New Shoe Care Question

[Talltexan]

I just bought a new pair of Rockport Captoe shoes in black. They are waterproof and super comfortable. I bought shoe trees and a polishing cream they sold there at Rockport.

My question is, how do I shine my new shoes? I would like a step by step guide to applying the shoe shine. Also, where do I buy a shoe shine kit? How much are they?

What do I need to buy for my kit exactly?

I can post photos of my shoes and the polish if needed.


Thank you!

Best,
Jerry

 

[BRuhling]

What is your goal with shining? Are you trying to get a nice mirror finish on your shoes? If so, you are looking to "spit" shine. This requires very different equipment than does the alternative when you just want a buff/brush shine. Either method will protect the leather, but the time commitment and effort of the former is MUCH greater...

 

[Talltexan]

I am looking for a spit shine technique. Do you have a way to do it step by step?

Jerry

 

[gorgehiker]

check this thread its just what your looking for.

 

[tsacain]

The thread "gorgehiker" listed is great.
But my method is:
Clean with a damp cloth
Brush with old horse hair brush from my grandfather
use a strip of old haines t-shirt and load with clear(natural) wax. (I either dip the cloth in a little bit of water first or I spit on the boot for lube)
rub wax in tiny circles into parts you want shiny. (If you did not dip the t-shirt in a little bit of water spit on the boot helps)
after a few coats, take a longer (I use 20ish+ inch doubled over) strip of t-shirt and polish the waxed part back and forth quickly.
If more shine is needed repeat wax and polish.

 

[Devilpup]

The method I use for spit shine is as fallows
1-clean shoe thoroughly (I use a boot brush)
2-apply kiwi black parade gloss to shoes (I use a small horse hair brush, do small circles and apply liberal amounts.
3-take lighter and run red flame over surface of wax (should be shiny for a short period of time after then will fog up)
4-we small strip of flannel and go over entire shoe in small circles (use a decent amount of water)
5- take dry flannel strip and go over it again making sure to get any wax that still on off (you should have an ok shine by now)
6 - using same strip hold shoe between knees and buff both heel and toe (one end of each strip in each ands and move left and right as fast as possible)
7- take a pair of woman's nylons and rub down entire shoe until pretty good shine is achieved
8- but with nylons in similar way to step 6 you should have good shine now
9- repeat as many times as necessary it will usually take 3-5 to get a good initial shine.

You may want to get a little practice with the lighter on an older pair of shoes, If you burn the polish instead of melting it, it can add a lot of work to undo. I hope this helps, this is how I do it for my NROTCMO uniform