dangerous boot polish

ok is there any reason my boots are not polishing? at all? i stripped them and everything... is the whipped cream thing.. is that a polishing technique??? or what.. i'm confused...

i'm gonna look really cute "I'm sorry sir, but my boots just wouldnt polish!"... no lie they wouldn't i usually have a mirror reflection... now... i have no clue... and i got some more polish, still won't work..
 
Once you strip them you're back to square one, it will take a few extra layers of polish to get the same shine you would have before.


I've never heard of whipping cream being used like that, but everyone has their own little secret boot polishing "recipe."
 
Take it from the sham master, BRUSH SHINE. Don't make more work for yourself, just brush shine. It softens and protects the leather. When you spit shine it makes the leather hard, brittle, and non-breathing. Which in turn makes your foot hot and un-comfortable.

But, when I do have to spit shine my boots, I only use an old brown t-shirt, kiwi(parade gloss-shines easier), and some spit. You wet the rag with spit then you rub it in your kiwi and make slow light circles on your boots. If you burn your kiwi it dries the wax out, I don't know about the alcohol though, I have never tried it.
 
buff

Friends of mine just buff their shoes or boots and they come out clean. But they are lazy and do little work. Except rifle corp. We are always trainning no matter what. Rain nor shine will stop us!!

THE QUICKEST WAY TO LOSE A FIGHT IS NOT TO FIGHT AT ALL!~ SENSEI ANTHONY DIAZ
 
All I use is spit, kiwi, and an old t shirt. I spit in the lid, and a little in the wax itself. Work it up to a good consistency, and apply in small circles, until it starts to shine, then add another layer. If it gets dull and fuzzy, dab your rag in the clean spit. Work evenly around the boot, to give the stuff time to dry. And if you have current army issue boots, give up now. Also, if you spill a whole vat of baking grease on your boots (cold, in my case) Those just became field boots. With patience, a mirror shine is achievable. But unless some 1sgt is riding your arse, or you want to look up skirts...WHY???
Regards kiwi burning in the can but not on the boot, I bet they use alcohol or something similiar to keep it from drying, which evaporates when exposed to air.
 
I think that will just lead to a smudgy looking polish that will crack off easily, but, hey, stranger things have worked. i'd do it on my field boots if I were you though, so you can just strip them down and brush shine them pretty quick if it doesn't work rather than mess up your garrison boots.
 
I dont have field craft boots lol, ive only been in cadets 6 months theres not much need for some so ill try it on some shitty shoes i have!
 
Flamable trick... Use a hairdryer! If you turn it on your polish it will melt it nicely and you can do it with the polish on your boots/shoes and not worry about burning them!

Anyone else use Lincoln Wax? Best stuff ever! And it doesn't stink as much as Kiwi :D .

My steps for great shine:
1. Strip only shoes (no boots!!!) with rubbing alcohal the strongest you can find. Yes this may turn them gray/white, that's ok, it's supposed to.
2. Get some polish (Kiwi first coat usually) and rub for several hours. And I mean hours. Watch some movies. Melt it in with a hairdryer. Rub with a brush, rub with a cloth, the point of this is just to build up the layers.

Now for the real shine part (and once you've completed 1 and 2 you don't need to do them again ever)
3. Place a fairly heavy coat all over shoe, let dry while coating other shoe. Then...
4. Get polish on your cloth, dip it in water and rub in teeny tiny circles until the shine comes through.
5. And repeat.
6. Buff quickly with a piece of nylon pantyhose (get your gf to buy it if you're ashamed lol). Keep the nylon piece (cut off a part of a leg) in your pocket and carry it to inspection with you. Just before you fall in give your toes a last scrub.
 
Great guide, but whats your Drill Sergeant gonna say when he finds half some pantyhose in your pocket? :lol:

I wanna try that on my church-goin shoes see how it works.
 
We always used the melted Kiwi to put on a good layer of polish which was then brush polished. Next we used a cotton ball dampened with some water or spit and a small amount of polish. Using the small circle method of rubbing, you create a very smooth buffing surface on the cotton ball (always keep the same surface of the cotton ball in contact with the boot or shoe). Once that is attained, the cotton ball produces a great spit shine with the minumum time and effort expended. You just keep building thin layers of polish this way until you have a smooth surface that takes a high gloss shine. You can finish it off with a T-shirt buff. We found the cotton ball to be quicker than a T-shirt but to each his own.
 
First off, I wanna find some Lincoln Wax! I hear it's good stuff. Second, I use every method exept the panty hose. I just rub circles in the opposite direction with a clean part of the cloth(the damp one BTW). And I only put just enough polish on to cover the shoe. It forces you to rub it harder and spread it thinner, giving a glossier shine.
 
airmanpatroler said:
What about the Kiwi Xpress?

What is this kiwi express thou speaketh of? Darest I touch my boot with it?

I like the regular ol stuff, but show me the product, (pictures) and tell me what ya did and I'll check it out. After askin some boot polish gurus
 
Now that I have read this I have a few new methods to try. Here is what I do for a fairly quick high shine.

Put Kiwi on boot with my finger, yeah your finger, it is a lot easier to spread it even. Next melt it into boot with lighter or hair dryer, then take your t-shirt get it wet and rub in little circles. Last but not least finish it off with the leg of some pantyhose.

This will only work if you have already got your initial base coat of polish on them (you know the three hour polish :x )
 
Rotty261 said:
Now that I have read this I have a few new methods to try. Here is what I do for a fairly quick high shine.

Put Kiwi on boot with my finger, yeah your finger, it is a lot easier to spread it even. Next melt it into boot with lighter or hair dryer, then take your t-shirt get it wet and rub in little circles. Last but not least finish it off with the leg of some pantyhose.

This will only work if you have already got your initial base coat of polish on them (you know the three hour polish :x )

Ya know, just because i feel so horrible for your boots, I"m going to include some quotes from that other site.

Shawn Stanford said:
IMPORTANT POINT: If you leave a boot or shoe spit shined for too long you will DESTROY IT!.

As you know, leather is actually the skin of a cow and a cow's skin has pores. What you're doing when you spit shine to get that smooth, glossy look is actually filling in the pores. This prevents the leather from 'breathing' and will eventually cause the leather to actually crack and flake off.

In order to avoid this, you must do the following to your spit shined shoes or boots every few months:
  • Remove the laces.
  • Take a soft bristled scrub brush and some plain Colgate or Barbasol shaving cream (not gel) and scrub, scrub, scrub.
  • Apply a couple coats of leather dye.
  • Re-shine.
Shaving cream is really just foamy soap - and a very mild soap at that. It does a good job of cleaning the leather and adding back some oils. You can also use saddle soap, but shaving cream works just fine.

Yes, you're going to have to redo that spit shine but the alternative is buying a new pair of shoes or boots every few years.

Heh, only office pogues and garret troopers have spit-shined boots; and you can't spit shine Hi-Techs. Nyah!

Speaking of boots: this method also works well to clean and recondition boots that have been doing hard, honest work in the field and are caked with mud and perhaps have to toes scuffed brown.

leather luster might shine nicely, but it looks 3000% fake and when it cracks you have to do it all over again
as opposed to lightly shining your kiwi polished boots over the damaged area in about 2 minutes and get your shine back as good as it could be before

NIN said:
skyhawk said:
I've also heated the can of Kiwi on my electric stove until it was liquid, then it goes on nice and smooth and absorbs into the leather. I then had to put the oven vents on and leave the apartment for an hour, so I don't recommend this technique.

Avoid this at all costs, and personally, avoid the technique Maj Johnson mentions with the lighter. While it *looks* like it is doing you some good (ie. getting the polish places you can't get it to go on its own), if you actually get it hot enough to melt, you're cooking out the oils and waxes that make up the polish and serve to protect your leather. In other words, you're taking the protective features of the polish right out. I've had nothing but trouble with that technique.
 
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