold medal at the Paris Universal Exposition for its products, including the luxury paste, still recognized as the best high-end shoe polish. The French brand remains the global leader in care products today and continues to be a favorite among enthusiasts. It is often found under the “Beauté du cuir” range.

The Médaille d'Or range is the pinnacle of Saphir’s extensive shoe polish collection. It brings together the most advanced care products. We offer you the essential products from this range: this way, you can extend the life of your shoes and bags while ensuring their beautification and the development of a beautiful patina.

The Qualities of Shoe Polish Products

The word “shoe polish” is actually a misnomer. It covers products that maintain shoes, but also other products with a “cosmetic” purpose. Discover the different benefits of each shoe polish product.

Using Shoe Polish to Extend the Lifespan of Shoes

Whether you own an entry-level or luxury pair of shoes, none will age properly without good care. For this, the lotions and cream pots from Saphir are globally recognized and approved. They are especially known for their nourishing properties, and their use revives colors. Thus, the nourishing lotion, the colorless renovator, and the pomade creams allow oils to penetrate and deeply nourish the leather of your shoes. This helps prevent the appearance of cracks on the flex points, which often signal the end of life for a pair. Moreover, focusing on the flex points with polish products during care (meaning not applying too much, but going over them again) helps to reduce them.

Use the products at varying frequencies depending on wear so your shoes stay like new for a long time.

Shoe polish for unmatched shine

Historically, authentic shoe polish is a wax paste made of hard waxes. It is an iconic product because of the exceptional shine it provides.

A shoe polish paste does not nourish and remains on the surface, which means it must be removed before conditioning. The luxury Saphir Médaille d’Or shoe polish paste stands out for its high concentration of natural waxes (notably beeswax). When applied to shoes, it waterproofs them and helps protect the leather from external aggressions. Once applied, warm it up with a horsehair brush. You will quickly achieve a very high shine.

This product can also be applied in thin layers on the edges of shoes, heels, and soles to protect and restore their matte appearance. Brown shoe polish and black shoe polish are the most common, as they apply to the majority of shoes.

Finally, the polish paste is ideal for creating your glazes. This technique, popular among shoe enthusiasts, allows you to achieve a shine with a more or less pronounced “mirror” effect.

Shoe polish guarantees your elegance

Shoe polish is a very popular product and has been for centuries, for a simple reason: properly polishing your shoes is an essential rule of elegance. This rule is even stricter in the military, and failing to follow it can earn you long chores! So, before a meeting, event, interview, or parade, apply some shoe polish and buff with a brush or cloth. You will greatly improve the appearance of your shoes, which shows your good taste and the care you take with elegance.

The steps for shoe care

Shoe care is not complicated, but it varies depending on the type of leather. There are specific suede polishes, for smooth leather, grained leather… Here are the main steps for smooth leathers, the most common.

You should always start care by cleaning the leather. Use a slightly damp cloth, or ideally a natural stiff-bristle brush to dust off the shoe and partially remove old polish. Then, apply a cleaning milk like Saphir lotions for a deep clean.

Next, you will need to nourish the leather with an appropriate shoe polish product. Among those mentioned earlier, choose one based on the level of hydration desired (low, moderate, or strong), the renovator being the strongest. You can also add some grease or cream to nourish the waxed thread to preserve it. Apply the products with a chamois cloth, a palot brush, or a pommadier brush.

Shoe care is complete at this stage, but if you want to go further and polish your shoes, apply a shoe polish paste to your pair and buff to shine.