Polish Shoes & Boots

Good quality leather shoes save you money in the long run because they do not ever need to be replaced, though they will eventually need to be resoled. In order to realize these savings, however, you have to know how to take care of them properly.

First, assemble your supplies. You will need:

• 1 horse hair shoe brush
• 1 regular shoe brush
• 3 100% soft cotton cloths (I use old t-shirts for this)
• Warm Water
• Dish Soap
• 1 hairdryer
• 1 tin Kiwi Black Parade Polish (assuming you are polishing black shoes)
• 1 tin Kiwi Black Parade Gloss (if you care about a military parade finish)
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 container leather conditioner
• 1 container saddle soap
• 2 tooth brushes

Step 1 – Stripping and/or Scrubbing
(skip this step if your boots are new)

This is written from the point of view of an American military brat. As far as I know, step 1 is only practiced in the American military; elsewhere you would continue to add layers of polish without ever stripping any off. My father taught us that you were to strip every layer of wax off at least once a year and begin fresh. In the spirit of inclusiveness, here are methods for both predilections:

Stripping

Remove your boot laces and start by rubbing the boots with undiluted vinegar, using one of the cotton cloths. As you do this, the boots will become duller as you pull off old layers of wax. It may not be necessary to remove every layer of wax; if the boots are scuffed, keep removing layers until the scuffs are gone.

Once that is done, rinse the boots well as vinegar is an acid that will eat away at the leather if left in contact with it for long periods of time. Allow the boots to dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Scrubbing

If you decide not to strip the wax off of the boots, they will still need a good cleaning before you can go any further. Using either the dish soap or the saddle soap (I much prefer saddle soap) and one of the toothbrushes, begin scrubbing the boots. Get into every crevasse and take you time – anything you miss here will be trapped under layers of wax later.

Step 2 – Conditioning

Once your boots have dried, it is time to begin conditioning them. Begin applying leather conditioner to the boots, paying attention to how fast the leather absorbs the conditioner. You will want to continue applying conditioner until no more can be absorbed. Then simply wipe away the excess sitting on top of the leather.

Step 3 – Polishing

Using a fresh cotton cloth, begin applying your black polish in small circles. Don’t worry about rubbing it all in or getting a nice finish, because at this point, it is impossible for you to do so. Just cover the whole boot and let it stand so the polish can bond to the leather, while you polish the other boot. Once they are both done, let them sit for a half an hour or an hour to finish the bonding process.

After this bonding period, the finish will be dull, and the polish should be dry to the touch. Using your coarse brush, brush all the excess polish off. Be careful not to use too much pressure, or you will pull all of your new polish off. Basically, you will brush them until you start to see some shine to them – which will be long enough that you will think you must have done something wrong, because you boots just won’t shine. Trust me, it just takes time. Keep going, and eventually they will shine up a bit.

Once done, let the boots sit for a couple of hours to allow the polish to harden, and then do it all again. This is where we begin to build up layers of polish, which will help to mitigate damage to the leather from scuffs and wear and tear. Two or three layers should be fine, though adding more layers will only be beneficial…

Step 4 – More Polishing

Okay, by now you’ve figured out that this whole polishing thing is a much longer process than you thought. Well, it gets worse. now we repeat the polishing step, but switch brushes, to the horse hair brush, which is softer. Add one more layer of polish using the above method and the softer brush.

Step 5 – Yet More Polishing

Now, with your hair dryer close at hand, it is time to put on the last two coats of wax. For each of them, apply the wax as evenly as you can, in small circles, about two inches in diameter. Then turn your hair dryer on as hot as possible and start melting the wax smooth. Do this twice and let the boots sit for several hours so the wax can harden.

Congratulations! You now have what is called, in the military, a semi-shine. Most people will not care about taking the polishing any further, and can now relace their boots. If, however, you would like to achieve the ultimate in polishing, read on.

Step 6 – Parade Finish

Now that you have well polished, shiny boots, you may want to go one step further and add what the military refers to as a parade finish. To achieve this, there is a special polish that is added on top of the last layer of regular polish, sold as Kiwi Black Parade Polish. This is the most rewarding part (in my opinion) of polishing your boots yourself, as it is impossible to get this finish without putting in the work. A parade finisn is as much about showing how diligent you have been in maintaining your boots (and by reference, how diligent you are in general) as it is about shiny shiny boots.

Using you thirs cotton cloth, begin to apply the parade gloss sparingly. To do this, grip the cloth between your index and middle fingers and pull it tight. Dab your cloth in the polish, then dab it in warm water. Then, begin rubbing in tiny circles on your boots.

This process will take time and patience. If during this process the shine begins to go dull, add more water to your polish/water mix. Likewise, if there are beads of water on the boots, add more polish to the mix. Did I mention that this will take a long time? Your fingers will get sore, your hand will cramp, you will get bored, bored, bored. now you know why you don’t see many people wearing a parade finish on their shoes.

Eventually you will have a pair of boots with a mirror finish. Congratulate yourself for having achieved such, and marvel at how many hours our military spends collectively polishing parade shoes…