The following is list of materials in addition to one piece of leather (i.e., vest, chaps, leather pants, etc.) that each participant will need*:*The below listed items can be purchased at most shoe repair or leather shops. 

BOOTS:

• 1-pair (at least) of high-shineable boots. This means that they are intended to be shined, not the dull, oil tanned variety, and not the silicone-treated variety.

BRUSHES:

• (1) Dauber (clean) – to be used to clean boots prior to polishing, if not an old rag will do.
• (1) Soft horsehair brush – You will need a brush for introductory instruction. There are several brands: Kiwi or Star, etc. The 6” one will work fine, but the 8” ones are better
• (1) Old toothbrush

CLOTHS:

• (2) Old towels
• (2) 100% cotton polishing towels – Ideally these will be 100% cotton t-shirts cut into two pieces. Must be 100% cotton, as Polyester blend are too abrasive. If the t-shirt is new, it should be laundered several times to soften the cloth. If there is a pattern printed or embroidered, that portion cannot be used, as it is too abrasive.
• (2) 100% cotton spit-shine cloths – 8“ to 11” square (they should be old and soft)

SUPPLIES:

• (1) Tin Saddle soap
• (1) Tin of Dubbin (must be heated at 180 f° and is used to provide waterproofing)
• (1) Tin of Regular Kiwi black shoe polish
• (1) Tin of Kiwi Parade Gloss polish – Kiwi Polish can be purchased at most supermarkets or many Military surplus stores, or on amazon of course.
• (1) Old margarine tub or similar plastic tub for the water – must be clean!
• Towel, wash cloths and soap to clean up with after

OPTIONAL ITEMS:

• (1) Spray Bottle
• (1) Hair Dryer
• (1) Stool, chair, milk crate, to sit on while blacking or kneepads if you prefer to kneel.

Introduction

The quality of a Leatherman is often measured by how much time, effort and care they spend on the cleanliness of their shoes and Boots. In fact, they need to be shined on a regular basis. For this reason, all Leatherman should know how to “spit-shine” their Boots. The standards are high in the military for shoes and Boots when not in the field. The leather should look like Corfam shoes, which are so shiny and reflective you should be able to see your face in your boots or shoes.

While it may seem like a simple task to apply shoe polish to your boots, there are some simple steps, that if followed, will ensure a “spit shine.”

 

How To Properly Polish Your Boots

Brilliantly shined Boots are a hallmark of a Leatherman’s Uniforms. They indicate devotion to duty and attention to the smallest detail. Behind those shines lie hours of patient work by people who follow directions and keep commitments.

There are many different ways to achieve the deep shine these Boots present, and they inevitably all claim to be the best. The fact of the matter, however, is that there is no single way to shine Boots. Instead, there are several steps to accomplish in order to achieve a shined Boot, and each step can be accomplished in through multiple techniques.

This handout will list the steps involved in shining a Leathermans Boot to a reflective gleam and discuss several proven techniques that may be used to complete each step. The techniques themselves are not critical. Completing the required step in any fashion will lead down the path to properly shined, inspection-passing Boots. It should be noted, however, that some organizations have very strong feelings about exactly how things should be done. Using spit instead of water, using cotton balls instead of a T-shirt and many other variants exist, and no shine will cover up broken traditions.

Boot-shining lore even includes odd recipes that are best left untried. Don’t add cigar ash. Don’t use coffee. Don’t use a lighter, or a hairdryer, or saran wrap, or car wax. Follow the steps presented below and put in the time it takes to get a mirror finish. At the end of the day, shining a Boot is just as much about the discipline it takes to get there as it is about a nicely shining Boot.

Step 1: Create A Workspace

Polishing Boots can be messy. You can polish Boots a hundred times with no problems, but disaster is always just around the corner when a tin of Boot polish is open. If your floor costs more than a towel or an old bed sheet, then you already know what you need to do.

• Shoe Polish – Lincoln or Kiwi parade shine
• Cloth
• Water or Alcohol
• Saddle Soap
• Tooth brush
• Whitening pencil
• Hubbard Boot Grease

Step 2: Prepare The Boot

Shining a Boot is like small-scale construction work. When you put down a new floor, all of the bumps and imperfections below it will eventually show through unless you prep the floor by putting down a good underlayment. The same thing is true with Boot polish. The polish has to be applied to a good base, or it won’t adhere properly.

The most basic preparation is cleaning. You have to remove all dirt and dust that might be on the Boot. A horsehair brush is best for this, but you can use whatever you have handy. If you use a brush with stiff synthetic bristles, you run the risk of scuffing the Boot. Horsehair brushes have soft bristles and do the job nicely. A soft cloth will also work, but the brush gives more action and may be easier. If you use water in this step, be sure to let the Boot dry completely before beginning the polish.

First off, Clean the Boot with saddle soap and water but don’t let the leather to sit in water. Wipe dry.

If the boot has been polished many times before, it may need to have some of the old polish removed. This step isn’t always necessary. You are going to be adding very thin layers of new polish on top of thin layers of older polish to create the shine, but even extremely thin layers eventually add up to a thick coating. Sooner or later, the coating of polish on the Boot will be too thick, and it will flake. Dirt can also get embedded in the outermost polish layer and cause imperfections in the mirror surface you are going to create, and you may want to remove an old layer if it is especially dirty. Rubbing alcohol on a soft cotton cloth is the best way to strip old polish from the Boot, but keep in mind that you never want to remove all of the polish. You will only be stripping some of the top layers, and you only want to do that if they have embedded dirt, which can happen if they haven’t been shined in a long while, or when they have built up too many coats of polish.

Some Leatherman do an alcohol strip after every 20 coats of polish, but it really depends on how the Boots are treated, the kind of polish used, how it is applied, the environment in which the boots are kept, and many other variables. Some Leathermen never strip their Boots. There really is no rule of thumb for stripping old layers of polish.

If the Boots are new, break them in. Every new Boot is going to develop some creases as it is worn, and the best time for that to happen is before any polish has been applied. This step is especially important if the Boot has been treated with beeswax to provide a smoother finish on the leather. After the Boot has been worn a few days and developed natural creases, it will be ready for the first polish. If you apply the polish first and form a crease later, the polish will probably crack and flake.

Step 3: Apply A Base Coat

The base coat provides the foundation for all future shines. It’s only required for new Boots. Skip ahead to the next step if your Boots already have a base coat.

For new Boots, apply a thick layer of polish and let it dry for 15 minutes. The polish is easiest to apply when it is slightly warm. Use a dauber or a soft cloth to apply the base coat. Blacken the welts at this point. The dauber will do the job, but an old toothbrush is easier to use. Get a good amount of polish on the brush and gently work it down inside the rim where the sole meets the upper Boot leather. A toothbrush can easily scuff the surface of the boot so only use it to gently work the polish down into the welts.

There are several options when choosing the polish to use. The standard, if there can be said to be one, would be Kiwi Boot polish. Kiwi “Parade Gloss” polish has a silicone additive that will help protect the Boot from water, and it shines well. Lincoln shoe polish is also an excellent product, and many Leathermen feel that it provides a superior shine. Some organizations, however, have restrictions on what can and cannot be used.
After the polish has dried for 10-15 minutes, brush the whole Boot vigorously to remove excess polish. At this stage, you are only looking to rub the polish into the Boot. The most you will get is a dull shine, but that is all you should expect from a base coat. You can use a horsehair brush or a cotton cloth. Always brush in the same direction. Cotton cloths are probably the preferred technique because everyone has one, and they allow for greater control of the pressure being applied. Old T-shirts or cloth baby diapers are perfect. The pressure works the polish down into the tiny bumps and irregularities of the leather.

For a Boot to get a mirror shine, the surface has to be perfectly smooth. That can never happen on leather, but it will certainly happen on the base coat with the right effort. Let the base coat dry for a few minutes before applying the shine coat.

Step 4: Apply The Polish Coat

Polish is applied in thin layers on top of the base coat – or previous shine coats – to establish the shine. It’s best to use a soft cotton cloth in this step. Wrap the cloth around your index and middle fingers and hold the remainder in the palm of your hand. Lightly brush your fingers over the polish in the tin to pick up a thin coating on the cloth. It is much easier to apply a thin coat than it is to apply a thick coat and work at thinning it down. Apply the polish to the Boot in small circular motions. You should get a hazy shine at this point, but it won’t be anything spectacular. The idea is to keep applying polish in very thin coats with a circular motion of your fingers. Apply as much pressure as you can because pressure will help keep the layer of polish thin. Do this repeatedly over the entire Boot. The shine will get better as you apply more thin layers. Let the polish dry before moving on to the next step. The first Boot should be ready to shine by the time you finish applying polish to the second Boot.

Step 5: Shine

Put another cloth over your fingers in the same manner that you used to apply the polish. Dip your fingers in some warm water to dampen the cloth. It should not be dripping wet. If you need to wring the cloth out and wrap it around your fingers again, go ahead. This is the part of the shining process that is sometimes called “spit shining”, and some troopers do, indeed, spit on the cloth. Unless the tradition of your organization requires it, you are probably better off to forego the spit and just use water. Spit doesn’t make the job any easier. The moisture in the cloth is to keep it from holding the polish. You want to shine it to a glossy finish on the boot. You don’t want the cloth to pull it off the Boot.

Gently brush the damp cloth on your fingertips over the polish in the tin. You want to pick up the tiniest amount of polish that you can. Rub it onto the Boot with small circular motions, and rub it all in before picking up more polish. You want very thin layers, and you are going to have to apply multiple layers to get a glossy shine. Six or seven layers would be about right. Just keep polishing, picking up additional moisture and polish as needed, until the Boot develops a high gloss. Some polish is going to adhere to the wet cloth. When that happens, reposition the cloth so that a fresh spot is over your fingertips and continue shining. The hazy shine should get glossier and glossier as you add each additional thin layer of polish.

Step 6: Finish

When the Boot has been polished to a high gloss, give it a final buff with a clean dry cloth. Some Leathermen use nylon at this stage, but a clean, dry cotton cloth works just as well. It’s best to keep things simple. The first polish of a Boot is always the one that requires the most time. From this point on, you will just be repeating the shine step. Your boots already have a smooth surface of polish, so each subsequent spit shin will just build on the previous shine layers.

Tips for the Best Results

Below are some key tips to achieve the best results when shining your Boots:

• 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.
• You want to keep on building up thin layers of polish until you have a completely smooth surface that gives the glossy shine.
• 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, it will dissolve the base you have already built up.
• T-shirts work well for the cloth material, as do cloth diapers.
• Some people prefer to use rubbing alcohol instead of water.

If any stitching is white on a boot use a White Eyebrow (or the specific Boot’s stitching color) wax pencil to recoat the white stitching as in Masters Boots where the sole meets the leather sides. This accents it and makes it look new. Be sure to clean the bottoms of the Boot and wipe any sole rubber with warm water and saddle soap.

When Bootblacking for the Dominant, the submissive should always present the finished Boots to the Dominant on both knees or formal Protocol, once the Master/Dom inspects the boots the submissive should bow head for approval and the Dom should give him the approval if it is deserved and the submissive then should proceed to help put them on and lace them up. Remembering Dominant strings are left over right and submissive strings are right over left. The Very bottom that cross the two sides of the boot in lacing should be on top if dominant and on the bottom if submissive Boots.
On the bottom means laced under the two sides holes. so as to go up through the hole from underneath.

You can also checkout our Haus Movie taken during a Bootblacking session.

How Often Should Boots be Shined?

To avoid wear and tear on your combat Boots, it’s recommended to shine them at least every other day if you’re an “integralist” like us, but if you don’t wear Boots every day, every other week will do. If you can make it a nightly routine, that’s favorable. If you are using these Boots daily and getting them wet and dirty, you will find that daily gloss will help protect them. Having Boots that shine like a mirror out in the field is not operationally sound, so make sure you have a field pair that does not reflect light and an inspection pair to be seen in public.

Outsourcing Your Boot Shining

Beware of the quick shine artists. Although many Leathermen will go and find a Boot care business to do the work for them, this can be a gamble if you do not do your research and ask how they do their shining. Many quick shine shops will use chemicals that crack as soon as you start walking. This will cause you to fail an inspection the next day and pretty much ruin your Boots to the point that you have to start all over again with a new pair of Boots.

However, there are many professional Boot shiners near military bases that shine Boots and shoes using the above methods and can save you time doing it yourself. This cost is typically $10–$20, depending upon your town and how close you are to the base, but it could save you an hour to do other things. Being a busy Leatherman member, sometimes outsourcing Boots to bootblacks makes sense with Boots, shoes, and Uniforms.

There is also a non shiny look which is done the same for cleaning, then rubbed with Huberds boot grease and then toweled to a dull finish which is typically done on a oiled tanned Boot.
You should rub Hubbard in with hand until even then let stand for up to 24 hours to soak into leather. then towel dry to finish. it has a smokey campfire kind of smell but will absorb and disappear quickly.

If you want to keep on the read on How to Clean your Leather, follow to the related article.