Boot cleaning / polishing / care of

[zerhash]

by the end of this boot ill be going to alcoholics anonymous!

another tip... if for whatever reason you left big blotches of polish on... level it out asap or it makes your boot a rough surface and not so shiny

 

[Scratch_043]

hehehe, use 12 year old scotch, to quote homer simpson: "One for you, one for me" ;D

 

[The_Falcon]

If you are really lazy you could buy your self some poromeric shoes, the kind that are permanent high gloss shine.

 

[Big Foot]

GAH! NO!!!! DON'T USE 12 YEAR OLD SCOTCH! should be "2 for me, none for you" As well, apparently lighter fluid works, too.

 

[2525_4EVER]

all you guyz who use those short cuts, f you have any that work REALLLY good, let me know please!! 

 

[Cliff]

OK, how have to put my 2 cents in........cbt boots don't need to be shined...just blackened and dirt free..now for parade boots, I will tell you my secrete and I have been doing it for years. Use Aqua Velva - - After Shave...use it on the boot, not to drink-lol....seriously...with the friction from rubbing and the alcohol it creates a kind of burn shine and you don't have to work as hard. Just when you start off, cold water buff the boots and then use the Aqua Velva instead of a tin of water. I never use parade gloss, just boot polish, kiwi cloth and aqua velva....I have tried everything...have over 14 yrs of experience polishing boots and this one works....just don't use a lot of polish on the cloth...little goes along way.....

I never used Aqua Velva, but some of us would apply rubbing alcohol and circle it under a zippo flame, then twirl it with a polishing cloth for a mirror finish.
Cbt boots were different and silicon was applied in wet conditions on ex.





 

 

[Bahamut]

Polishing boots nice topic with as many different opinions as the military has boots/shoes...

Combat Boots: According to the manufacture and all the QM's I have talked to (I never actually looked in the QR&O's) are not supposed to be polished only silicon coated and blackened with the approved boot blackener available for issue from all clothing stores upon request. This being said I have run accross places where it was required while in garrison that combat boots be shined to a high gloss.

Ankle/Parade Boots/shoes: I have a friend that used to swear by putting his boots in teh freezer for 30mins before he started polishing his boots... It seemed to work for him as his boots were always high gloss.

Over 14yrs of polishing boots I have tried most of the techniques already mentioned. All seemed to work well enough to get good shine. Something I did notice in trying all the various methods is that every pair of boots reacts differently to each method. I was issued 2 pair of ankle boots at once and started working on them at the same time.. The second pair came out better then the first pair though I used the same technique on both.

One thing I have found to work consistently for me was the 3 base coats the only difference I did was to melt the polish after the initial brush on with a lighter (zippo worked better then a butane style) careful not to melt it so much it runs. The idea behind this is to convert the paste to a semi liquid form so that it fills in all the low spots (folical divits) found in all forms of leather. this will give you a smoother surface to work with. Remember not to use thick coats during this or any stage as what will eventually happen is the polish will start to flake off after a while. A lot of thin coats works better then fewer thiick ones.

NOTE: I would suggest when starting out with a new pair of boots soak them in warm water overnight. then in the morning replace the waterwith as hot as you can get it out of the tap for 30mins. Then put on whatever you would normally wear then wear the boots until they dry completely. This will do 2 things first off soaking the boots will all all the salt to be pulled out of the leather material. Secondly, while wearing the boots they will stretch and shrink to fit your foot. In the end you will end up with a pair of boots that fit like a well warn pair of your favourite runners and the odds are they won't rot out as fast after a few winters and rain storms... And but soak your boots I mean completely inside and out

Hope these little tips help you and everyone get more enjoyment out of wearing your boots 8) be they military or civy boots. the idea behind it works for both ..

 

[2525_4EVER]

Okay... How does the whole base coat then layers work???

 

[zerhash]

base coat is a thicker coat
layers are smaller coats

 

[brin11]

As far as base coats go, we were taught in Cornwallis to brush shine the parade boots about 10-20 times with thin coats and let dry a bit in between.  Then begin to spit shine the boots.  Seemed to work well, always had pretty shiny boots.  If you scrimp on the brush shining it did seem to affect how quickly a shine came up with the spit shining.

Good luck.

 

[McGowan]

if they get really beat up in the feild use a burn shine technique. Take alot of polish and place it heavy all over the boot, then take a lighter and light the polish on fire, It will burn down the polish into the boot and you will find that the boot soon will become smooth. My dad tought me that, navy secert.

 

[zerhash]

this takes a lot of time!
ive been doing my boots for several weeks and they still look fresh out of the box!

 

[Inch]

Well for starters, how about disobeying a lawful command, you're told not to do it yet you do. It's not an unlawful command so you must obey.

http://www.dnd.ca/admfincs/subjects/qr_o/vol2/ch103_e.asp#103.16

but I believe this is the one you're looking for

http://www.dnd.ca/admfincs/subjects/qr_o/vol2/ch103_e.asp#103.48

Basically, burn shining dries out the leather, thus damaging public property.

 

[dr.no]

Whenever I shine my boots, no matter for how long, the right one always shines up more than the left one. Always. It's annoying, and my section IC knows that it happens and enjoys pointing it out :-[ not fun. Any tips on how I can fix this problem?

 

[PViddy]

All these different techniques, wow! i think it comes down to boot karma and the polishing Gods.   Some boots are destined for the Mecca of shine, and some are not...LMOL!! Ok but really, throughout my Cadet career and now my Officer career i always found aqua velva aftershave (actually now i am using skin bracer!! boots smell great too! LOL) to work quite well.   somthing about the alcohol and polish.   But to each their own i guess.

cheers

PV

 

[chrisf]

if they get really beat up in the feild use a burn shine technique. Take alot of polish and place it heavy all over the boot, then take a lighter and light the polish on fire, It will burn down the polish into the boot and you will find that the boot soon will become smooth. My dad tought me that, navy secert.

As somone else pointed out, burning damages the leather... a good hot hair dryer will have the same effect, without the damage to the leather.

 

[luvlygal]

wow. You lot have been such a great help! Hopefully my boots will be perfect now.
Thanks.

 

[Hawkes]

Define stripping your boots.  Never seen it done never needed it done but just incase that day comes would like the information.

 

[George Wallace]

When you have accumulated too much polish on your boots, it will crack.  When that happens you will have to strip them.  Quite often a lighter will do to melt it off, but others have other methods.  Then you have to start all over again to get that shine.

GW

 

[2525_4EVER]

Scenario:
my right boot has a big scuff in it and ive tried filling it in with kiwi polish. will that work???do i need to strp them??? ??? ???