I am a soldier in the US Army and it shames me to say it but I have a very hard time shining boots. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get a "bling bling" shine on my boots?

lothruin

Switch to patent leather? No seriously, you aren't the only soldier who can't shine his boots. I used to shine my ex-husband's boots, and he was a Marine. My favored method is as follows: First things first, I always used Kiwi polish. Other essentials include a lighter, a soft-bristled brush (they often include them in shining kits) and a discarded cotton sock. So, step #1 is to open the canister of shoe polish and light it on fire. Let it flame just long enough to get a layer of polish good and melty, then blow it out. If you use the sock to help protect your hand AND to apply the polish, you don't need to let it cool off at all. Just dip the sock in and start working the polish on. Get all of your boot covered with the warm polish before you start rubbing in. Let it cool off, then work it in really well with the sock. The motion will be similar to if you were rubbing lotion into the skin. Get all the polish worked in well, then work it over with the brush to remove excess polish. After that, two times over with the sock again, with a clean part this time, and rubbing more briskly each time, should give you a pretty good shine. The final step if you are still not quite satisfied is to rub the sock back and forth on the toes and heel as fast as you can. This is more easily done with the boot ON a foot. Maybe not YOUR foot, but A foot. My ex always passed inspection with flying colors. He never told them I shined his boots. :-) Sep 14 04, 1:47 PM

Baloo55th

I suppose you've looked at http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/ht/spitshine.htm This one refers more to coloured shoes, but could be useful http://iaia.essortment.com/howdoishines_rgar.htm and then there's http://www.ehow.com/tips_31.html http://www.bootdog.com/spitshine.html I've never really seen the point of shiny boots for anything other than parade. I prefer to have dull ones that don't reflect light. Sep 14 04, 1:52 PM

romeomikegolf

There is no substitute for spit and polish. As an ex Airman in the RAF we had to have our 'best' footware polished so highly they looked like mirrors. The technique is easy to learn, but difficult to master. I agree with Lothruin, Kiwi gives the best results. Use a soft cotton cloth and apply a small amount of polish to the leather, work it in using small circular movements. A small amount of spit on the polish helps. You keep doing this until the required level of shine is achieved. A second, easier way that we used was to paint the toe cap with a very high gloss black polyurethane paint. Only trouble was, if you stamped your feet too hard, the paint fell off in one piece. Sep 14 04, 10:46 PM

doomed

Use this method to get an excellent shine. Use a small amount of polish and spread thinly over the boot in circlular motions. Then use an iron to enforce heat onto the leather, add further layers of polish and iron the leather further. Then after around four iron movements apply a decent but not over the top amount of polish, this should be allowed to soak into the leather which still needs to be warm. Return to the boot a few minutes later and use the trusty spit and polish routine. I had my boots gleaming like a jewel! Sep 15 04, 10:04 AM