US military shoe shining tactics

Tell you another secret,

Buy another set of shoes just for inspecting and you can save many hours shining.

I had a set of inspection shoes that were stored in a special wood box the 4 years i was in the navy these were only used for inspections. i shined them only 3 times in 4 years that i was in the navy.

I would just put a light layer on them and shine it before storing them for the next inspection.

It was funny to watch others try to shine shoes that they had worn for other then just inspections.

That's where the Lincoln Wax comes in, much smoother and easier to work with, and the cotton balls do their work, soaking wet, of course. Diaper cloth works almost as well.



reply to post by Evolutionsend

when i was in, i got payed to shine class A's, and the old leather boots , my secret was use nylon stocking as the finale buff, lite the wax with a lighter or a match , the brigs out the shin and makes it more "pliable" to get in then deep cracks and the scuff marks, still do my own. S and F BTW! outstanding!!!!

reply to post by ANNED


I'm not in the military. I learned how to shine from my Dad.

When I was on active duty, I shined my boots using iron steam.
Coat the shoe in Kiwi show polish, turn on the iron and spurt steam all over. Then take the kiwi brush and quickly, but lightly, scrub the shoe. Very quick and easy, especially after ironing your uniform.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


Unless we're wearing gala uniforms, shining boots is a thing of the past.

Nice thread though, this is something everyone should know how to do.

Especially goth kids.

If restoring shine to workboots, or new boots: Heat the leather first with a heat gun (or what I did) put em in a slightly warm oven for a bit. Then light the polish to liquify it, rub in the first coat. Dry warm leather sucks it up, creates a perfect base to polish up.

I thought this was going to be a thread about rigging a shine box.
But still good

reply to post by bekod


I have to second this, nylons are by far the best buffing material. A piece of the nice itchy US Navy wool blanket takes a close second.

Originally posted by GmoS719

Originally posted by gimme_some_truth

I loved those things. I even paid to have them re-souled once...

Your boots have a soul? WOAH! Where can I buy me some of those!

edit on 7-11-2011 by GmoS719 because: (no reason given)

Sole.... sorry

I always do that. It's bad. I am a writer and my own language confuses me.

reply to post by projectvxn


I mentioned that. You get off easy nowadays!

It will certainly define the word patience for you. It takes so long. These "goth kid" demonia boots I'm doing right now soak up so much polish, I'm on the second can already.

Thanks for the thread E. E. I will tell you the secret that still hasn't been talked about yet. All new recruits in The USMC are required to wear their boots into the showers for a week to condition the leather for shining and stretch to fit. The Marines are never allowed to use hair spray and would be a butt chewing if caught. The shine is from multiple strokes that eventually glaze the leather and coats of polish and wax that become like a shell eventually s/f op

reply to post by UberL33t
wool socks , why waste a good blanky, unless it too is full of holes

never wore out a blanket sure did boots and socks, usually the socks first then the boots

Originally posted by CherubBaby
Thanks for the thread E. E. I will tell you the secret that still hasn't been talked about yet. All new recruits in The USMC are required to wear their boots into the showers for a week to condition the leather for shining and stretch to fit. The Marines are never allowed to use hair spray and would be a butt chewing if caught. The shine is from multiple strokes that eventually glaze the leather and coats of polish and wax that become like a shell eventually s/f op

edit on 7-11-2011 by CherubBaby because: (no reason given)

When did this start? I was on PI in '99 2nd battalion & we never wore our boots in the shower as a matter of fact we wore jungle boots so your feet would get SOAKED , no one wore ICB's because #1 they don't shine well and #2 they were gore tex so clogging the pores with polish would defeat the purpose. I don't know how it is now, but we weren't even allowed to wear boots initially, you wear gofasters (Sneakers) The only cheating we did was during Inspections where the SDI would break out his "Special Sauce" which I later learned was mop and glo. It works great ... as long as you don't actually try to walk more than 50 feet...lol

I've always used Kiwi Parade gloss, a dobber, a lighter and a lil bit of water in the top of the polish can and an old pair of skivies...lol Like Glass! when you breathe on them they would fog up like a mirror , awesome!.

Originally posted by ANNED
Tell you another secret,

Buy another set of shoes just for inspecting and you can save many hours shining.

.

I lucked out and we were issued Corframs... patent leather FTW!

I have to say, yep thats about right LOL Nice boots!

Whenever it was inspection time though, it was always

MOP AND GLOW!!! Those were the days, on a side note my husband and I both met because we won our inspections and the prize was a white water rafting trip!!!

those boots in the pic you posted looked brand new so im not sure why you posted them?

did you take any before and after pics?

Still a good explanation of how to do it.

Originally posted by TiM3LoRd
those boots in the pic you posted looked brand new so im not sure why you posted them?

OP should take this as a great compliment to their shoe shining abilities.



Like I said in my first post in this thread. I used to have an old beat up pair of work boots that were nicked and scratched and beat to hell. When I was through polishing them, they looked brand new.

Evolutionsend, honestly did a fantastic job.

reply to post by TiM3LoRd


Brand new? They're two years old, and he uses for a variety of activities including motorcycle riding. The last time I shined them was 3 months ago. They actually have small scratches all over the top, and a few gashes on the sides. If you look at the inside part in the second picture you can see an area that hasn't been polished yet. Nice and cracked and dull. They are some of the thickest boots I've ever seen though. One of them is like 5 lbs.

They've been through mud, rain, snow, everything. A good shine can do wonders for a used boot, or even rescue a really old one.

Sadly I did not take any before pics. The other one doesn't have much done to it. I'll snap a pic when I get home. Both toes are done pretty much, and those were the main areas that looked bad. The sides still looked halfway decent from the last time I shined them up.

Originally posted by bekod
when i was in, i got payed to shine class A's, and the old leather boots , my secret was use nylon stocking as the finale buff, lite the wax with a lighter or a match , the brigs out the shin and makes it more "pliable" to get in then deep cracks and the scuff marks, still do my own. S and F BTW! outstanding!!!!

edit on 7-11-2011 by bekod because: editting

That's right. I was in the Navy and we all used nylons for the "rag" portion. I spent many a night crunched behind the bunks with a Kiwi top full of water shining boots. What a great idea to have a separate pair just for inspections! Of course, you can't do that in boot camp because there is no room and no way even to buy a second pair. And THAT'S where the inspections were toughest. Out on a ship TPTB weren't near as fussy.