Best brogues for the best price?

[wildrover]

Oh, it can be done. I can get a mirror shine on Docs with not too much work. Not the 'greasy' leather, obviously, but the hard leather will take a wonderful shine.

Ok, I guess I can see that. I was thinking more of the classic Docs...mine are so soft now they're like sneakers. They make awesome garage shoes, now.

[artificer]

Ok, I guess I can see that. I was thinking more of the classic Docs...mine are so soft now they're like sneakers. They make awesome garage shoes, now.

Even with the really USED ones, Kiwi, rubbing alcohol, beeswax, spit and a match or two will allow you to get a near mirror finish. It gets less easy when the boots are truly beaten though.

[wildrover]

Even with the really USED ones, Kiwi, rubbing alcohol, beeswax, spit and a match or two will allow you to get a near mirror finish. It gets less easy when the boots are truly beaten though.

Mind giving me the rundown on all that? I can do Kiwi, spit and a cotton ball...the rest I'm not sure of.

[artificer]

It's a very time consuming process to revive truly battered boots. I learned it in college from my roommate (who was in the service) and I got good enough at it that I'd end up polishing his boots for beer.

1) clean boots, if needed strip off old wax using the rubbing alcohol and a clean cloth. This isn't needed often, but you don't want get huge amounts of build up either.

2) pour a tiny amount of rubbing alcohol into the tin of Kiwi, light. It should be a small enough amount that it won't burn for more than 10-15 seconds. You DON'T want the polish to burn, only to melt the top 1/8" or so.

3) Give the boots a GOOD coat of melted Kiwi. If you've got gouges in the toes, etc, you can melt some beeswax mixed with polish into them. Allow the polish to dull and any 'filler' to solidify.

If you've stripped the boots down, you may need to build up a few coats of polish before you get to the 'shine' stage.

4) Buff like a madman. Using a very soft cloth (scrap of flannel, undershirt, old diaper or old gym sock) continually buff in small circles until you've got a good shine over the whole boot. A boot brush can be used if you prefer.

5) SHINE- using a tiny bit of water (I like an ACTUAL spit shine) slightly dampen a VERY soft clean cloth/cotton ball and lightly but vigorously buff until you get the mirror finish you're looking for.

This can take upwards of two hours for a new or badly treated pair of boots.

I've been told some people apply COLD Kiwi polish in large amounts and then hair dry heat it for the same effect.