Shoe Damage Report & Shoe P0rn Central - Part II

Originally Posted by Phat Guido

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Special delivery..

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I officially hate your shoe collection.

Moar Grenson! Salisbury in Burnt Pine (suede and calf) and Radley in Cognac, all on the 96 last.

^ Great shoes Wes. Excellent shine on the plain captoes.

Originally Posted by srivats

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^ Great shoes Wes. Excellent shine on the plain captoes.

Thanks! The Radley punch caps just got a regular wax polish; gotta go back and give them a mirror shine like I did on the Salisbury.

How on earth do you put such a beautiful shine on those shoes!

Originally Posted by Newcomer

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How on earth do you put such a beautiful shine on those shoes!

A bit of practice helps, but in truth, it doesn't take nearly as much elbow grease as some would have you believe.

Originally Posted by Wes Bourne

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Thanks! The Radley punch caps just got a regular wax polish; gotta go back and give them a mirror shine like I did on the Salisbury.

I demand pics after the deed is done.

Originally Posted by Wes Bourne

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A bit of practice helps, but in truth, it doesn't take nearly as much elbow grease as some would have you believe.

Try as i might, I can never do it to my shoes. I've honestly attempted to re-create all the guides. Care to share your technique with us all?

Originally Posted by Ich_Dien

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Try as i might, I can never do it to my shoes. I've honestly attempted to re-create all the guides. Care to share your technique with us all?

+1 People always make it out to be so easy, but I could never do it.

Originally Posted by Ich_Dien

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Try as i might, I can never do it to my shoes. I've honestly attempted to re-create all the guides. Care to share your technique with us all?

Originally Posted by patrickBOOTH

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+1 People always make it out to be so easy, but I could never do it.

Alright, here's what I do with a new pair:

1- 1 coat of Lexol conditioner, allow to dry.
2- 1 coat of Sno Seal, a bit of heat from a hair dryer, moving briskly. Allow to dry.
3- 1 coat of coloured cream, applied with old cotton t-shirt, but never brushed (my cobbler/Saphir distributor told me this)
4- 1 light coat of coloured wax, applied with old cotton t-shirt, then brushed in with horsehair brush. You may add a second, even third application if you wish, but I usually don't bother.
Then on to the actual mirror shine
5- 1 light coat of wax polish applied with old cotton t-shirt (wrapped around fingers) on the caps and rear quarters only.
6- bowl of cool tap water (no Dom or secret mixture required); drop 1 or 2 droplets on the area to be mirrored.
7- get a bit of wax on the tip of the cotton strip wrapped around your fingers and work the wax in small circles on/close to the area where you dropped a bit of water. Decrease pressure applied as you go along. At first, you should feel a lot of friction from the wax on the t-shirt rubbing onto the wax on the shoe. This is gradually replaced by a smooth feel as the wax gets worked into the pores and you decrease pressure.
8- you will have to keep alternating between dabbing a bit of wax on the shoe, adding 1-2 droplets of water and working that wax in.
9- final touch: quick allover buff with a clean old nylon stocking. This really brings out the shine like nothing else; I'd recommend you try this after brushing the wax in for those who don't mirror shine. Apparently an old necktie works too.

There are a bunch of helpful vids on Youtube; search for bulling, mirror shine, etc. I don't suggest trying anything that involves applying wax onto your shoes and lighting them on fire...

@ Ich_Dien: I thought bulling was considered 'smart' and all you blokes were taught how to do so as kids.

Wes thanks for taking the time to type out that guide. I've also tried many times but failed! Will give it another go next time round....

Wes - Do you use the same wax for steps 4 and 5? And, BTW, very nice Grenson damage!

Originally Posted by srivats

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I demand pics after the deed is done.

Will try to do this tonight when I get home from class and post pics tomorrow.

Originally Posted by StephenStyle

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Wes thanks for taking the time to type out that guide. I've also tried many times but failed! Will give it another go next time round....

I sucked at it the first few times I tried. Imo, the secret lies in the amount of wax applied, quantity of water used and pressure exerted. Practice is key to get the proper feel for it; very easy once you've got the hang of it. Fwiw, I tried dipping the cloth in water as some suggest, but never got good results doing so. Much prefer dropping 1-2 dropplets on the shoes instead.

Originally Posted by LynahFaithful

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Wes - Do you use the same wax for steps 4 and 5? And, BTW, very nice Grenson damage!

Yup. Used to be Kiwi, but I recently switched to Saphir. Tbh, I don't see any difference in the result, but the Saphir is easier to work with.

One last thing: I don't mind scuffs and usually just lightly buff my shoes with a nylon stocking (no wax) between shines. I wear each pair 5-6 times before repolishing. And yes, people do notice a good shine, but I'm always surprised every time someone compliments my shoes and the nice 'military' shine I got going.

The things that always kept me from a good mirror shine were too much wax and too much pressure. Once I learned to use just a dab and keep the touch very light, I got the hang of it.

Originally Posted by srivats

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I demand pics after the deed is done.

Here ya go Sri (I had to get the built up wax out of the medallion with a toothpick) :





I'm glad you guys admire the shine on my shoes, but I don't claim to be an expert on the matter. In fact, I've seen pics of shoes polished to a much higher shine, with a full-on glassed effect! I prefer not to overdo it with mirror shines, in order to avoid the polish from flaking off at the slightest hint of the shoe flexing, but ymmv. Others are free to keep adding layers of wax and building up even more shine.