# Shoe shine and a cigarette lighter



## DaveInPhilly (May 16, 2005)

I have never served in the military but I have been an EMT (paid and volly) and a Firefighter for quite some time now. We were required to shine our boots whenever we marched in parades and we were encouraged to shine our boots for our regular shifts. Now I know everyone has their own method for the best spit shine and whatnot, but recently I was talking with an army wife who swore up-and-down that her husband (a West Point grad) was taught that the proper way to shine a boot involved using a cigarette lighter. I was always taught that such a practice was effective temporarily, but was in fact, harmful to the polish and the boot, and was, the lazy mans way to go about shining a pair of boots. Any ideas as to which one of us is correct?

BTW, I googled this query before posting, and the first hit I got was for Andy's encyclopedia [^]...but it didn't answer my question.


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## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

I was taught to heat up the polish with a lighter before applying it. I used to shine my shoes outside, and I would actually be able to get the polish to burn for a second or two, before applying it. now I polish my shoes in an old wooden house, and I am a little scared of doing that. I put a dab on a butter knife, heat is up until it gets pretty soft, and apply it. works for me, but I can't say what the long term affects are in comparrison to other ways.


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## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

You can carefully melt polish with a lighter. The caveat is to much and you degrade the quality. An even worse practise is applying polish and then melting it into the leather with the lighter. I saw an idiot in bootcamp set his shoes on fire and another make such an uneven mess it loooked like an italian drip candle. There is an essential ingredient the shoecare companies sadly cannot include- elbow grease and patience.


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## Trenditional (Feb 15, 2006)

The trick I was taught before going into the academy, by an old Army Ranger, was _Ice Water_. He taught me to use ice cold water to dampen my rag and it always worked great for me. The other thing he taught me was every so often to strip my shoes and put several coats of fresh polish on them. During this phase what he said they would do, is instead of heating the polish in the can, they would get the polish on the shoe and then heat a spoon. While the spoon was still warm, rub it over the shoe (with the bottom side) causing the polish to melt. Apparently if you heat the polish directly it can cause it to gum up and not apply properly.

I swore by this method and even prepared a couple of friends shoes before an inspection.

The other great tip for in between waxings, was to keep a toe section of a womans nylon in my pocket. If I got a scuff on my shoe, I would just rub it with the nylon. The scuff would almost disappear without hardly affecting the shine at all. This was my life saver in the academy.

_Deny Guilt, Demand Proof and Never Speak Without an Attorney!_​


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## petro (Apr 5, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by DaveInPhilly_
> 
> I have never served in the military but I have been an EMT (paid and volly) and a Firefighter for quite some time now. We were required <snip>
> I was always taught that such a practice was effective temporarily, but was in fact, harmful to the polish and the boot, and was, the lazy mans way to go about shining a pair of boots. Any ideas as to which one of us is correct?


I'm not going to bag on Military Guys, at least in part because I am one, but let's do consider that *most* people in the military are rather on the young side (Heck it's possible to retire at the grand old age of 37), and the young tend to have limited horizions, especially where planning and resource utilization is concerned.

It is quite possible that you *both* were right, that their method (using a lighter, or a heat gun) to melt the polish into the boot does degrade the leather faster, and that it does give a higher polish, but when the boots are $50/$60 a pair if you have to pay for them, and more likely you just have to have a worn out pair to trade in on a new pair, and you'd rather play pool/go out drinking/whatever than polish your boots, and there's an inspection...

In some army units you simply cannot get promoted past a certian point without paying "professionals" to raise your boots to a mirror shine--so claims an associate who spent a couple years in a Army MP unit.

It's rather sad actually, since the main reason to put wax on boots is to preserve and waterproof them.

The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don't know.
P.J. O'Rourke


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## gordgekko (Nov 12, 2004)

In the Canadian Army -- at least when I was a member -- the "burn shine" was semi-banned though most guys I know did it anyway. It sure did work, that's for sure.


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Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam


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## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by Trenditional_
> 
> The trick I was taught before going into the academy, by an old Army Ranger, was _Ice Water_. He taught me to use ice cold water to dampen my rag and it always worked great for me. The other thing he taught me was every so often to strip my shoes and put several coats of fresh polish on them. During this phase what he said they would do, is instead of heating the polish in the can, they would get the polish on the shoe and then heat a spoon. While the spoon was still warm, rub it over the shoe (with the bottom side) causing the polish to melt. Apparently if you heat the polish directly it can cause it to gum up and not apply properly.
> 
> ...


I use the ice water at the polishing stage, but that I didn't learn in the army (I would have killed for some ice water in the army). the way I understood it, you want to get the polish soft and hot to get in, and then harden it with the ice water.

now that I think about it, that change in temperature so drastically can't be good for the leather.


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## DaveInPhilly (May 16, 2005)

Thanks for the insight fellas. 

The station I worked at up in Albany had a little boot shine kit for us to use. I can still remember folks (usually an older guy screaming at some new guy) getting into all out rages over melting the polish and ruining it for the "rest of us". 

My college roommate, who also worked with me as an EMT, was Army ROTC (he's in Afghanistan right now) and I can also remember him using a heat gun to polish his boots before inspection. I believe that he would agree with Petro, the boots were relatively cheap (or were they even provided to him for free, I forget) as was the polish, so he didn't particularly care about the long term effects on either, but admitted that he was taught this was not the proper way to shine his boots.


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## SJX (Dec 29, 2003)

Having recently left the army, applying a lighter to polish (usually Kiwi), if done for the right amount of time, will leave a hard, almost glassy shine. It seems to bond the polish to the leather, and leaves boots very prone to cracking, but it achieves the desired effects for parades.


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## JAGMAJ (Feb 10, 2005)

I have both seen and done the direct lighter method. Gob on loads of polish and then melt it with a lighter. Then using pure cotton cottonballs, soak them with water and start buffing out the polish (which will be very hazy and uneven at first). After quite a bit of polishing (about 20-30 minutes), you do get a very glossy shine. I haven't used that method in years, as I don't generally have the time, and I never did it frequently, but I never observed a problem with the leather on my boots. On the other hand, military boots don't exactly use the finest or most delicate leather.

"Fortune favors the bold."


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## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

The irony of all this is that EMT's and service personnel do the actual work in footwear NEVER SHINED. This airdale ( aviation) decided to spit shine his flight boots. The senior chief had him on latrine duty for a week. Wax polish and fires don't mix well.


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## Chuck Franke (Aug 8, 2003)

I must admit... when I read the topic my initial thought was that we were 6 beers, some bailing wire and a roll of duct tape away from a shoe polishing mishap that could be featured in next year's "Darwin Awards" but I am a little bit curious now.

...will practice this on Jill's Escada's first and see how it turns out.

www.carlofranco.com
Handmade Seven Fold Ties


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## petro (Apr 5, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Kav_
> 
> The irony of all this is that EMT's and service personnel do the actual work in footwear NEVER SHINED. This airdale ( aviation) decided to spit shine his flight boots. The senior chief had him on latrine duty for a week. Wax polish and fires don't mix well.


They mix well on other people's feet.

Dieticians suggest that to get a balanced diet one should make sure you have lots of colors on your plate.So far, however the Skittles and M&M diet doesn't seem to be working


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## Andre Yew (Sep 2, 2005)

I've heated up a can of brown Kiwi under a halogen lamp until the polish turns liquid, and applied that as polish. It finishes in a very interesting, complex way, quite unlike what you get with a normal spitshine. There is an inky depth that really comes out in sunlight, but appears murky in anything less. I think it's probably because there's such a thick layer of paste on the shoe (A-E blucher in chili calf).

--Andre


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## clothesboy (Sep 19, 2004)

Chuck Franke said:


> I must admit... when I read the topic my initial thought was that we were 6 beers, some bailing wire and a roll of duct tape away from a shoe polishing mishap that could be featured in next year's "Darwin Awards" but I am a little bit curious now.
> 
> ...*will practice this on Jill's Escada's first and see how it turns out*.
> 
> Handmade Seven Fold Ties


And the winner of this year's aforementioned Darwin Awards is...


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## Lino (Apr 15, 2006)

Some military folk also use Windex, which gives a quck and good shine, but eats the crap out of the shoes.

I have used a lighter to heat ignite my polish to warm and soften it up though so it gets into the seams and such. Remeber polish is a protector as well as a polisher, so getting the wax into the seams helps keep water out.


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## Orgetorix (May 20, 2005)

I was taught a version of the lighter method by a college roommate, and used it a few times on my shoes. It never produced outstanding results, though, and I've gotten better shines with several coats of polish, a bit of water, and elbow grease. And an old dress sock or section of pantyhose.


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## GBR (Aug 10, 2005)

petro said:


> ...
> 
> In some army units you simply cannot get promoted past a certian point without paying "professionals" to raise your boots to a mirror shine--so claims an associate who spent a couple years in a Army MP unit.
> 
> It's rather sad actually, since the main reason to put wax on boots is to preserve and waterproof them.


Does the military not have anything better to concern itself with than mindless shoe polishing in this day and age?


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## JAGMAJ (Feb 10, 2005)

GBR said:


> Does the military not have anything better to concern itself with than mindless shoe polishing in this day and age?


Actually, boot shining is about to become a thing of the past in the Army. The new Army duty uniform has suede boots that can't be shined. I'm still wearing the old style uniforms until they phase them out-- in part, so I can wear shined boots.


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## kitonbrioni (Sep 30, 2004)

Much to do over nothing. Except taking a chance of damaging ones shoes/boots.


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## acidicboy (Feb 17, 2006)

GBR said:


> Does the military not have anything better to concern itself with than mindless shoe polishing in this day and age?


the polishing of one's boots has been a time honored military tradition.


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## theoldguard (Mar 13, 2006)

Maybe we ought to get some of the guys at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier involved in this discussion. They do the best shines I've seen, a level far beyond any other. From what I gather from them, there is no substitute for time and elbow-grease.


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## Lino (Apr 15, 2006)

GBR said:


> Does the military not have anything better to concern itself with than mindless shoe polishing in this day and age?


It's not entirely about the shine. The first job of the polish is to protect the leather.

All that mindless shoe polishing is also supposed to teach one to take care of their equipment as people's lives depend on said equipment.


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## Holdfast (Oct 30, 2005)

I used the "hot teaspoon" method back in cadets as described above - polish, then heat a teaspoon up over a lighter or candle and using the back of the spoon _carefully_ smooth the polish. Done with a gentle touch, you get a brilliantly smooth and glazed surface that's very easy to maintain in a shined state with those waxy foam pads or even Windolene. 

I would not recommend this technique for EGs or JLPs...


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## NukeMeSlowly (Jul 28, 2005)

JAGMAJ said:


> Actually, boot shining is about to become a thing of the past in the Army. The new Army duty uniform has suede boots that can't be shined. I'm still wearing the old style uniforms until they phase them out-- in part, so I can wear shined boots.


Is this true? I am shocked.


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## WingtipTom (Sep 6, 2006)

JAGMAJ said:


> Actually, boot shining is about to become a thing of the past in the Army. The new Army duty uniform has suede boots that can't be shined. I'm still wearing the old style uniforms until they phase them out-- in part, so I can wear shined boots.





NukeMeSlowly said:


> Is this true? I am shocked.


 I'm not entirely all that suprised. Since the military went to patent leather shoes as the standard for their dress uniforms, it was only a matter of time before they phased out genuine leather boots. It's disappointing.


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## WestOfPCH (Aug 17, 2006)

Went to the U.S. Air Force Academy where all variations of lighter (heating the can of Kiwi, applied to directly to shoes/boots) and water (hot, warm, cold) were used. Also differences of opinion on whether or not cotton balls or old t-shirts were better. They all seemed to work. I've also seen some perfectly good black military oxfords absolutely ruined by too much direct flame.

Regarding patent leather: "In My Day" (he said with a boistrous voice pontificating about the past) . . . 4th classmen (i.e. freshmen) were not allowed to wear patent leather shoes unless they were wearing Mess Dress (when few ever had a reason to wear). My understanding is that these days, USAFA cadets don't get issued Mess Dress until their 2nd-class year.


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## anglophile (Jul 7, 2006)

Hang on, let me put on my old Beret one more time........damn, a little tighter than I recall......there we go. 

Assuming that we are talking about wax based shoe polish, lets think about this one for just a minute. Why would you apply heat or flame to shoe polish? It would either be in hopes of melting or actually burning it, right? Neither one of these is a very good idea, either in the short term or the long term.

If your plan is to melt it, why would you want to do that? The only way to get that "mile-deep" black shoe shine is to apply VERY small amounts of polish and work them into the leather completely. The shine is a by-product of having leather that is very black and not overly dry to begin with, topped with a micro-thin layer of protective hard wax. If you want to soften the polish so you can scoop up a big glob of it and rub it all over the surface of your shoe, you end up covering the leather with much too thick of a layer of polish. Sure, when it hardens you will be able to get a decent short-term shine out of it, but it won't last. All kinds of dust, lint and dirt will imbed itself in the polish and with repeated application, it will begin to crack and flake. Bad juju. 

Of course, you could just set the polish on fire. Also not a great idea. Shoe polish is a compound made up of waxes (mostly carnuba, but some also contain beeswax or other man made waxes such as parafin), pigments, oils to condition the leather and turpentine which keeps the polish from drying out. Whats going to happen when you light this stuff on fire? First, the turpentine will flash off and the polish will begin to dry out. Then some of the waxes will begin to burn (carnuba doesn't burn cleanly so it won't vaporize like parafin, but rather it turns to ash). The by-product of all this combustion will be more heat, which will break down the pigments. You have now turned well-made, chemically balanced shoe polish into a nasty mud, stripped of it moisturizing properties and full of ash and other crud. You wanna rub that on your shoes, you go ahead. Leave mine alone.

All that said, if your polish is too cold, it won't cover well. Don't keep your polish in the freezer. That should keep it warm enough. As for all those other ideas; ice water, vodka, windex, floorwax, whatever...... I've seen them all. Teaching at the Infantry school, you see guys try everything to get that mirror shine in as little time as they can. There are a bunch of ways you can get a quick high gloss finish on your shoes, but if you want to have the shine, and the shoes, last the only secret is elbow grease. Use very little polish on a clean polish cloth, work in small cirlcles and dip you finger in some clean water to keep it moist. Keep working until the haze is gone then start again. After 2-3 coats and about 30 minutes, you should begin to see the effect you are going for. 

The only "Militrary Myth" I read in this thread that I will vouch for is the one about pantyhose. I've tried it, and it does work. Brings back the shine and covers any scuffs. No flame or windex required.

Chris
Who can still count his teeth in the reflection off the toes of his shoes after 2 wearings to the office.


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## bw79st (Sep 1, 2005)

Some musings on spit shines. When I was a teenager (late 1950's) the rage was to spit shine your black loafers. Every kid had a different technique, probably adopted from an older brother or cousin in the service. I've been through the Zippo lighter thing and found that it was not the best for good leather when I ruined a pair of cordovans in 1963. Still, the habit remains and I immediately spit shine every new pair of dress shoes that I get. After that I just need to touch them up after a wearing.

The system I settled on is using a damp men's handkerchief to apply the wax in multiple light coats. I don't buff the coats out in between - I just keep putting one coat on top of the other. It really doesn't take long to start to see a mirror finish emerge, usually on the toe area first. At this point I usually start buffing between coats so I can monitor my progress on the whole shoe. I wind up with a gloss that is deep and a bit satiny that doesn't break up at flex areas.

When you start, if the shoe surface feels rough under your finger applying the wax then go easy. Eventually the gloss surface starts to build and your finger glides, then you can press harder. But if there is any resistance, back off on the pressure. Also, if I feel resistance I'll brush to smooth out the surface before proceeding with another coat.

The nylon stocking or panty hose mentioned by others does make a good buff rag but I haven't bothered with one in years. My shine comes from the application of polish, and the buffing brush is just to even out any remaining streaks from the last coat. Another trick is having a good horsehair brush, mine is 35 years old.

(In college I saw ROTC guys use a nylon. They kept it rolled inside their saucer caps so it was always handy for a touch up. But what did they know? They used Noxon on their brass. Ugh!)

My bottom line is - always apply light coats of Kiwi wax with a damp handkerchief whether you are spit polishing or just touching up a shine. I was told many years ago to never put water on a brand new pair of shoes so for the inaugural coat I put the wax on dry.

When I was a draftee I felt that the Army clowns didn't know squat about polishing shoes. You wouldn't believe how many boots I saw with spray floor polish on them. Well at least I was able to get Kiwi in the PX for my dress shoes. I never spit shined boots, but I did use the same method as above to clean them, so over a period of a few months they did build up a nice glow. Anyway, in the Army you didn't need spit shined, or even shined, boots. The regs said that they needed to be clean and blackened.


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## WestOfPCH (Aug 17, 2006)

Slightly related . . . As I mentioned previously, I've seen guys try many different ways to get that mirror like shine, and two guys would try the exact same method with exactly opposite end results. 

The most controversial--and damaging--method was to "prepare" the shoe surface by first using fine grade sandpaper to allegedly smooth the surface. Some guys swore by this and came up with some pretty nice shines. I tried it once at the beginning of my WAD year to absolutely horrible results. I couldn't wear the shoes again unless it was inclement weather and expectations were a bit lower.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

anglophile said:


> Hang on, let me put on my old Beret one more time........damn, a little tighter than I recall......there we go.
> 
> Assuming that we are talking about wax based shoe polish, lets think about this one for just a minute. Why would you apply heat or flame to shoe polish? It would either be in hopes of melting or actually burning it, right? Neither one of these is a very good idea, either in the short term or the long term.
> 
> ...


Very wise and, given what I've read in previous posts to this thread, timely advice. Having spent 31 years wearing a uniform (and before anyone goes out and ruins a good pair of shoes) I would recomend giving "anglophile's" post some serious consideration. The keys to a mirror like shine are time and effort. Anything less will result in damaged footgear and ruined tins of polish.


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