nataliemarie
Active member
Never heard that before.. I'll have to try it out, Thanks
airmanpatroler said:What about the Kiwi Xpress?
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 )
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: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.
- 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.
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.