New Blog

To anyone who reads my blog (me) I have set up a sister blog about rowing, to those interested they can head to:
rowing2win.blogspot.com

Boot Shining: Some Photos

My boots after brushing

Washing My boots in warm water

Everything you need to get started,
 from left to right: A pair of boots, kiwi polish, a rag, buffing brush, applicator brush, vinegar, water

Boot Shining

Boot Shining 

Boot shining is a useful skill if you happen to be an air force cadet like myself. There are two reasons for this, the first is that if your boots are the shiniest, then everybody loves you, but more importantly, by polishing your boots you reduce the amount of blisters you get, and when you get blisters, you stop having fun.

There is something extremely satisfying about looking into your boot and seeing your own reflection, especially if you do so happen to be as vain as I am. My method of boot shining does take time though, so you might want to put that into consideration.

For this you will need:

1. A boot (or two if you're special)
2. Some black polish (normal kiwi polish is the best)
3. An applicator brush (small soft bristled brush)
4. Buffing brush (I use kiwi a buffing brush here)
5. Some water
6. Vinegar
7. Rag(s) (preferably cotton)

How Polishing works

When you first get your boot, it doesn't shine. This is simply because when the leather is made into a boot, unless it's patent leather, it's porous. This means that the surface of the leather isn't smooth and upon closer inspection of your boot you might notice small hemispheres on top of the leather. This is why your boot isn't shiny, if you take a look at a mirror, you might notice that it is smooth. Smooth surfaces reflect much better that porous ones. The objective when polishing boots is to change your boot from the non-shiny porous, to the very shiny smooth surface.

What Not To Do:

If you are anything like me, then you would have seen dozens of videos informing you how to polish your boots, and I myself have heard of dozens of ways to polish boots. I have friends who light the entire tin of polish on fire until it all melts, at which stage he takes his rag and polishes with the melted polish, I also have friends who after putting the polish on then proceed to burn it. As general rules never:

• Light anything on fire: Ok, this is just stupid, every polish I know is flammable, lighting it on fire is a safety hazard, as well as the fact that the fumes it gives off are toxic. Also the carbon from combusted material is dull, and will noticeably make your boot duller.
• Do this inside: Again, this should really be a no-brainer, shoe polish stains very easily and is very hard to take out of your bedroom carpet. It gets everywhere very quickly. By the same token, don't wear your Sunday best whilst polishing your boots.
• Lick it: I am aware that this method of polishing is often called "spit polishing", but you should under no circumstances use your own saliva, or anyone else's, in place of water. The reason for this is simply that the salts and minerals in your saliva cause the leather to dry out, and the polish won't last as long before cracking or flaking.  

Instructions:

1. Wash with warm, running water, and use a cloth to lightly remove any debris or dirt
2. Leave to dry
3. Apply some polish to the boot using the applicator brush and leave to dry for  about an hour
4. Buff with the buffing brush
5. Repeat steps 3&4 until the boot doesn't get any shinier
6. Place the rag over your index finger and make sure there are no wrinkles, dip it in water, making sure that its damp but not dripping, before applying some polish
7. As you apply the polish, the boot will become clouded, when this happens, apply some vinegar to the rag and rub until it is gone
8. Repeat steps 6&7 until desired shine is reached

Tips:

• Make sure the rag and boot are free of dust
• Polishing with the brush requires much less polishing time, so ensure that you have got it as shiny as you can like this before moving on to the rag
• I personally use one tin of polish for brushing and another for bulling, this is useful because your bulling tin should be as smooth as possible, so you get even amounts of polish around the boot

Good luck and have fun

-James

About: Me

Before I begin telling you (if there is anyone) how to shine boots and other things that I like to do, it will be best if I introduce myself.

I like to call myself James, however many of my friends often get cute ideas and prefer to call me other names which I dislike, such as Prancer. Why do they do this? Because I'm experiencing that part of life that is infamously known by a host of names: puberty, adolescence, high-school and more depending on where you live. Being 14 years of age is reasonably fun, life at the moment revolves around school and my commitments to it.

Am I any different to any of the other 6,775,235,699 other people sharing the world with me?
I would like to think so.

Of course there is always the other question of why I type this, and am most likely wasting both your time and my own. The answer to this question is fairly simple, I've been told to write by several people including parents and counsellors. Of course you may be asking, why can't this idiot keep his stuff to himself? and the answer to that is the fact that I have tried and have encountered various difficulties, namely:
1)My writing is illegible and I will spend hours trying to translate it
2) My bedroom is a mess and I have trouble re-finding things

If you've made it this far, good job and keep up the good work :)
-James