Tarrago Leather Paint 011 Bordeaux – 25ml Deep Wine-Red Dye

Description

Tarrago Leather Paint 011 Bordeaux – 25ml Deep Wine-Red Dye

A dark, blackened wine-red rather than a bright letterbox red, Bordeaux is the shade most people reach for when a pair of oxblood shoes or boots has faded, scuffed or gone patchy under years of everyday wear. Deglazer is included in the same box, so the whole repair can be done from one small order.

This colour has more depth to it than the name might suggest at first glance. Held next to a genuine oxblood upper, it reads properly dark, closer to dried claret than cherry, with just enough red left in it to avoid tipping into plain brown or maroon. That balance is exactly why it works so well on brogues, monk straps and the darker end of boot leather.

Toe scuffing and colour loss along the vamp are the two things that usually give a Bordeaux shoe away first, long before the rest of the upper looks tired, and both respond well once the surface has been properly stripped back with the included deglazer. Office shoes in particular take a battering from underneath a desk, catching against chair legs and skirting boards for months at a time, and the toe cap is almost always the first place the original dye wears thin.

A lot of people assume a dark shoe like this hides wear better than a pale one, and while that is broadly true for the first year or so, blackened reds actually show scuffing quite clearly once the underlying leather starts to show through, since the contrast between bare leather and a rich wine-red is much sharper than between bare leather and a mid brown.

The 25ml pot costs £11.99 and comes with a matching 25ml deglazer bottle, so nothing else needs to be bought before starting the repair.

Reasons to keep Bordeaux in your shoe care kit

• Oxblood and burgundy shoes are a mainstay of formal footwear, so this pot tends to see steady, repeated use rather than sitting untouched after the first repair.
• The dark, blackened red sits between plain brown and true burgundy, avoiding the slightly cheap, overly bright look that a mismatched red paint can leave on formal leather.
• A single thin coat, left to cure properly, will usually hide light scuffing on the toe box completely, and two coats deal with deeper, more established colour loss.
• Because the finish is self shine, there is no need for a separate polish afterwards. A soft brush or cloth buff once it has cured overnight brings up a natural, appropriate sheen for formal shoes.
• It layers cleanly over the factory finish once that has been broken down, so touch-ups blend into the surrounding leather rather than sitting as a visibly different patch.
• It resists the daily rubbing that formal shoes get from trouser hems and car pedals far better than a wax-based colour restorer, since the pigment cures into a flexible film rather than sitting loosely on the surface.

How to apply it properly

1. Remove the laces and support the toe area with paper or a shoe tree.
2. Wipe the whole upper with the deglazer on a clean cloth to strip the old finish.
3. Allow five full minutes for the deglazer to evaporate before continuing.
4. Brush on a thin, even first coat, working from the toe back towards the heel.
5. Wait around forty minutes and assess whether a second coat is needed.
6. Inspect the toe box and heel counter carefully under daylight.
7. Leave the shoes to cure overnight before wearing or polishing them again.

My tip as a shoe specialist

Formal Bordeaux shoes are usually finished with a light wax polish on top of the factory dye, and skipping the deglazer step because the leather looks clean is the single most common reason this paint fails to bond properly. Wax residue sits invisibly on the surface even after a normal clean, so give the deglazer stage the full five minutes it needs rather than rushing straight to the brush, and check the toe cap specifically since that is where old polish tends to build up thickest over time.

Specifications

• Pigment volume: Bordeaux, 25ml
• Second container: Deglazer at 25ml
• Number in range: 011
• Reading from the card: Dark, blackened wine-red
• Sticks to: Leather, coated canvas, most synthetics
• Handy elsewhere on: Belts and burgundy leather accessories
• Brush and pad: Both included in the box
• Wait before wearing: Around twelve hours
• Ticket price: £11.99 including deglazer

Frequently asked questions

Is this the same as oxblood?

Close enough to work for almost every oxblood shoe on the market, since both sit in the same dark, blackened red family, though as always I would test a small hidden area first because factory oxblood tones vary slightly from one shoemaker to the next, and some run a touch darker or a touch more brown than others.

Will it look too bright or too red on my formal shoes?

No, that is precisely the shade this was formulated to avoid. Bordeaux reads properly dark and slightly blackened rather than bright red, so it stays appropriate for formal brogues and monk straps rather than looking like a fashion colour.

Where can I buy Tarrago Leather Paint 011 Bordeaux in the UK?

You can order Tarrago Leather Paint 011 Bordeaux directly from Shoespecialist.co.uk. We offer free delivery on orders over £50, same-day dispatch when you order before 5pm, and a 60-day return policy.