Making the toes of a pair of parade shoes shine?

iwannamotorbike

Hi

I bought my son a pair of leather parade shoes for the air cadets but we can't seem to make the toes shine enough.

I there such a thing as a patent leather dye (other than black gloss paint!) which could make the toes of the shoe shine or any other way to make leather look like patent leather?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks


Allan

calleyw

Not being funny but are they not taught how to polish there shoes at cadets. Or is what they where taught is not working.

My husband was in the TA and he was taught to shine shoes with a back of a hot spoon to take the bumps out and loads of polish working in small circles.

So in other words lots of spit and polish.

I have heard of people using that polish stuff you use to shine wooden floors. But have a feeling that it wrecks the shoes.

I have feeling that some cheaper leather shoes just don't get a proper shine on them.


Yours


Calley

nearlyrich

iwannamotorbike wrote:

Hi

I bought my son a pair of leather parade shoes for the air cadets but we can't seem to make the toes shine enough.

My 2 were/are in ATC they use a combination of methods and products to get that fantastic shine. I know it involves heat, sellotape and that clear floor shine stuff along with lots of elbow grease and black parade gloss. Cotton wool is also involved in the process, will try to find out exactly what they do next time we speak.;)


Edited to add : Calley's comments make sense of what I was trying to say, first the hot spoon and lastly seal with Johnson's Klear once they have done the little circular polishing trick......:D


P.S. What's the "we" all about, he should be fully in control of shining and pressing, great training for looking smart in the real world:D

BWZN93

he he, this takes me back to my ACF days! Back then (1995) we used to use various methods depending on the situation. Getting into a habit of small circular polishing for hours on end with a bit of water dabbed on too is good way of building it up and it lasts longer and protects the leather better. I used to do mine on a sunday afternoon for an hour or two and love the smell of polish now! In an emergency, we used hairspray but it didnt work to well. we never used varnish incase it damaged the boots. If I were to do it now, id take them to my local cobbler as they have the spinning brush thing and super awesome silicon spray stuff which would sort it out in seconds!

Jo xx

Edit: My afterthought was to make sure there is a can of spray starch in the house for ironing, that stuff was amazing!

jaxxy00

My brother was in the RAF and ive seen him polish his boots which i thought were normal leather all over with a patent leather front. But no, thats how shiny he used to get them by just using boot polish and some spit on a rag! You should have seen them. Takes a lot of work and time but you get there in the end.

comping_cat

Depends what type of material they are made of, try putting the polish on, then leaving overnight before polishing. With patent leather, try petrolium jelly, this should bring out a lovely shine!!!!

tomstickland

I used to shine up boots. You lay loads of polish on and then set to with a cloth and a bit of spittle. Hours of polishing should bring up a big shine.

Bargain_Rzl

My sister (RAF officer) does something involving melting the polish (once it's on the shoe) with a naked flame. But not quite sure how that works.

Ronn1e_2

Two things really work for me.

1) Use Kiwi PARADE Gloss shoe polish which is much better than normal polish.
2) After applying the polish (and by all means incorporate the above tips) shine with a brush. Then to get a super shine use a pair of ladies tights instead of a polishing cloth.

skintscotsman

There are loads of different methods for bulling shoes but, in my opinion, nothing works better, lasts longer or gives a deeper shine than:

1. using thin layers of polish
2. using the softest cloth you can find
3. a tiny, tiny little bit of water on the cloth (not spit as your spittle is too acidic)
4. ELBOW GREASE!!!!

I was in the Sea Cadets for six years and then joined the Royal Navy afterwards so I have a lot of experience of bulling shoes!!!!

Please don't use hot spoons/floor polish and other tricks - they really waste the leather!!

It really is a case of sitting for an hour or so every week and getting a deep, deep shine on them....a shine that has taken a bit of eblow grease will last so much longer too.

Mr_Proctalgia

As an Ex squaddie I know how to "Bull" boots, as previously mentioned use Kiwi, get a yellow duster and sit down, give the toe caps a good covering of Kiwi and leave overnight, then open the polish put a little water in the lid double up the yellow duster put it over your finger and dampen the duster, dip it in the polish and start bulling in small circular movements, do not press too hard, in time a high degree of shine will develop, when the polish has gone add a little more water and polish and continue, it does take ages but does work. (After several months you can even cover all the stitching)

HTH