Shinin Dem Boots

[MrCool]

Ok. I recently bought a pair of new Ridge tactical boots. However, the leather is a little dull and no matter how hard I buff I can't get that nice glossy, I can see my face in 'em shine. I'm afraid I won't pass inspection at the CBP academy. Any ideas on how I can get those babies to shine? Any techniques I'm not aware of?

Fingers falling off,
MrC

[kennethm3]

Kiwi Elite liquid polish. 1 minute per boot gives you a great shine when they dry. You have better things to do with your time than polish boots.

[jaybird]

Here's what I do. If you have plenty of time.... this works for me..

Put a cup of water in the microwave for a minute and heat it up...
Get your cloth etc or whatever you will use to apply the polish, dip it in the water (be careful not to get burned), use Kiwi Parade Gloss....get some kiwi on your cloth, then start polishing with little circles...over and over and over and over, then, when that haze has disappeared and been polished away.....get some Mop and Glow Triple Action and put it over the newly polished area to lock in that shine. Just whipe it on once.

Then with the rest of the shoe, you could use the liquid polish or whatever to give it a nice look.

Warning, doing that everyday gets old.

[MTB_Patrol]

I had quite the business set up polishing shoes and boots on base as a teenager..... I grew up on a Naval Base and my Dad was a Submarine Officer, so I got real good at the military dress quality spit-shine early-on in life. Have you ever seen a pair of Paratrooper jump-boots spit-shined from toe cup to cuff.. WOW!)

The key to getting a good shine, right out of the box, IMO is overlooked by 99% of folks... The "secret" is striping the boots first! new boots are coated with all manner of glop at the factory to preserve and protect them in shipping and storage. you need to get this carp off of the boots and out of the surface pores before any wax is ever going to bond well.... To do so just get some Isopropyl alcohol wet down a white paper towel and wipe the boots down several times, or un till the towels come off clean.

_Then_ you can start polishing in those little circles (actually I prefer "figure-8's").


For my polishing implement properly called a "tampon"(look it up if you dont; belive me ;-), I usually dip a cotton-ball in water and squeeze it out as best I can and start polishing.

But seriously, the best tampon _is_ a tampon. If you are married, just ask your wife, she'll tell you its pure cotton. It's actually better suited than cotton balls because has more material and is bound together by a string so it does not shred like a cotton-ball. Just drop one in a glass of water and after it's done expanding, wring it out and proceed as normal to polish your boots.

As the previous poster stated, "get some kiwi on your cloth, then start polishing with little circles...over and over and over and over",eventually the "Hershey bar"haze will disappear and you will be rewarded with a fine high gloss.

Once you have a good base, it is literally nothing to maintain. I do not top-coat with anything, and my boots only take about 60 second each morning to "restore" back to the high gloss shine.

I keep a small tin of Kiwi and a few cotton-balls in my duty bag just in case I get detailed somewhere important or get called into traffic court. I Just put on a rubber glove,(to keep my hands clean ;-) wet the cotton ball in the water-fountain, and take 30 seconds to do each boot before I walk into the court-room.

[1890to1811]

Patrol really knows what he is talking about. I was a Color Sergeant in the Corps and had to keep a 12 inch shine on my boots. The steps Patrol mentioned will get you there.

BE CAREFUL putting mop and glo on your boots. It will look good till you start to walk or the boot bends where the mop and glo is, then it will crack and look horrible. Not to mention it ruins the leather down the road.

Stick to kiwi parade gloss, if you have a friend in the service going to Korea or in Korea ask them to mail you a few tins of Kangaroo polish, works way better than kiwi.

One last thing that will help you, light the polish on fire like a tiki torch to make it a liquid, quickly blow it out and apply the first few coats while it is in liquid form, helps make the base coats and fill in the pores quicker.

just my 2 cents. good luck