Cadet Master Sergeant Evan Weymouth	BOOT POLISHING 101
of Cadet Central Online On the Subject:

First of all, you need to figure out whether you have the Air Force issue boot, the speed lacers, or the Navy boot, the steel toe steel heel kind, Army Jungle boots or Jump boots. Bear in mind that this tutorial is mainly for military style boots, but it will work with most other boots just as well. The below section is for all but Jump Boots.

Step 1.

Break in your boots, wear them around, run in them, try not to scratch them up too bad. RESPECT your Boots.

Step 2.

Once you have done the above you need to get ahold of some Denatured Alcohol. Take a rag and dip it in the alcohol and rub it all over the boot, press fairly hard and do it several times. You do this to remove the factory shine. This shine often prevents you from polishing your boot in some places. It doesn't let the polish adhere to the boot. One more thing, use the alcohol in a well ventilated area.

Step 3.

Now that your boot is clean and broken in here comes the fun part. Polish is what you need. Kiwi or Lincoln is recommended. Kiwi is suggested in this instance. You need a 100% cotton rag. Most likely that T-Shirt your mom hates.
You put it on your index finger and stick it in your mouth! Water will work but spit does a little bit better. Once it is wet you rub it in the polish, just a little bit you don't want too much. Then you take and lightly rub it on your boot, most cases the toe. You rub until you see a little bit of shine, essentailly rub to a shine. Keep doing small swirles until there is no polish left on your rag or stuff on your boot that will come off if you sweep your finger on it. Do it as many times as it takes to get a "Black Mirror" or until you are satisfied.

Good
Tips

If you have a used boot that has some polish on it but it is either scratched up or you nicked it up, you get a big glob of polish on your rag and lightly spread it all over the damaged part of the boot. Let it set for about a minute. Then move to a new part on your rag and get it wet. Then gently rub it all over the fresh polish. Do this several times until it completely fills in the holes. Don't worry about a good polish yet, you're just getting holes filled. Now that you are satisfied with the fix then repeat the above step 3.

If you have Jump Boots mainly by Corcoran then just do step three to your hearts content.

Sometimes after a while your polish is rough and doesn't go on easily no matter what you do. Then flip it over, yes thats right, flip it over because the underside is brand new and all the oils and junk are on that side.

Things that make your head hurt when you first hear 'em.

Bad
Tips

1. Some people like to set their polish aflame and it does go on easily because it's fairly softened. I just think there is something inherently wrong with this. But no ill effects seem to occur.

2. Lighters and boots DO NOT go together. Only in two instances can I think of any reason to get your lighter near your boot. The first would be when you get a small polish going on over your toe. You might want to really quickly put your lighter over it to melt the polish into all of the crevaces in the boot to allow it to get good base coat. Second would be a last ditch effort to remove polish from your boots. Take a lighter run it over your polish and have a napkin handy to wipe it off. Denatured alcohol will give the same strip polish but it takes longer.

GOOD THINGS ABOUT LIGHTERS:
1. Will allow polish to get a good base coat and adhere to your boot better.

2. Once the flame goes over the polish it becomes smoother and if you run a wet rag over it, it will get a very good shine.

BAD THINGS ABOUT LIGHTERS:
1. For some reason when your boot is exposed to extreme heat the polish looks good right then and hours after but in the long run if you don't polish them that much you will get irregular stress cracks that form because the polish was weakened and spread out.

2. If you are a pyromaniac and you hold the flame over for a long time it will burn the polish and spread it out to the point is is almost bare leather.
3. If you burn your polish often it will eventually burn your boot. Therefore drying out the leather and it will do funny things, like crack really bad and not polish that well.


	Contents copyright � 1999 Kiwi Brands All Rights Reserved.

HOW TO SPIT SHINE

Spread a thick layer of paste polish over the leather to be spit shined. Allow it to dry for 5 minutes. Wrap a soft, clean cloth around your index finger so you have a smooth area on the end of your finger and dip it in water so it is thoroughly wet but not dripping (see note 1 below).

Using a small circular motion (see note 2 below), buff the dried polish with the wet cloth until a shine starts to develop. Then, still using the damp rag on your finger, apply a fine layer of polish in a circular motion and keep on rubbing lightly until a hazy shine develops. Keeping the rag damp, build up the shine with thin layers of polish applied in circles with light pressure until a glossy shine develops.

When sufficient shine has developed, use a clean, dry, soft cloth to give it a final buff and remove any last haze.

NOTE:

(1) The reason you use a wet cloth is to stop the fine coats of polish sticking to the cloth and to encourage the polish to stick to the leather. You want to keep on building up thin layers of wax until you have a completely smooth surface that gives the glossy shine.

(2) After the first heavy coat of polish you must use minimal amounts of polish to build up the shine. If you use too much polish, the solvent in the polish you are applying will dissolve the base you have already built up and you will have to start again in that area.

RARE CORCORAN PARATROOPER JUMP BOOT POLISH

How to Spit-Shine Your Boots
Difficulty Level: Average From Your U.S. Military Guide  Time Required: 60 Minutes

The quality of a soldier is often measured by how much time, effort and care he expends on his boots.

Here's how you apply a high-gloss spit shine:

1). Spread a thick layer of paste polish over the leather to be spit shined.

2). Allow it to dry for 5 minutes.

3). Wrap a soft, clean cloth around your index finger so you have a smooth area on the end of your finger and dip it in water so it is thoroughly wet but not dripping.

4). Using a small circular motion, buff the dried polish with the wet cloth until a shine starts to develop.

5). Still using the damp rag on your finger, apply a fine layer of polish in a circular motion and keep on rubbing lightly until a hazy shine develops.

6). Keeping the rag damp, build up the shine with thin layers of polish applied in circles with light pressure until a glossy shine develops.

7). When sufficient shine has developed, use a clean, dry, soft cloth to give it a final buff and remove any last haze.

Tips:

1). The reason to use a wet cloth is to stop the fine coats of polish sticking to the cloth and to encourage the polish to stick to the leather.

2). You want to keep on building up thin layers of wax until you have a completely smooth surface that gives the glossy shine.

3). After the first heavy coat of polish you must use small amounts of polish to build up the shine. If you use too much polish, the solvent in the polish you are applying will dissolve the base you have already built up.

How to lace a Dehner 9 Eyelet Boot

Bal-laced Instep

How to Lace it

As you can see from the diagram, we lace the boots from both sides to the middle. This diagram shows how to lace our 9 eyelet Field Boots and our Bal-Patrol Boots.

For our 7 eyelet Boot, subtract one from the top, and one from the bottom.

Start by inserting lace at eyelet number 1 and exiting at number 10. With the two ends of equal length, proceed through the eyelets as numbered (1-9 then 10-18). The ends will meet in the middle. The lace passes from outside to inside on the eyelets colored GREEN in the diagram and from inside to outside on the eyelets colored RED in the diagram.

Reprinted from: http://www.deafleather.com/archives/bootblack.htm

Special thanks to Bob Ehrlich, Jr., International Mr. Bootblack 1999

Supplies You Will Need

Can of wax, matching the color of the boots to be done. I recommend Kiwi brand.
Polishing brush. Horsehair works best.
One can or bottle of saddle soap (or leather conditioner)
Source of water (i.e., wet rags, water bottle, etc.)
Polishing cloth
Terry cloth
Source of fire (i.e., matches, lighter, etc.)
Toothbrush

Getting Started . . .

Roll up pants or leathers away from boot.
Remove laces (if they have them).
Clean boot well, using water and saddle soap. To do this, wet boot thoroughly, and apply saddle soap. Loosen dirt with a wet cloth or your hands. Whichever feels more comfortable to you. And with a semi-wet cloth, remove the dirt and saddle soap from the boot. This is probably the most important step to doing a "Great Boot".
Using your source of fire, light your can of wax until it envelops the can. Then put out the flame by using the lid of the can - or you can just blow it out.
Immerse your fingers into the hot wax and rub the wax into your hands. You just want to coat your hands, but do not need to over coat them, as most of the wax from your hands will be removed later. You then transfer the wax from your hands to the boots, covering all the leather thoroughly, working it well into the leather. You need to pay a little extra attention to the creases in the boot, especially on the tops/fronts (the toe area) where most creases will form. One note of caution: Look at the stitching around the sole of the boot, some are black and some are white. If the stitching is black, dip your toothbrush into the wax and run the bristles along the stitching. Then run your fingers along the stitching as well. If the stitching is white, not only do you NOT use your toothbrush, but you need to avoid the stitching completely! If you get wax on white stitching, you need to use a "clean" toothbrush with saddle soap to remove. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN!
Clean your hands, using saddle soap and water.
Using your polishing brush, brush the boot to a shine.
Using your polishing cloth and add the final touches to the shine. There are some boots that will have very coarse, grainy characteristics. If this is the case, the polishing cloths will actually dull the boot, and you will be able to tell immediately. If this happens, rebrush the boot and skip this step.
Re-lace boots (if needed).

Optional Items for Leather Care

Hubbard Boot Grease should be used when you have a new pair of boots, or if you have a boot that is grainy and coarse. There are some leathers that just do not shine. If the boots are new, use the boot grease and wait at least three days for the leather to absorb the grease. Then, you may wax the boot.
Edge Dressing to be applied around the soles of the boot. Edge dressing comes in a bottle with an applicator. This only needs to be done every once in a while, as it will last a long time (unless the wearer is particularly "hard" on the boot).
Leather Dye - used when a boot has a permanent stuff or scratches that will not be concealed by using your wax. If you use this product, be sure to do the entire boot.

How do I care for my boots?

Periodically clean, polish, and condition your boots. With proper care, you can add years to the life of your boots while retaining their original good looks. Without the natural occurring lubricants and protective agents of living skin, so it is essential to keep leather clean and to add waterproofing conditioners to maintain it.

Use a non-abrasive pencil eraser to remove scuff marks. Clean the welt (the stitching area between top of the boot and sole) and seams with an old toothbrush. A stiff non-metallic brush, sponge, and a little bit of plain water will reasonably clean your boots.

If they need a more thorough cleaning, remove the worst of dirt or mud using the brush first, then a slightly wet sponge to remove the remaining dirt (Water in small amounts will not hurt leather).

When necessary, use saddle soap and water for a better cleaning. Be sure to rinse away all of the saddle soap. Residual saddle soap will damage leather, just as dried soap left on your skin will damage and cause excessive drying. Never use a detergent--it destroys the natural oils. Always use a proper leather saddle soap for cleaning.

While the leather is still slightly moist after a good cleaning, apply a leather conditioner to replace the leather's natural oils. We recommend Lexol conditioner or any good quality conditioner containing lanolin. Set your clean and treated boots aside for 24 hours to dry. It's always a good idea to use shoe trees so that your boots maintain their shape. Later, apply boot polish or wax, and buff to a shine.

What should I do if my boots get wet?

The first thing to consider is that boots should be waxed or oiled so that they tend to repel water. The less water absorbed by leather, the longer it will last and the more comfortable you'll be. Wet leather will stretch and weaken, shrinking and becoming brittle as it dries. Once your boots are wet, however, they should be dried as soon as possible with room temperature, dry air (Between 70-95 degrees Fahrenheit or 20-35 degrees Centigrade). If you're in a situation where you can't properly dry your boots, wear them in a dry area until they can dry out a bit before you take them off.

It's important to avoid drying them near a fire or heater. This overheating will literally cook the leather and cause it to become stiff and brittle. The best technique is to ensure that dry, room temperature air can circulate inside the boots.

If you let the boots sit in a wet condition for days without drying out, they can become moldy. This isn't good for the boot, and mold or mildew is nearly impossible to get rid of.

How should I take of my boots that have an oily type leather (as found on Wesco boots and most construction type boots)?

Use a product like Huberd's Shoe Grease or Bee Oil.

I have a pair of boots that are very dry and the leather is cracking. Is there any treatment to restore them?

Clean & re-dye them. Use grease or oil to help restore the leather.