squee
the amen break
Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691 |
 Flex your skillz here
Just wanted to start a topic about your abilities...write about, or describe, or instruct about somethig you're good at.
My topic: How to shine your shoes.
Shining your shoes does more than keep them looking nice; it protects the leather from the elements, affords some measure of waterproofing, and so on.
What you first need to do is assemble a shine kit. A small cloth bag (a Navy-issue ditty bag) is what I use to keep all my stuff. You can buy most of these things together. What you'll need is:
- a couple of soft cloths (a t-shirt torn into sections will do just fine)
- a length of nylon (ie, go buy some hosiery)
- a shine brush
- a thin toothbrush
- a can of black polish, and
- a can of "neutral" polish.
Open the can of black polish, fill the top with water and set it aside. You will use this later.
Step 1: The Cleats
Take the toothbrush and use it to get wax (polish) in the "cleats," the border between the sole and the leather (assuming the sole and the cleats are black. Otherwise don't worry about it, ie, don't blacken the orange cleats on your Docs).
Step 2: Brush Shine
Take your cloth and wrap it tightly around your index and middle fingers so that the tip is taught. Get some wax (polish) on it and rub it vigorously into the shoe leather. Once the entire shoe is covered, set it aside and work on the other shoe. When they are both covered, take the brush and brush off the excess. Starting with a good "brush shine" means the shoe is clean and if you want to, you can stop here. A good brush shine will get you through just about any inspection.
Step 3: Wax On...
If you want to go further, take your cloth and with a LITTLE BIT of wax start polishing the shoe, with tight circular motions, and by sections (it's easier to break the surface into areas). Start by going clockwise, and then when it starts to get glossy go counter-clockwise. This ensures that the wax gets into the porous surface of the leather so the result will be a smooth finish.
quote:
TIP: You can use a lighter to melt the wax while it's on the shoe, or melt the wax within the can and then apply it to the shoe as a liquid, but be careful not to set you shoe on fire. Also this limits the life of the wax remaining in the can as a few meltings makes it all crumbly.
Continue polishing until the area is somewhat glossy. You will get to the point where you can still see the little circles, but you won't be able to polish away any more wax. Get your cloth a little bit moist and continue rubbing. You will get almost all the wax either removed or polished into the surface of the leather.
Step 4: Wax Off!
You can still leave your shoes like this, but the thing is you're going to get rings of wax that rub off on the bottom of your pants legs. What you want to do now is take a clean spot on your shine cloth and apply a VERY SMALL AMOUNT of neutral wax onto the shoe. You might find it easier to use a damp spot on the cloth with neutral on it. What this will do is remove the excess wax from the leather and bring out the shine, while at the same time putting a clear layer over the leather (like waxing a car).
Once you can't remove any more wax and the surface is shiny, you may want to wrap up your nylon into a little rectangle and buff the surface VERY GENTLY. You can also use the nylons periodically to re-shine the surface of the shoe.
This shine will last you about a week of everyday wear, longer if you buff the leather with your nylons to maintain the shine. You will probably have to repeat the shining every two weeks or so.
Your turn...pick a topic you know something about and expound on it 
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If you can't dazzle 'em with daring, baffle 'em with bullshit
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07-21-2001 05:37 PM
