Tarrago Air Force Blue Shoe Cream 058 – Mid Blue Cream 50ml

Description

Tarrago Air Force Blue Shoe Cream 058 – Mid Blue Cream 50ml – a strong mid blue that the Spanish wrapper calls stewardess blue, 50ml, for smooth uppers, and for the dry windy days that blast everything with dust

Dry weather gets treated as safe weather, and it is not. A hard easterly across an open pavement carries dust, pollen and whatever the road is shedding, and it drives all of it into the grain at ankle height. Nothing looks dramatic afterwards. The shoe simply goes flat, loses its depth over a fortnight of wind, and you put it down to age rather than to the weather.

The English name is Air Force Blue, the Spanish wrapper says azul azafata, which means stewardess blue, and between them the two of them describe it rather well. This is a confident mid blue, denim leaning towards royal, clearly lighter than navy and clearly deeper than a pastel. Uniform blue is the fairest short description of it.

Nothing hidden here at all: see through sides, fifty millilitres of cream, a black cap, £5.99.

Why choose the tarrago air force blue shoe cream 058 50ml?

• Sized for uniform blue, which is hard to buy for. Mid blue leather turns up on cabin crew shoes, on cadet and service footwear and on a good deal of smart casual, and almost nobody makes a cream for it. Most blue creams are navy. This one genuinely sits in the middle of the range.
• It lifts the flatness that wind causes. Dust driven into the grain scatters light and dulls the colour without leaving a mark you can point at. Cream fills the grain back up and the depth returns, which is a much bigger visual change than the effort involved would ever suggest.
• Carnauba builds a surface that resists the next lot. A waxed surface holds far less airborne grit than a dry one, so the treatment does not only repair, it also buys you time. That is the argument for doing it before a dry windy spell rather than afterwards, when the damage is already done.
• Useful on the eyelet stay and the facings. Dust collects worst around the lacing, where a brush struggles and a cloth cannot reach. A bud carrying a little cream will clean and colour that strip in one movement, and it is usually the part of a blue shoe that has aged most.
• Beeswax keeps the flex comfortable. Dry air stiffens leather almost as effectively as heat does. The beeswax in the blend goes in behind the pigment and keeps the vamp bending easily, so the shoe feels as it did rather than merely looking better than it did.
• Clear pot, dark screw cap, nothing supplied. A single glance tells you how much is left. The top threads shut, the shade is set out on the label in a run of languages, and the number sits alongside it. A cloth and a brush are entirely your own department, since neither is enclosed.

How to use the tarrago air force blue shoe cream 058 50ml

Wind damage is cumulative rather than sudden, so this is a treatment you do on a schedule rather than in response to an accident. Once a month through a long dry spell is about right.

1. Brush the dust out of the grain and the seams.
2. Wipe over with a cloth wrung out almost bone dry.
3. Give the leather a good twenty minutes to lose the damp.
4. Prime a clean pad with a modest dab of cream.
5. Work it across the panels, then around the facings.
6. Leave it five minutes and then brush it up firmly.

My tip as a shoe specialist

Do the eyelet stay with a cotton bud before you touch the rest of the shoe, and do it with the laces out. That narrow strip beside the lace holes takes the most handling of any part of the upper and gets the least attention, so on a blue shoe it is usually a full shade paler than the panel next to it. Correcting it first means you can match everything else to it, rather than discovering right at the end that one strip refuses to catch up with the rest. It takes about ninety seconds and it changes the whole shoe.

Specifications

Product details

• Cast: Mid uniform blue
• Index: 058, Air Force Blue
• Quantity: 50ml per jar
• Ingredients: Natural waxes, carnauba led
• Intended for: Smooth uppers and trim
• Outcome: Even denim blue, low sheen
• Interval: Monthly in dry spells
• Brand name: Tarrago, a Spanish maker
• Ticket: £5.99 for the 50ml

Frequently asked questions

Is Air Force Blue lighter than navy?

Considerably lighter. It is a mid blue in the denim to royal region, and the difference beside shade 017 is obvious in daylight. If your shoe is genuinely dark, this one will lighten it rather than restore it.

Why does the label say stewardess blue?

Because the Spanish name is azul azafata, and Tarrago print the range in several languages. It is the same shade, simply described by a different uniform.

Will it stain white stitching?

It can if you are careless. Keep the cloth off the seam, use a bud along the edges, and lift any stray cream at once with a damp rag.

Where can I buy the tarrago air force blue shoe cream 058 50ml in the UK?

Shoespecialist.co.uk holds it in stock for you. Anything paid for while the working afternoon is still under five goes out that day, the delivery line disappears above £50, and sixty days remain for a return.