Shoe shines

Who can tell me about shining shoes?

I know the basics of using Kiwi Black paste and buffing with a brush but that's it. I don't know about the liquid shoe shine bottles or anything more than a two step process of 1. Apply paste, 2. Buff off paste with brush.

Is there more that I need to know?

We need Mark in here STAT!

All I know is that when I was a young kid it was my job in the house to clean out the fire place and to shine the shoes. I used to love doing this but I don't remember much more than : put down newspaper, one brush for putting on the polish from the tin, leave shoes for a while, buff up with other brush to a high-shine.

Really depends on the end result you are looking for as there are several tips I learned in the days when we still had to polish our boots.

1st off, skip the liquid polish bottles. They are pretty much useless and very messy.

For a basic shine, I would clean the shoe or boot with a damp cloth. When dry I would apply the polish with a brush, let dry, buff out with a brush, and finally buff/ polish using an old t-shirt. You can repeat this as needed to get the desired base of polish built up, especially if the shoes are new.

For a really good shine, I would apply the polish with a damp cotton ball in very small circles. After this just follow the remainder of the steps above.

I have seen guys melt the polish in using lighters, heat guns, etc and this seemed to work for them but never really seemed worth the effort for me.

If you have a lot of old polish built up on the shoe or boot, you may want to consider stripping all the old polish off and starting fresh.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=57369

Part of the "Essentials" series.

Thanks guys, I'm learning.

1. open can
2. set match to it
3. put lid on to extinguish flame
4. put piece of old tee shirt into the melted polish
5. apply liberally to shoes
6. buff with brush
7. buff with brush

Polish is paste now, no longer liquid yet may be quite soft. That's okay.

Take clean cloth and with it wrapped around your finger LIGHTLY get some polish by barely tracing a circle around the polish.

Dip that what's on your ragged finger into a cup of ice water. Yes, ice. Start slowly rubbing circles into your shoes. It dries out, add more water. Keep going. No more polish yet. Not until you've done this several times. Keep going. Okay, now a TINY bit of polish. Water. You'll get the hang of it and may use just plain water to buff and polish to a brilliant shine.

Should work. It's been years since I've polished any shoes in this manner, I could have missed a step somewhere.

BTW, it takes a while to do it this way. Once done, maintenance isn't so bad.

onadraw said:

Who can tell me about shining shoes?

I know the basics of using Kiwi Black paste and buffing with a brush but that's it. I don't know about the liquid shoe shine bottles or anything more than a two step process of 1. Apply paste, 2. Buff off paste with brush.

Is there more that I need to know?

Click to expand...

After cleaning them, if that is needed, I will use a polish dauber to apply a thin coat, then brush off, I repeat the process and then I use a shine cloth....usually by putting the shoe on my foot to hold it...that is all about i do...

i use two brushes....one that is good and the other one is really good...

i do not have the time to sit and spit shine for hours....by using this method, i get a good shine that last a good while...

hope this helps...

First place, dump the Kiwi and find a can of Lincoln. Especially the black is the best polish I have found.

a little off topic, but when and how do you use saddle soap on leather shoes?

1. Ignite the polish and then extinguish
2. Dip old shirt in melted polish then in water (I used to fill the lid of the polish with water for this)
3. Rub with your thumb or index and middle finger using VERY small circles. Use a new part of the shirt periodically.
4. Repeat 1-3
5. See #4
6. See #4

Keep at it. It takes a long time, but believe me, you can get shoes looking like a mirror with this method. I made a lot of money in boot camp polishing boots. $25-50 a pair and it would take an hour or two easily, but I promise you the shiniest boots in Ft. Benning. I polished two of the drill sergeant's boots this way and they even paid up.

This is only worth it if you are looking to get mirrors on your toes. For just a regular polish, use a brush to buff off.

timmy said:

a little off topic, but when and how do you use saddle soap on leather shoes?

Click to expand...

i always applied it with an old toothbrush. Then I wet the brush with running water and brush the shoes clean...then i let the shoes sit away from artifical heat and let dry naturally....

then i shine them...

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdb1x2vQ2Z0[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU1vOE4RaMk[/YOUTUBE]

This is a pretty good guide

http://www.ehow.com/how_31_shine-shoes.html

A few tips from my many years spent in military schools and in the Navy.
If you spit shine, don't use saliva, just use a drop or 2 of water when needed.
Don't ignite the polish on the shoes or in the can, it just burns off the wax. Wax is good.
Apply with a pre-moistened 100% cotton ball, cotton/poly balls will scratch the shine.
Don't buff, just keep working with the cotton ball.

The real message here:
It's just like shaving.
Pick one method - it almost doesn't matter which one.
Change one thing, and one thing only, at a time, to try to make it better. Compare it to the result you had the time before - or, on the other shoe.

Whatever works best, keep doing it a few times. Then, change just one thing to see if you get a better result, or not.

Light the polish, don't light the polish, burn it for a second, float the tin in hot water, do it in full sun, put them in the oven with polish on for 20 minutes... there is more voodoo around polishing shoes than there is in improving fuel economy.

Anyway, it's 2010 not 1910 - chances are you're the only person you know who will either care or notice!

- From a guy who'se about to outsource shoe polishing to his elder son! I did enough of it in boarding school & army, thanks!

Spent the last hour or so of yesterday sitting in the setting early summer sun with my kids, they were polishing their schoolshoes while I polished two pairs of boots (1 x RM Williams, 1 x 1990 Australian Army "GP"), and cleaned with saddlesoap two pairs of Docs. After which I polished the cherry red docs with "rejuvenating polish" which is more dye than shoe polish, and put dubbin onto the "greasy leather finish" pair.

An hour or so well spent! But I probably should do it more often (especially if you go looking at those cherry red docs... which really need the whole process repeated a few times).

I wouldn't melt shoe shine/cream if you're new to it. You need to be minute and make sure the layers are even if you do that, or else you end up with spotty work and different shades of colour.

best basic mrthod I know: apply cream, let it rest for at least a few minutes preferably houra. Buff off with nylon pantyhose. Yes that's right. Light, breezy, fast wipes with stretched nylon pantyhose does the trick, just you try it. I have one pantyhose leg for each box of cream in my shoeshine box (black, brown and neutral). Massaging in cream with fingers works best as a basic method if you have time to clean up afterwards. Or use disposable latex gloves.

Excuse any typos, I'm on my mobile.

Personally, I believe that "How to Shine a Shoe" and "How to Properly Polish a Shoe" should be considered separate concepts. If you're looking to shine a shoe, you need all of a few minutes; to properly polish one, on the other hand, can take hours, especially if the shoe is brand new.

First, you need to clean the leather. This is especially the case if your shoe hasn't had a proper polishing yet, but even if it's new, a good cleaning will do no harm. I like Lexol, but most any leather cleaner on the market will suit you fine.

Cleaning:

- Brush the shoe vigorously with either a dry, lint-free cloth or a high-quality horsehair brush to remove loose dirt and debris.

- Using either a dampened (but not wet) brush or rag, liberally scrub the shoe with the leather cleaner of your choice. For the welts, use a smaller brush or a toothbrush.

- Dry the shoe with a lint-free, all-cotton rag of your choice. You can let the shoe dry for a bit in a warm place if you so choose, but if it's dry to the touch, you should be good to go.

Conditioning:

- Some suggest that you condition the leather AFTER applying a wax polish. Personally, I don't see the logic in that because I don't see how the conditioner can penetrate the leather. In any case, a modest application of mink or neatsfoot oil should be all you need. Many say let it sit for fifteen minutes to an hour; I say let it sit overnight, if not two nights.

Initial Polishing:

- Use Lincoln, Angelus or GTFO I'm just really not a fan of Kiwi. Not only does it not give as good of a shine, IMO; it doesn't protect as well, either. Meltonian is fine here, too, but keep in mind that you won't achieve as of a high-gloss with a cream conditioner/polish as you would a wax polish.

- Using either your bare hands, a latex-gloved hand, an old white t-shirt or a polish applicator brush, apply a modest coating of wax polish to your shoes in small circular motions. Take your time; this ain't a race. Use a small polish brush or a toothbrush to get in the welts.

- Let the shoe sit in a preferably warm spot for thirty minutes to an hour.

- Buff with a cotton rag or horsehair brush.

That procedure is enough to keep most folks happy. If you're looking for better, though...

Spit-Shine:

- After the initial coat of polish has had a chance to dry, pour a small amount of water into the empty lid of the polish can.

- Light can of polish on fire.

- Call fire department.

- Save leather shoes; it's every man or woman for his or herself.

- Explain to fire department why you set the house on fire with a can of shoe polish.

- Amongst the embers of your livelihood, dip a small part of your rag into the polish; just enough to get it a little damp. Then, dip that part into a small bit of polish; be modest.

- Again, in small circular motions, go over the shoe thoroughly.

- Let it sit for about fifteen minutes.

- Buff with a clean, dry, lint-free cloth or brush.

- Do it again.

- And again.

- One more time.

- LOL.

- ???

- Profit!

- ...

Do the last steps as many times as necessary to achieve the shine you're looking for.