Shoe polish: thoughts, fun facts, questions

[Nomad]

I have read about people putting a brown layer in when polishing a black boot for depth, but I wasn't sure if a black layer when doing a brown boot would be a good idea. It makes sense that it would affect the colour, but I'm betting it would have to be very carefully done so as to avoid blackish streaks or irregularities. Are you saying to do this black layer in between the browns during the buildup of layers, or after an initial bulling of the brown followed by a layer of black and then another brown bulling?

Have done this whilst serving the general rule was one layer of brown to five of black, allegedly better because the brown contained more wax. These are thin layers applied before the buffing stage, although I have tried during the shining stage and it seemed successful. The advent of parade gloss shoe polish killed this practice off as it seemed to contain more wax.

[Tobus]

Regrettably, that area is notorious for 'rejecting' polish, due to ghd creasing. You could try adding an additional sole to the shoe to reduce the creasing (but may be cost prohibitive). Alternatively, try bees wax as a base. A little more flexible as a base, but again, not perfect.
I suffer the same problem with my mil issue brogues.

Keeping polish in the crease area is a problem on all shoes, sure, but those brown brogues seem to have an extra polish-rejecting quality. They don't just crease in one line. The vamp area is very thin, soft, and supple, so the whole thing flexes and just pushes the wax right off. There may also be something about the finish on the leather that's causing the polish not to adhere. I like the suggestion of stepping back to a softer beeswax there, or possibly a cream polish. I guess I just need to keep that area looking soft and satiny and clean, since it will never be able to take a hard glossy bulled shine.

Have done this whilst serving the general rule was one layer of brown to five of black, allegedly better because the brown contained more wax. These are thin layers applied before the buffing stage, although I have tried during the shining stage and it seemed successful. The advent of parade gloss shoe polish killed this practice off as it seemed to contain more wax.

Interesting! I'd like to try that. Will I need to take the existing black polish off first and start over, or can I do this over what's already on there?

On the subject of mixing wax colours in different layers, I'm seriously considering taking my brown Corcoran jump boots down to the original finish and starting over with a black cream polish first, then layers of brown over it. There's a YouTube video that shows how a black cream polish can really add some visual interest to brown boots. He's trying to make cheap boots look more expensive, and maybe he did, but to me it comes across more like an "antiqued" look, very similar to the leather antiquing products I've used before. In the video, he just did black polish over the brown boot and that was it. I'm wanting to do the black first, then layers of brown for a deep, dark character to the leather.

Back on the subject of challenges to achieving a nice mirror-like bulled finish, this is my other problem child: pebble-grain brogues. These are my Sanders uniform brogues that I cleaned up last night to wear to work today. I like the pebble-grain texture and don't want to smooth it down, but it does make it tough to get a glossy finish. Bulling takes forever, since it keeps pulling wax out of the texture (and stitching, and broguing). So I've gone to using a softer cream wax on most of the shoe, with bulling only done at the heel and toe.

[Tobus]

On the subject of mixing wax colours in different layers, I'm seriously considering taking my brown Corcoran jump boots down to the original finish and starting over with a black cream polish first, then layers of brown over it. There's a YouTube video that shows how a black cream polish can really add some visual interest to brown boots. He's trying to make cheap boots look more expensive, and maybe he did, but to me it comes across more like an "antiqued" look, very similar to the leather antiquing products I've used before. In the video, he just did black polish over the brown boot and that was it. I'm wanting to do the black first, then layers of brown for a deep, dark character to the leather.

We had a rainy weekend here, and my wife was at work today, so I took a couple of hours and worked on my boots among other things. I didn't take all the old wax off; I just cleaned them with warm soapy water first. Then I applied a black cream polish, rubbing it in thoroughly to all the nooks and crannies. I probably shouldn't have let it completely dry, because I ended up with some black streaks that wouldn't buff completely out. We'll call it "character". But I opted for cream polish because I wanted to work it into the stitching to turn it nice and black, without having a lot of wax to scrub out. Then I put a couple of layers of brown Kiwi paste wax over it, brushed it vigorously, and re-bulled the toes and heels. I also took the opportunity to rub some mink oil into the laces, which they sorely needed, as they were starting to become stiff.

Thanks for the pointers on this, Blaidd. I do like the deeper colour that it turned out, with more of the oxblood look. You can see below on the inside of the boot (at the top) what the original colour was, compared to the darker finish on the outside that it has now.

After brushing, but before bulling toes/heels:



After bulling:

[Nomad]

Nice pair of boots Tobus and good piece of work on both character and polishing front. I do like the darkening process, it does emphasise the worn in areas of the boots and gives them a bit of extra depth.

[AFS1970]

I use the parade gloss on most of my black shoes. I didn't know it came in brown until I read this thread. Apart from a pair of rarely worn dress shoes, I mostly polish a pair of black work boots. As an aside I found a second reason to keep them polished apart from appearance. As an EMT I have read a couple of uniform policies that require polishing of leather boots to add an additional barrier to the leather against certain contaminants.

I should also tell about my failed experiment with polishing. For years in my office there was an electric shoe polisher in the corner. The sort with two soft brushes that spins fast and really just buffs shoes quickly. So I got the idea that I could get a similar bit for my drill and speed polish the boots. I got it and it appeared to work fine. I went to work, and looking down at my boots saw what looked like dust, then I realized it was far worse than dust, it was little red fibers from the polishing head, that was not lint free. Getting the lint off the boots was somewhat challenging, but I was able to get it eventually.

[OC Richard]

Tobus beat me to it, I was going to post a photo of these Thistle Shoes Scotland "grained" ghillie brogues



which I'm strongly considering ordering.

I wouldn't try to bring them to a shine. I would think "why?" When they look great just as they are.

BTW my grandfather joined the US Army around 1913, the very small peacetime army. He said that the boots were rough-out and yet they brought them to a high polish.

[Tobus]

I wouldn't try to bring them to a shine. I would think "why?" When they look great just as they are.

Those are good-looking shoes. They do appear to have some degree of light shine in the original finish. Wearing them as-is or taking them to a higher shine is, of course, just personal preference.

There are good reasons to polish leather shoes, though. Just like waxing the paint on a car, it will protect the leather from the elements. In arid regions, it also helps keep the leather from drying out and cracking. The wax gets worked into stitching seams to keep them more waterproof. And when you scuff them, shoe polish helps restore colour to the scuffed areas. For the life of the shoe, polishing is what I would consider essential preventive maintenance. They just won't last as long without regularly maintaining the finish, and a polish is the standard for that purpose. It doesn't necessarily require a high shine; the amount of shine you get really depends on the method you use to apply the polish.

Grained leather isn't really conducive to building up thick layers of wax, so I do agree that they're not the kind of shoes that could (or should) be bulled to a mirror finish unless you flatten the grain like the military guys do. In which case, why bother with buying grained leather? The toes do have some natural flattening of the grain when they are stretched around the last, which is why I like to bull the toes only. The rest of the grained leather just gets enough polish and brushing to gleam a little and show off the texture. The natural dulling of the polish happens within a couple of days.