Boot cleaning / polishing / care of

[PPCLI MCpl]

1 x Tin of Black Kiwi Polish

1 x Kiwi Cloth

1, 000 000 x Small circles.


Get to it.....

 

[ckip33]

I myself do the traditional 'spit-polish', I found that it takes a bit of time at first to get the base shine. Once you have that tho it should take very little time afterwards to maintain the shine (mirror). 

I hope the has been of help 

 

[sgt_mandal]

spitting can get a little messy....dabbing the bit of polished up kiwi clothe on your tongue has teh same effect as spittin, without the messy side effects...

 

[gnplummer421]

One thing about shining boots, don't spit shine if you have just finished drinking a pile of wobbly pops...Beer spit doesn't work very well. In addition the little circular motions with the Kiwi cloth give you the spins ;D

 

[Fishbone Jones]

spitting can get a little messy....dabbing the bit of polished up kiwi clothe on your tongue has teh same effect as spittin, without the messy side effects...

Except your tongue will look like you've been drinking cheap red wine all day. :

 

[Synthos]

I've got some (apparently) deep scratches and tiny divits on the toes on my combat boots. I've tried putting lots of polish over the affected areas but it doesn't seem to help. Any suggestions on how to smooth it out?

 

[gnplummer421]

I've actually heard of people putting a heavy coat of polish on damaged areas and then putting the boots in the oven until polish gets glazed over, filling the cracks and such, in effect, baking the polish on. I have never done this, and it sounds a little hokey. Any one ever try this method?

 

[muffin]

Someone I know did this once - they burnt the polish on - and as soon as they put their foot in them and took a step the polish cracked and felloff in big chunks. They had to pull all the polish off and start over.

muffin

 

[Blatchman]

Hello all

  From what I have been told about the new drill boots ( CSA grade 1,safety,ankle black ) they apparently are coated in wax when you first get them. So you have to get very hot water and rub it off with a cloth, I have also herd of people boiling them although i do not advise it.


None of that I have received in official documentation just from a few Reg4 sailors at CFB Halifax

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Being a Reg Force sailor at Halifax as well, all you really need to do is put a couple of brush shone coats on and then start polishing. Word of advice though, break in your footwear before you start this.

 

[chrisf]

I've got some (apparently) deep scratches and tiny divits on the toes on my combat boots. I've tried putting lots of polish over the affected areas but it doesn't seem to help. Any suggestions on how to smooth it out?

They're combat boots. If your combat boots don't have scratches dents and holes, you're not working hard enough. Polish them as best you can, and look at with razor wire cuts, rock scrapes, and dents from releasing your anger at a truck, with pride.

Now dress boots on the other hand...

 

[Sailing Instructor]

What prompted the revamping of the parade boots to make them (what appears to be) more safe and utilitarian-looking (not that Bentham wore boots like these, you know what I mean) when we've sea boots for work dress?  Certainly this cannot be an army requirement because they are in combat boots 90% of the time anyway, not parade boots.

I suppose the danger of slipping in the old style ones is rather large and it is prudent to avoid slipping on fancy parades, as well as at work.

(And this new design saves the individual member money that they might otherwise spend on getting the boots double-soled.)

 

[JBurton]

I came accross your Thread when browsing the internet for new Parade Boots - mine are getting on a bit.

I am currently serving in the British armed forces, and thought I'd tell you what us chaps in the UK do with regards to polishing boots.

For the ultimate bulled toecap finish, beeswax still provides the best possible foundation for all black/tan shoe polishes. pure yellow beeswax is the ideal first stage. Step 1: Pack wet newspaper into the inside of the boot; Step 2: Heat the toe cap with a hot hairdryer or similar - Step 3: While the leather is still warm (but not too hot!) rub two or more coats of beeswax into the toecap - Step 4: Polish away excess beeswax using your 'on' brush - Step 5: Before the leather has cooled, use your finger to apply your choice of black/tan shoe polish to the toecap; Step 6: Continue to bull as normal

using this method far exceeds any other method out there. a guaranteed mirror finish!!

S.Sergeant J Burton

 

[Guardsman]

It seem the issued Oxford shoes have some sort of coating preventing polish to stay on the boot itself. As you polish it starts to roll up the polish and go back to the initial coating of what ever is sprayed on the boot before it was issued. It's almost like when you rub dead skin off your hands or something.
Does anyone have any idea how to get rid of this coating? I've now been giving a go at my newer pair of shoes and I'm to the point where they're about to be thrown through the door. I've applied coat after coat, tried a boot brush, anything else??

Thanks in advance

 

[helpup]

That is a new one on me, did you get brand new ones are previously worn ones,  If that was the case someone might of put a coating of what not on it ( future floor polish, or leather luster) Sounds like you need to strip the coating off your boots, normally hot water and some vinegar can do this.  Since I have to assume, your not using the army issued black paste wax to polish with are you?

 

[Guardsman]

These are brand new straight from Logistik, received yesterday at my door step. Seems a few people on my course last summer had the same issue, it happened to me quickly but I overcame it easily. However this time the whole toe just peels.

 

[helpup]

Well write a complaint to Logisticorp about it, but still you have something on there and stripping it will remove it.  I never had a problem with mine. But then again mine are over 20 years old and I did have to strip them once as I cheated on my ISCC and put some gloss onto them to keep the shine up.  Works great if you don't wear them but cracks to high heaven once you do.  Hot, hot water with vinegar in it and a scrub brush. there are many other ways you can do it but since I don't know what coating you have on it I would recommend that see a shoe store about something to strip it back to the leather.

 

[Guardsman]

Sounds like a plan, thanks for the help! I've taken my knife to it and lightly scraped the surface but I seem to keep coming with the same result. I'll write to Logistik and look into it. Thanks again mate!

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Be very careful using a knife you may scratch the leather and it will be very hard to cover up. I would suggest using the hotwater method to strip the shoes.

 

[toughenough]

I've had a similar issue with newly issued oxfords.

It's even worse when you have to wear white spats over them, because then you have the misfortune of trying to cover the black boot polish that is all over them, while keeping them perfectly white.