I have learnt two things about the colour blue. One was just interesting, another useful. But both got me thinking about experimenting with shoe polish.

The first fact: when icing a white cake, you should add blue food colouring. This is because it neutralises the yellow of the butter to provide a bright white finish (as seen here).

Second, blue can be used to darken too. Many men wear midnight blue jackets as evening wear as under artificial light it can look blacker than black. This is particularly useful if you expect to be photographed with a flash.

I am no expert in colour theory, but these two independently learnt facts collided as I was putting on my black Oxfords a couple of weeks ago. I am working hard to develop a long lasting shine on my shoes, but would a couple of layers of blue deepen the colour?

So I asked around my friends and colleagues and found that some people use green to develop a different colouration on black. But it was Lodger founder Nate (it is always Nate) who pushed the envelope. “Cherry red polish looks great on a mid-brown shoe,” he said, fully aware that I have recently acquired a pair of mid-brown cap toes from his store.

Dare I experiment on them? The trick, it seems, is to gradually add a layer or two in the middle of a polishing session to subtly make the change. If you don’t like it, a couple of layers of your normal shade (or even a neutral wax) will eradicate the damage. You can also use a cleansing milk to take a layer or two of wax off.

Or you can leave your expensive mid-brown shoes in their box and leave the lid on the cherry red polish. Instead, you can get a dark blue and experiment on your much cheaper black shoes. That is what I am going to do. I know it makes me look paranoid, but I am wary of change.

I’m the kind of guy that leaves the protective film on his mobile phone on for as long as possible, so, much as I trust Nate, I am going to take this one slowly.