Jordan 12 Reverse Taxi

Restoring the Reverse Taxi Air Jordan 12 with RESHOEVN8R

Is There Any Shoe Vick Can’t Fix?

Before you do anything else, make sure you watch the video above, because the pair of Reverse Taxi Jordan 12s that we’re working with today is absolutely COOKED. 

It’s not very often that we come across a pair of Air Jordans that need this much restoration work. Luckily this will give Vick Almighty ample opportunity to teach you how to restore your own pair should they ever get this bad. 

Trust us, you don’t want to let them get this bad…but if they do, RESHOEVN8R has what you need to bring your Jordans back to life. 

Clean Before Anything

Before we start on any of the restorative work, we need to ensure we’re working with a clean, germ-free shoe. After removing the insole and shoelaces (which we’ll clean separately later on), Vick used the Soft Bristle Brush to give the Reverse Taxi Jordan 12 a quick dry brush to remove any loose dirt and dust. 

Dry brushing your sneakers BEFORE cleaning them with water and RESHOEVN8R Sneaker Cleaning Solution is a must. This will prevent you from pushing the dirt deeper into the material as we continue through the sneaker cleaning process.

Now that the loose dust is gone, we can really get after it on the sneakers with our RESHOEVN8R Sneaker Cleaning Solution. Vick started with the Soft Bristle Brush for the upper, and continued to move through the Three Brush Pack with the Medium Bristle Brush on the midsole. 

Generally we’d then move to the Stiff Bristle Brush to scrub the outsole, but in Vick’s experience he’s found that super beat Jordans clean up much nicer with the Brass Bristle Brush. Opting for the Brass Bristle Brush instead of the Stiff Bristle Brush for the outsole was a smart move in this case. 

Cleaning Suede Sneakers in the Washing Machine

Remember the insole and shoelaces that we set aside? Vick used the Medium Bristle Brush to give them a good scrub, and then put the sneaker and all of its pieces into our Sneaker Laundry Bag for a trip through the washing machine. 

After a full wash cycle with some Sneaker Laundry Detergent, the shoes, insole, and shoelaces are as clean as we’re going to get them. 

If you decide to throw your suede sneaker into the washing machine like Vick did here, it’s important to use the Brass Bristle Brush to reset the nap on the suede. Fresh out of the wash the suede is going to be a little crunchy, so using the Brass Bristle Brush is a must. 

Unyellowing Jordan Soles

Despite the soles on the Air Jordan 12 being made from solid rubber, they’ve still experienced some aging and yellowing. To combat this and make the soles white again Vick used our RESHOEVN8R Sole Revive. Using Sole Revive is pretty simple; all Vick had to do was apply a light coat to the soles with a brush, wrap them in Saran Wrap, and stick them in the Vick-2000, which is our indoor UV setup. 

After just one session in the Vick-2000 the soles are bright and white once again. But despite looking much better there are some minor flaws that we still need to fix, namely the slight sole separation on the toe, and the beat-up leather. (Want to win one of these custom setup? Follow us on social media to find out when we’re dropping the hints and when to enter). 

Pro Tips and Detail Work

If you own an older pair of shoes (or wear your shoes a lot) you’ve probably experienced some sort of sole separation. No need to fret, it’s quite an easy fix as Vick demonstrated in our video. He used a knife to remove the old glue and simply glued the sole back into its proper place. 

Prepping the leather for paint is easy too. Vick used both 400 and 600 grit sandpaper to smooth the leather surface and remove some of the old paint, then reapplied some new black paint with a paint brush. 

Want another pro tip from Vick Almighty? If your midsole has some creases in it like shown in the video above, simply take a heat gun to them. This made quick work of those ugly creases and even removed a scratch in the midsole.

Did you notice the missing eyelet on our sneaker? Luckily Vick had a spare pair of Jordan 12s to take an eyelet from, which he did using a dremel. After carefully removing it from the donor pair, he glued the golden eyelet into place on our project pair. An easy fix that could have easily been overlooked. 

After all of that work, our final step is to apply RESHOEVN8R Mink Oil to the suede upper of the sneaker. Vick applied a light coat of Mink Oil and used the Horsehair Brush to rub it through the material. No more ashy suede! 

Have What It Takes to Try For Yourself?

That was quite a lot of restoration work! It was well worth it after seeing how awesome this pair of Reverse Taxi Jordan 12s turned out. The best part of it is that the same RESHOEVN8R products that Vick used to restore these sneakers are available to you. 

There’s no reason why you can’t perform a similar clean and restoration on your own Jordans. So what are you waiting for? 

Would you attempt a restoration like this? Let us know down below. Have you started to restore a pair of your own? We’d love to see them! Use hashtag #reshoevn8tion in your pictures.

Make sure to check back next Monday for more customs and restorations with Vick. 

PSSSST: insider scoop…. Vick Almighty wants to help you restore your kicks. In the next couple weeks you will see links on our website about scheduling a consultation with Vick and he’ll help you through your hardest restoration questions.

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