**The Official Shoe Care Thread: Tutorials, Photos, etc.**

DWFII said:

FTFY...
Great post, GlenJay.

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patrick_b said:

~3 or 4 thin coats of kiwi on AE seconds

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glenjay said:

Just as a side note to my post on shoe polish I should mention that I have nothing against Kiwi shoe polish, I just don't think it is the "Best" shoe polish available.

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Phileasfogg said:

Hello,
These shoes are a pair of grensons bought not so long ago...
Unfortunately I probably don't have the slightest clue on how to shine shoes because I seem to have ruined them instead of making them any better!

I tried to polish them with Kiwi 'Light Tan' Shoe polish but to my disappointment their color completely changed and now they look even worse.

The shoes have darkened significantly. Even though I applied the polish evenly, one shoe turned much darker then the other and now they even look a bit clownish. The surface of the shoe has many tiny places where the color is not absorbed these tiny creases make the texture look rough. In short, it is hard to describe, but in a couple of months the shoe has gone from a silky smooth tan color to looking like an old dark brownish wrinkled grandma.

I would appreciate any help or tips you guys can offer me . ? 
I even went to several shoe care shops here in London which probably see so many pairs of shoes each day and no one was willing to help me. [Does anyone know of a good place in London as well ?]

Thank You.

I cannot seem to upload the pictures to the forum for some reason so if anyone cares to take a look here at before and after pictures I would highly appreciate it .  http://www.flickr.com/photos/pfogg1/

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Barroomheroes said:

Try using saddle soap...

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patrickBOOTH said:

Read this thread.

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glenjay said:

DAASL states that the body of the message he posted is not his own material, but rather sourced from cadetstuff.org, so I hope he does not take offence when I state that there are a number of things that are incorrect within the comments.
>“…must be Kiwi (its the best)”.
Hopefully people that have been following this thread are fully aware that this is not true, as there are much higher quality polishes available.
>“If you want to use Kiwi Parade Gloss, then be warned that it contains paraffin which will have a detrimental effect on the quality of shine you achieve.”
Actually Kiwi designed Parade Gloss to produce a better shine by including silicone in the mix to allow for a smoother wax finish. Unfortunately silicone has a drying effect on leather and could damage the shoe over time.
>“…take on a big load of polish”
Please don’t do this. All polish should be applied (even in the context of loading the applicator) in moderation.
>“Cotton Wool method - using a wad of cotton balls, water and polish. This method does work, but will not give a very good results for reasons I will not bore you with.”
This is simply not true. A cotton ball will work just as well as a finger wrapped in cotton.
Rather than go on about what is incorrect within that post, let me cover some basics about shoe polish and shoe polishing in general:
There are 3 basic types of shoe polish:
Liquid – Not recommended for long term shoe care (with some exceptions).
Cream – Base coat and brush shine.
Paste – Final coats and spit shine.
There are only 3 types of wax, all of which are used in shoe polish, either individually or in some combination:
Petroleum based wax – Paraffin
Plant based wax – Carnauba wax
Insect based wax – Beeswax
Shoe polish also contains oils for keeping the leather fiber of the shoe supple and slow down the leather oxidation process. The most common are:
Lanolin – Produced by sheep skin oil glands
Mink Oil – Extracted from fat cells of mink pelts
Neatsfoot Oil – Extracted from the shin or foot (not hoof) of cattle.
Other oils such as tallow (animal fat in general) and Collagen (a group of proteins) are also used to some degree, however plant oils like Olive oil, Peanut oil, etc… are not used.
The oils listed above (not plant oils) are also what makes up most leather conditioners, to one degree or another.
Shoe leather usually comes from the tannery with around 17% oil content. It is important to try to keep the oil content around this ratio if possible. This is done by using leather conditioner periodically and keeping the shoes polished.
Shoe polish also contains solvents. The solvents are used to soften the wax and make it easier to apply. Shortly after the wax is applied the solvents evaporate. When a tin of shoe paste dries up and cracks it is because the solvents have evaporated, not because the oil has dried up. The most common solvents are:
Naphtha – Petroleum distillate
Turpentine - Pine Tree resin distillate
Stoddard Solution – Mineral Spirits
Shoe polish can also contain Gum Arabic as a viscosity stabilizer, and of course dyes for coloring.
The quality of a shoe polish is determined by which of each of these elements are used and in what ratios. Unfortunately, makers of shoe polish rarely publish the composition of their polish.
As for the difference in shoe cream and shoe paste (both are shoe polish): Shoe cream has a higher oil content and a lower wax content, and shoe paste is just the opposite with a lower oil content and a higher wax content. Because of this a spit shine is not possible with shoe cream. But, shoe cream does a better job of conditioning the shoe leather than shoe paste that is why some people use both to polish a shoe.
If you are not trying to put a spit shine on a shoe then shoe cream is best to use, as it will condition the shoe better and still produce a good brush shine.
If you are trying to spit shine a shoe, shoe cream is not needed as long as the shoe is well conditioned, the wax ratio in the shoe paste will allow for a hard wax shell to be created.
When thinking about actually producing a shine on a shoe it helps to think microscopically. The surface of the wax is what creates the shine. If you were to apply wax to a shoe (with whatever method –shoe dauber, cotton cloth, etc…) and then look at it with a microscope it would be very rough and inconsistent.
Running the bristles of a shoe brush over the wax repeatedly would smooth out the wax a great deal, leaving just microscopic valleys where the bristles had been drawn back and forth. To the naked eye the wax would be smooth enough to reflect enough light to make the shoes look shiny. This would be a brush shine.
To produce a spit shine the wax has to be much smoother. This is done by rubbing the wax with a smooth object with extremely little drag (this is where just a little water comes in handy) that contours to the surface of the shoe (cotton ball, or cotton wrapped finger). Multiple coats may also be necessary to fill in any imperfections in the surface.
Note that very little polish should be used to produce each coat, and that you are not actually adding coats, but rather blending coats because the wax being applied each time still contains some solvent.
Once the wax is smooth enough you will begin to feel a slighty oily tactile feedback as you polish, this is due to the oil that is inherent in the wax itself becoming the molecular barrier (along with a few molecules of water) between two very smooth wax covered surfaces (the shoe and the applicator). This is when the best spit shine will occur.
I hope this was useful.

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patrickBOOTH said:

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DAASL said:

Don't worry, no offence taken.

You are correct in stating that better polish is available. However in my experience most polish is just re-branded Kiwi, (obviously not all) Parade Gloss DOES have a detrimental effect on the shine, however this is generally more noticeable when you compare 'mirror' finishes between the two (one with normal kiwi, one with parade gloss) at the start it will give you an easy shine.  (also try standing out in the heat for a while, your shoes go a pasty white)  

In addition please consider the title of my post, (how to achieve a mirror finish....) cotton balls will scratch the polish when you get to a certain level of shine. Actually if you consult the guards regiments most advise Selvyt cloths (http://www.selvyt.co.uk/)

I admit there are a few mistakes in the article, specifically as to polish application. (moderation is always best) for these I apologise. However on a whole if you want a mirror shine this is the best way.

As for the long term care of the shoe, I side fully with you guide. However, it must be stated, you will not achieve the same level of shine. (I do not have any intention of entering into a yes-no argument on this, it is simply pulled from experience, and talking with countless officers and NCO's in the guards regiments)

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