Horsehair Brush - Page 2

For those guys who brush first do you wash the brush after using it? If so how do you do it?

I don't.

I wash my brushes about once a month by using saddle soap, and then letting them sit in a bucket of saddle soap/water overnight. Take them out rinse with water and let them dry. They will come out like new.

I don't wash my brushes. I have a few brushes, one that I use for black cream, one for brown and one for neutral. Works well for me and no need to wash anything. The ones I use cost only a few dollars, so I think I'd buy another one before washing one.

Fair enough, everyone to their own. It was only meant as a suggestion.

Apply and buff with moist cotton balls. So yes, cotton balls is the only thing I use. I prefer the type of that isn't pre-separated into pads or whatever. That way I can choose the size of the ball myself. The way to go about it is really very simple. The first few times it takes longer than ten minutes, but a few months after starting to use this method it usually takes me about 5 minutes to polish a pair.

Method:
1. Grab a cotton ball, make it a reasonably large size if you can.
2. Soak it in cold water.
3. Squeeze it as hard as you can several times until the cotton is more moist than wet.
4. Untangle the cotton ball, it'll be scrunched up in a really tight ball. Try to get it back to the shape it had before soaking.
5. Grip it in a way the feels comfortable (I either make a ball out of it and grip it or wrap it around two fingers).
6. Dab it in your wax of choice (I only use wax, I have no idea if this method works with cream).
7. Polish the entire shoe, use circular motions. You'll need to dab the cotton ball in the wax again several times throughout of course, you shouldn't need very much wax though. You'll get a feeling for how much you need to apply when you've done it a few times.
8. Either grab a new cotton ball and repeat 1-5 or just flip the one you're using to the other side (my preferred method, less waste).
9. Buff! Quick motions back and forth.

If there's interest/need I could do a guide with pictures I suppose.

If you could, I'd love a pictorial guide, please!

Thanks, that's helpful. I polished a pair yesterday with some of the little pre-separated ones and, while they were difficult to work with because of the size, they seemed to work well. I'll have to get some of the other kind and try it.

A pictorial guide would be great!

Alright, here goes. Before I start, I should say that I've no doubt one could obtain an even shinier result with other buffing methods. Those would however take a lot more time and effort. The moist cotton ball method (MCBM) is, in my eyes, a great way of getting a reasonable mirror shine with a minimum of effort. What you need: * Cotton balls. Preferably the type that comes in one big roll. Pads will work too, but are more difficult to work with. * Shoe wax. I use Kiwi, mostly because it's cheap, it works and is readily available. I have no idea if this method works with shoe cream. * Leather shoes! What you don't need: * Expensive brushes, made from the finest hair taken from tender shetland ponies. (Sorry, I had to!) With a bit of practice, the MCBM should get you shiny shoes in about five minutes, give or take depending on the type of shoe and shoe size. OK, let's do this. Step by step guide (8 steps): 1. Grab a cotton ball, make it a reasonably large size. 2. Soak it in cold water (just hold it under the tap for a a few seconds). Squeeze it tightly, several times, until the cotton is more moist than wet. 3. Untangle the cotton ball. It'll be scrunched up into a really tight ball. Try to get it back to the shape it had before soaking. (wow, I really need to get that wall painted one of these days...) 4. Grip it in a way the feels comfortable. I either make a ball out of it and grip it, or wrap it around two fingers like in the picture. It really doesn't matter how you grip it though, as long as it feels comfortable and you're able to do quick motions back and forth without dropping it. 5. Dab it in your wax of choice (I only use wax, I have no idea if this method works with cream). You'll need to dab the cotton ball in the wax again several times throughout of course. You shouldn't need to use a lot of wax though. You'll get a feeling for how much you need to apply when you've done it a few times. 6. Polish the entire shoe, using circular motions. Make sure you rub it in properly. The shoe shouldn't look entirely dulled after this. It should be somewhat shiny, like in this picture: (6.5. At this point you could let the shoe sit for a few hours, or perhaps until the next morning, to let the wax set. I've read some people claim that this makes it shinier. I've never bothered with this, but it might be worth trying. Remember to do 1.-3. again if you decide to wait a while, dry cotton balls won't get you anywhere.) 7. Either grab a new cotton ball and repeat 1.-3. or just flip the one you're using to the clean side (my preferred method, less waste). In the picture, I've folded it into a ball with the clean side out, just to show a different way of holding it. 8. Buff! Quick motions back and forth until the shoe looks nice and shiny! Finished result: (I didn't polish the part under or around the laces) Good luck! Feel free to direct your flamethrowers towards me if you have any problems with the MCBM. I've been hanging around the Internet so long my skin is basically made of asbestos. Let me know if you think this guide is any good, maybe I should put it in a new thread? Edit: Guide is a bit excessive in some parts (even patronizing, not my intention!), but making something easy look complicated is always fun.

Four steps work for me:

1. wipe
2. apply polish
3. brush
4. buff

Mine is even better: 1. Brush 2. Apply polish and let dry 3. Brush Your shoes will end up having the same amount of shine as store bought. If it's good enough for OEM, it's good enough for me.

Looks like you're holding a tampon/maxipad!

^^^That's also what I thought when I saw the pics.

I brush my shoes twice during the polishing process.

Here's how to polish your shoes.

First, give your shoes a strong brushing prior to applying polish.
Second, apply polish.
Third, let polish dry, and then give the shoes a second strong brushing.
Fourth, buff with a buffing cloth.

And yes, I have different brushes for black and brown polish.

I noticed today that brushing shell cordovan with a horsehair brush does nothing but dull my shoe and leaves a scuffed appearance. Anyone else have this issue? I'm using a fairly cheap brush so I'm not sure that has anything to do with it.

I think I might go back to strictly cotton tee shirts for shining/buffing all of my shoes, because the horsehair brush just makes them look worse.

Do the horsehair brushes get better over time, say, if you use them for a year or so?

obiter dictum, you weren't kidding about the soaking part. LOL.