Shoe polishing question - water pump?

[FlaneurNYC]

Originally Posted by Wrigglez

with the shirt video, where do i get a press iron like that? if i search on google i get those soccer mom steem holed plastic crap ones which i dont want.

cheers.

Here are a few:

http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/atlan...model_CES_85AF

http://www.rfsupply.com/subcategory/...FQKaFQod_WShcw

If you live in NYC:

http://www.nysmac.com/workaidsanchors.cfm

 

[Fang66]

Not sure I like the way he irons a shirt.

I always do collar, cuffs, shoulder, sleeves, back, front. Order is from least easily wrinkled to most easily wrinkled so as to not disturb previously ironed sections.

My old man was in the military for years and could iron a shirt perfectly in a couple of minutes, that's the way he taught me.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by Saenek

Spit is used for the same reason water is, but spit isn't good for leather because it contains salt so over time it can dry out the leather.

Is that what your gf told you to refuse giving you BJs? Don't trust the crafty broad!

 

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by Fuuma

Is that what your gf told you to refuse giving you BJs? Don't trust the crafty broad!

My retort would have to do with the counteracting effect of certain other fluids, but I won't go there.

 

[EricE.]

something different:

who is the maker of the shoes in the video??? those are badass!

 

[imatlas]

Originally Posted by fullb

To watch the video with better quality
http://garra.jp/style/tailored/index.html
And click on the shoes.

To watch an exceptional shirt ironing skill click on the shirt.

What is he polishing the shoes with? He cleans the shoes, then applies brown cream, then applies something from two small tins, one with brown material and the other white. The material in the tins looks like chalk, or solid pigment. Possibly it's just chunks of wax? He pumps something onto his rag (water? alchohol?), then dabs the stuff in the tin, then rubs it all over the shoes. The last step seems to be to rub in some more water, as if he's spit shining them.

 

[Drew Goodall]

In a nutshell, the man applies a filler or a tique paste with a cotton cloth, then removes it with water in that dispenser. The rest is polishing and graft.

I know because this is a watered down (sorry about the pun!) version my guys use, with our clients, we are shoe valets.

BTW I love the snappy no nonsense editing - nice!



Drew

 

[Coburn]

Originally Posted by sygyzy

Recently, a fellow member posted his DIY shoes. There was a link to a Youtube video where a man polishes a pair of shoes. Toward the end, he kept reaching over to what looked like a soap dispenser/pump but without nozzle pointing vertically skyward. He always brought a cloth over to it, pumped it, and went back to rubbing the shoe.

What is this? Water? Some sort of chemical? Where can I buy it and which part of the polishing regiment does it come in?

Thanks.

http://www.mendapump.com/Video/Pumps.aspx

 

[Tarmac]

Originally Posted by Fang66

Not sure I like the way he irons a shirt.

I always do collar, cuffs, shoulder, sleeves, back, front. Order is from least easily wrinkled to most easily wrinkled so as to not disturb previously ironed sections.

My old man was in the military for years and could iron a shirt perfectly in a couple of minutes, that's the way he taught me.

Yes but I presume you are using a standard narrow ironing board. It never occurred to me before this video but having a massive board like that allows you to keep the shirt flat and eliminate wrinkles from re-positioning the shirt.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by gdl203

I think I remember hearing/reading that the guys finishing the shoes at Kiton were using a solution of alcohol and water, or aniline and water, with the polish.

I use alcohol and water, the other advantage is that you can keep it colder than o degrees celcious

 

[DWFII]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

I use alcohol and water, the other advantage is that you can keep it colder than o degrees celcious
Water, spit alcohol...they all work by cooling, and thus hardening, the wax. I haven't used alcohol and water in years but theoretically it should work the best if the alcohol to water ratio isn't too high. Personally I like spit. Just tiny droplets. Sometimes just a heavy breath on the wax is enough. There seems to be something in spit--an enzyme, protein, whatever, that makes it a little slippery. Too much spit, too much water, too much alcohol, with or without water, will ruin a spit shine. I can't count the number of time when I was just learnin to spit shine...40+ years ago...that I ruined a good base of wax by using too much water on my cloth.

 

[Wes Bourne]

DWF, re mirror shines: I've had better results polishing and brushing a couple of coats of wax all over the shoes, then applying some wax just on the caps and rear quarters to be mirror shined. Some more wax on the strip of cloth (old t-shirt) wrapped around my fingers and dropping a single droplet of water at a time with my pinkie on the area to worked on. As you mentioned, I've also ruined some good bases of wax by slightly dipping my polishing cloth directly in a bowl of cool water the way some recommend. No secret solution or nozzle dispenser required.

 

[DWFII]

Originally Posted by Wes Bourne

DWF, re mirror shines: I've had better results polishing and brushing a couple of coats of wax all over the shoes, then applying some wax just on the caps and rear quarters to be mirror shined. Some more wax on the strip of cloth (old t-shirt) wrapped around my fingers and dropping a single droplet of water at a time with my pinkie on the area to worked on. As you mentioned, I've also ruined some good bases of wax by slightly dipping my polishing cloth directly in a bowl of cool water the way some recommend. No secret solution of nozzle dispenser required.
Wes, I have no special expertise in this area...except what being in the military (paratroopers) and spit-shining my boots would confer. But I think you've got the right idea. That's pretty much the way I do it, as well, except I use spit rather than water. I like to see roughly a half dozen droplets no bigger than the ball in a ball point pen, and I breathe heavily on the next, very thin layer of wax rather than spit. People worry about what might be in spit but what might be in water? If it's hard it has some minerals that will build up...at least in tea kettles. If it's soft, what is used to soften it? Used to be it was salt. That said, I've used water as well and if it is, as you said, applied real sparingly...there's probably not much difference.

 

[GBer]

You can find that pump by searching for glass solvent dispenser on Amazon or Google Shopping. Cheers!

 

[amplifiedheat]

Originally Posted by kev777

Have you any idea how much salt is in your spit for gods sake????
Between .002 and .021 mol/L sodium, and between .005 and .04 mol/L chloride. I couldn't find good data on salivary volume.