High Shine

[thescot]

I never allowed a brush to touch my boots! the D.I. said that the bristles would leave small scratches, and I believed him. My own method was similar to Woot22's; cool water--sometimes warm if the boots were especially dirty or scuffed--but I only used alcohol on rare occassions and when there was plenty of polish on the boots. The alcohol will dry out the leather if it gets into the leather itself, as will saliva. At least, that's what I've been told. I never burned the polish, but I had shoes that looked a lot like patent leather, at least in the dark. Mine werenever the shiniest, perhaps, but the shine would last, even if scuffed a little.

I always use a soft, cotton cloth around my index and middle finger, something like a handkerchief or a sock or a diaper. Dip into the water in the Kiwi lid, dip in the polish, and apply. Breathing will add a bit of moisture as you rub in small circles.

There are two important things to remember:

1. lay on the polish so that eventually, you are polishing the polish. This must be done in thin layers over time; there is no short cut to a rich, long-lasting shine. You can do it several times a day, but it needs to be done in very thin layers. And

2. be sure to wear the boots or shoes regularly while laying on the polish. Otherwise, it will crack and leave a real mess where the leather creases. One guy in our platoon did just that, and it caused quite a ruckus with the DIs.

One more important trick--when the shoes/boots are brand new, saddle soap them first to get the stuff that comes from the factory off the leather. Then the polish will be going on to the leather from the start and not on to the stuff--whatever it is. We used regular bar soap in bootcamp to get that faux shine off our shoes before we started putting on the shine.

In the Corps, we had to bring the brims of our barracks covers up to a highly polished shine from a pebble grain beginning, and, believe me, it teaches patience. I've been out of uniform over 30 years now, but I can still polish shoes that will pass muster.

[creagdhubh]

As a former active-duty Marine, I have done a wee bit of polishing in my day. I find the best method, is the simplest. I use Kiwi black polish, Kiwi Saddle soap, a smooth cloth, a horsehair brush, and edge (sole) dressing, on my leather shoes. I use the saddle soap to clean and protect the leather, then apply the polish with the smooth cloth - in a circular motion, then use the horsehair brush to buff the shoes. I will conclude by using another smooth cloth to give the shoes a very high shine, then apply the edge dressing to the shoes to give them a shine (and to 'clean' up) as well. Simple is always best!

Cheers,

[Old Hippie]

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

I can say that drinking beer while polishing boots and brass is pleasant but can really mess up your shine.

Actually, I never used water, spit or any other liquid and my shine was always as good as the rest. Except for the guys in the Corframs who just used Windex and a paper towel...

1. Boots/shoes clean and dry. Scuffs/scratches re-coloured before polishing.
2. Good paste polish. Back in the '70s we used Lincoln Wax. Post-Army days I have stuck to Kiwi.
3. Apply it with a dauber: sponge, cloth or whatever. You can use your fingers as we often did when without a dauber, but then you have polish-coloured fingers.
4. First brush with a very soft horsehair or synthetic brush. I still have the very first brush I ever bought at the PX. It has a plastic backing and soft synthetic fibres, and the ends of the fibres are all fuzzed out in split ends. It works a treat.
5. Nylon stockings are first-rate buffers. Besides which, getting a pair is such a fascinating endeavour.
6. Buff well all over, then apply a thin topcoat of polish and buff up the areas again. Make sure to get well in around the lower part of the upper where it meets the sole.
7. Go over the sole edges with polish or other colourant. '70s-vintage US Army combat boot soles used to turn an amazing sky-blue colour when exposed to the mud in the area where I ran a lot of FTXs. The best cure was a large black Magic Marker used to re-colour the sole edges. It also worked as a field expedient to colour in scuffs on the boot toes.

Once you're done that, then have the tea. It's such a joy to take a load of freshly laundered, pressed, cleaned and shined kit and go low crawl through a marsh. You learn to enjoy it while it lasts because you'll be doing it all over tonight.

[James Hood]

Do mirror-shined shoes really reflect up...?

[Father Bill]

Do mirror-shined shoes really reflect up...?

How on earth would any of US know?

[CMcG]

There's some nice tips here and everyone seems to have a variation on the theme. I don't have much to add except that the key ingredients in every shoe shine recipe are elbow grease and time

[Old Hippie]

the key ingredients in every shoe shine recipe are elbow grease and time

Yup. And cleanliness. Clean first. If you're going to use a leather treatment like Lexol or similar, put that on and let it dry overnight before colouring in the scuffs. Otherwise it'll carry the colour away into the leather and you'll need to do it over.

And if a mirror shine is important to you, have a pair of shoes that you only use on those occasions when the shine is the thing. For the rest of it, a noticeable shine and a firm handshake will get you in most places even without a tie.

And just for the record, most places where you'd be tempted to use a shiny toe to "check the linen" are too dark for the reflection to be dependable. There's a good joke about that, though.

[CMcG]

<snip>
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]

...

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!

...

Good point, Colin!

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

Cheers!

Michael

[unixken]

I too, did the Kiwi and water ritual, when active. Today, in the Auxiliary, I am older, wiser, and lazier. I cheat and wear corfams/patent-leather. ;)