How To Shine Your Shoes | Shoe Polishing Tips | Ties.com

People have been shining their shoes for years. How to shine shoes can be as complicated as the reason for it. If your not familiar with the process, the obvious thought about a shoe shine would be to take a rag and buff the surface right? So wrong! Shoe shining is an evolved art form.

Beginning in medieval times, the process of waterproofing leather took a mixture of wax, soda ash and tallow. This, when applied to leather, softened a weatherproofed the leather. In the 1700's the shine was added to this polish along with a black dye, therefore starting the trend of the well known black shoe polish. The 1800's saw the beginning of the street corner shoe polisher. These were typically young boys who set up a chair with their polish and rags on the street, and for pennies polished buffed and shined shoes, belts, gun holsters and the like. Hoping to supplement the family income, the quality of the job depended on the tip the boy received. The 1900's brought about the biggest spike in shoe polish demands. The need for over the counter shoe polish, brought about the invention of the KIWI brand that sold in stores and were shipped to the troops.

The demand was high, mostly due to WWI & WWII, the amount of boots needing polished obviously skyrocketed. The shoe shined style entered the corporate world with gusto and the man without shiny shoes probably wouldn't get the job. Shining your shoes became part of the morning routine like shaving and brushing your teeth. Shoe shine kits were also at the office in any executives drawer or office closet for that emergency shoe shine need. When the 60's and 70's hit the demand slacked off drastically due to the popularity of the sneaker. Sneakers became the everyday shoe for a lot of people and shiny shoes started their decline in popularity.

Today the all time important shoe polishing kit, although still sold, has taken a back seat to the quick and easy polish and rag found at any store that sells shoes. The evolution of street corner shoe polisher is now men in airports and high luxury environments including barber shops. The time it takes to shine a shoe these days is minimal and the status symbol of highly polished shoes in the workforce has dwindled. Although it is still a common practice among those who wear suits to work it seems to be a constant only with the most important of businessmen and women.

How to shine shoes depends on personal preference. The shoe shined with a kit is a process of polishing and brushing. The brush has soft and supple bristles and of course the polish is the very typical polish in a can that can be seen in almost any store. Of course a can of polish, a good rag and a few strokes of a skilled hand can have a professional shoe shines in minutes. The shoe shine kit still resides in plenty of office drawers and closets for that need of a quick shine before a meeting but unless weather or scuffing requires, it most shoes can go with one shine for days.

Follow us for special promos and giveaways!

-~-~~-~~~-~~-~-
-~-~~-~~~-~~-~-

[kierangoddard]

Don’t spit polish the vamp because it will cause the hardened wax to crack when you walk. Keep the spit polish to the toe cap and heel areas.

[ujwalduwadi]

your shoe are shining more than my future

[markpurcell]

when doing the spit shine do you fully rub in the polish so you cant see the marks or do you just cover the shoe and make it look dull and then use the cloth?

[TheRoshan]

nice video! why use a brush to remove dirt? won't the brush scratch the leather?

[Tiesdotcom]

Properly shine your shoes, gentlemen. 

[navsandhu]

the amount of polish you used on 1 shoe for one time is the amount I use at least 1 month.😂

[navsandhu]

the amount of polish you used on 1 shoe for one time is the amount I use at least 1 month.😂

[rajveerrathore]

Guys where is this exact pair of shoes sold?

[briankavanagh]

Gentlemen i use genuine spit when polishing my shoes.

[LarryNGuy]

so, no saddle soap, no stripping old wax or polishes, no conditioning like Saphir sufrine or rejuvenator, none of that? one wax/polish the color of the shoe put on, and brushed, then again with water? thats it? 

[carlosroberto]

This music makes me think I am watching an old italian movie xD

[navsandhu]

the amount of polish you used on 1 shoe for one time is the amount I use at least 1 month.😂

[dsublimevreality]

Thank you for this course GENTLEMAN, i like this tip 😊😊😊😊

[SomeGuyTHPS]

After the first 'spit shine' do I need to let the polish sit for a couple minutes before doing another layer?

[KevJYT]

Good straight-to-the-point video. However, conditioner and/or cream highly recommended.

By applying only wax polish, you are basically just creating an aesthetic shiny coat on top of the leather. Without adding products to keep the leather in good shape, the shoes will degrade much faster and last much less longer.

[DesEsseints]

Yuck.
First, you should gently clean the shoe. Let's say Saphir Creme Universelle or Saddle Soap.
Brushing will mostly leave stripes from the bristles and and move dirt around. A damp cloth? You dont clean your face every mornig with a dampl cloth do you.
Second, you need to hydrate the leather. A thing that polish (hardened wax) does not do. So after you have cleaned the shoe you go for Saphir Renovateur Cream or Crème Cuir Gras or the conditioner you like.
Then (third step) you apply the Cream in the shade you prefer.
Fourth step you start working the wax for a mirror shine - that you have never achieved here - with drops of water and a cotton cloth/chamois.



Remember to always buff between stages to remove any residues (not valid for stage 4 cause you will scratch the fine wax layers).

Also: you are applying too much polish and with an improper item (brush)
You only apply wax with bare hands or with a cotton cloth/cotton ball/chamois

Cheers