Boot cleaning / polishing / care of

[Troopasaurus]

post your good tips for boot shining here ill start

first get alot of polish on your boots and melt with heat do this repeatedly until you have a good base on it then buff next take a small amount of polish apply in small circles breath like you would into cold hands (hot breath) then do small circles repeat till you can no longer see the circles

 

[BestOfTheBest]

Tell us more
:fifty: :tank: :evil: :mg: :cam: :rocket: :sniper: :skull:

 

[Korus]

Careful not actually light the polish on fire when you heat it. Unless, of course, you want your boot to start flaking.

The best thing I‘ve found is to just use ‘Kiwi Parade Gloss‘ instead of the regular black kiwi. get‘s ‘em shiney enough to pass an inspection.

 

[sgt.shmedly102]

The only way to get a really good (and durable) shine is to build up many thin layers. If you try to glob it on, or use some ‘trick‘, you may get an impressive shine, but it won‘t last and therefore, won‘t protect the leather. Of course you can‘t just take a new pair of boots out of the box and expect to get a good spit shine. I would suggest simply brush shining them while you break them in. Then after a few weeks you should have a good enough base to spit shine. Only spit shine the toe and heel (the hard parts); if you spit shine the leather where it flexes, it will crack. Use cotton balls, a little bit of water and a little bit of kiwi, and make small, circular motions with very light pressure. After a few months, you‘ll find your boots require less work to get them looking good.

Of course, if you‘re going to the field, your main concern is protecting and waterproofing the leather, so a good brush shine should be sufficient.

 

[fortuncookie5084]

As someone who has done the Ceremonial Guard in Ottawa a few times, I think I can offer an opinion that not only reflects extensive boot shining experience (oh boy does that sound lame) combined with extremely heavy use of highly shined drill boots. Anyway, I‘ve seen all kinds of tricks which all invariably fail. You need a good base coat applied thickly and brushed off. After 20 or so of those then you spit shine with regular kiwi. Many small applications. If you apply it thickly it WILL crack and then you‘re stuck with bad boots and a slot on that evening defaulters‘ parade. A burn shine is a very risky gamble. I‘ve seen it work and the result is impressive. The other 99 out of 100 times the boots will be completely ruined and you will be doing a very fast left-right-left at the CSM‘s charge parade.

So here it is: Base coats. Then many (4 per day is what I do for the first month) thin coats of regular kiwi--parade gloss is a gimmick. After the first month you have enough of a shine built up that you can actually slack off somewhat. Eventually one quick shine will do it. Like everything else in the Army and in life it takes hard work to see results.

 

[fortuncookie5084]

Another point. In order to reduce the chance for the boots to crack, you will always shine them once and then wear them for a bit. Walk around. Work on your other kit (when I‘m on tasking I shine my boots, then wear them while ironing my pants and shirts). Always wear them after shining, then shine them some more.

 

[Korus]

I‘ve heard about burning boots being a chargeable offense, what exactly is illegal about it? the burning itself, or ruining your boots?

 

[fortuncookie5084]

It is indeed a chargeable offense which I‘ve seen enforced. A burn shine gone wrong completely destroys the serviceability and appearance of the boot. It is impossible to hide it or attribute the damage to anything else. It has to do with the extreme heat of the fire drying out the leather. The boots will fall apart when you‘re wearing them. A burn shine gone right will also destroy the serviceability of the boot (future boot polishing will not yield the proper result due to the damaged leather), but the damage will not be as extensive or apparent.

 

[Korus]

Ah.. Makes sense. You don‘t want your big black cadilacs to break down on a ruck march...

 

[toms3]

I had a function to attened a few weeks back. 30 mins before I had to leave I realized that I had not touch my Parade boots. So, I grabbed them and did a speed spit shine on them. Lucky for me...I have had the same boots for such a long time it only need a quick freshing up back to a nice refective shine.

 

[combat_medic]

You know, it IS possible to do a "burn shine" without actually involving an open flame... all you need is for the polish to melt, and it doesn‘t take that much heat to do it. You can acheive the desired effect using a hair dryer on a hot setting (guys can borrow their wife/girlfriend/sister‘s one), or you can use a heat gun, if you happen to have one. Using a lighter in close proximity to the boot, without burning the leather itself also isn‘t that hard. Just hold the lighter close to the boot until the polish melts (aboout 0.5 seconds).

Of course, all of this should be done as your final coat of polish after applying many, many base layers. I‘ve gotten really consistent results with it, probably because I do put the time into those 3-4 coats each time I polish before the burn polish layer. If you‘re trying to find a quick, easy cheat, it won‘t work!!!

I‘ve heard horror stories of cadets who use windex, turtle wax, candle wax, vaseline, and all sorts of other garbage on boots, but for the long-term, nothing wields a good result like a little elbow grease.

 

[sgtdixon]

Want a Horror story? I took SIC this summer in Cold Lake and there was a cadet who used rubbing alcohol and the paste from inside batterys to get a shine out of his boots and yet he managed a shine, but his boots didnt flex at all. Poor Sucker was sore on our 4 hour grad parade

 

[portcullisguy]

While I didn‘t have the time to make the shine absolutely parade-ground gleaming, this trick worked for me:

- Melt the wax IN the can! Light it up with a lighter, let the top melt, put the lid back on to put the flame out. You will have a layer of liquid polish. I found it easier to apply and fill any divots, scuffs, etc., with the small round boot brush.

- After applying a thin layer of this and allowing it to dry, I then buffed with the soft cloth, re-applied polish, and then buffed again.

Didn‘t bring me a mirror shine, but only because I didn‘t stick with it long enough...

Used this technique to bring drab black dress shoes up to a courtroom-approved shine, and same with my customs work boots (which are crap to begin with).

 

[Pikache]

^So, you survived, Meaford, eh?

For some reason I always had at least 30 minutes to work on my boots so I constantly buffed them using just kiwi and horsehair brush. After a while, I needed just a quick buff and it was inspection ready.

Working on boots after a wet rainy field ex is a completely different story...

 

[portcullisguy]

Meaford? Must not have meant me, I haven‘t been yet. Still a PTE(R).

One thing I forgot to mention is the boot sole. Lots of people forget this important part. It‘s not very often you see the boot sole, but it is a sign of a complete and thorough polishing job if you dab and brush some polish between the heel and ball of the foot on the sole...right in that arch. Don‘t polish the tread, you‘ll leave marks all over the floor.

 

[Korus]

Don‘t polish the tread, you‘ll leave marks all over the floor.

Oh, we learnt this the hard way on our course! One little trick is to wash off the bottom of the boot with water and a brush, then use hair spray on the bottom of the boot. It works pretty well. (Conversly, you can use that ‘polish in a bottle‘ stuff. I‘ve seen it used)

 

[Dacier]

The list that I was given for materials to bring to basic training listed a Kiwi Polish Cloth. I have searched a number of shoe stores but none of them carry them or can recommened a place to get them. Do they still exist? Is there a special place I need to get them from?

Also, what amount of Civlian clothing should I bring to St. Jean? I know for the first month the uniform must be worn, but after that civies are alowed during the evenings and of course on those few lucky weekends off. Should I just bring two T-shirts, a sweater, socks, and the jeans I‘ll be wearing on the train ride to Montreal?

Also, about the alarm clock that I read on another list here, it says a battery operated one is preferable. Are there electrical outlets in the barrack rooms?

I‘m leaving this Sunday morning from Toronto.

 

[ArmyBoyzGurl]

for the kiwi cloth, try any like, zellers, kmart, canadian tire... they SHOULD have them... and my bf brought 2 sets of civvies ( left 4 jan), i guess it‘d be ok...

 

[Pikache]

The base CANEX should carry them. The question is when will you be able to go to CANEX on course.

 

[Dacier]

The generic superstores carry the Kiwi cloths?
Be easy to find now. Thanks.