High Shine

[CMcG]

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Does anybody have any pearls of wisdom about shoe shining and tea drinking or anything else which would be enlightening?

As I recently got a new pair of shoes (thread HERE) I've been working on the shine and have come to a bit of a realization because I actually got them shiny enough to see my face in the reflection.

First, a quick base coat done by applying polish with a rag, letting it dry a bit, then buffing it off with a horsehair brush. Second, a couple intermediate coats done by wrapping a rag tightly around two fingers, wetting it with water, and applying a small amount of polish in little circles until the shoe is covered in decidedly un-shiny swirls. Again, buff with the horsehair brush.

At this point, the shoes were shiny, but I could only see my face as a kind of blob with no details. The final step is where I had my epiphany: when doing the final shine, I need to use less pressure and more time in order to get the polish to undergo its magic transformation.

The process is the same as the intermediate coats, the difference being that I just keep gently going over the same area until the friction slowly warms everything and starts to dry out the cloth. At a certain point where the cloth is almost dry, the polishing changes into something sort of almost obsidian-looking. At this point I stop, because any more will dry the cloth out completely and start to scratch the finish.

I suppose this is not new to anyone who is really good at polishing shoes, but I never realized just how little pressure, how little polish, and how much time it takes!

As for drinking tea, I was doing that while polishing but I don't use spit for the shine, just plain water. My advice about tea is to put good Chinese loose leaf (iron buddha, jasmine, dragon well, six safeties, etc) in a tea pot, pour in water that is slightly less than boiling, quickly discard the first brew, refill the pot, allow to brew for just a minute of two, pour into cups and enjoy.

[saxandpipes]

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I suppose this is not new to anyone who is really good at polishing shoes, but I never realized just how little pressure, how little polish, and how much time it takes!

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Good point, Colin!

I think one of the mistakes people most commonly make, is too much polish.

Cheers!

Michael