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You have spent
a fortune on a new pair of top boots, yet there are
no instructions on how to keep that new boot shine.
Better still would be how your boots could have a
mirror finish. A mirror finish that stays with use
and is easy to maintain.
With a heap of trial and error, I will tell you my
method below. It is just as well that leather can be
so forgiving because I have made a heap of mistakes
on the way to a super Shiny Boot. While this is
written for
those who have that super expensive pair of long top
boots in black or a pair of top boots that
have seen better days, my method works equally as
well for short boots and gaiters in brown if you can
get hold of a tin of Brown Parade Gloss. It is made.
You just need to look. I will give
you a tip at the end of this article if you simply
can not find it.
As far as I am concerned there is only one polish to
use and that is the good old Kiwi Parade Gloss. I
have tried every other super shine polishes that has
come on to the market and promise to be the best you
have tried - Collonil, Angelis, you name it I have
tried it but nothing beats the Parade Gloss.
In days of old, the
quality of leather could not be guaranteed. Often
you could look closely at the leather and see a
grainy finish. The pores very distinct and let's
face it. Pock marks don't shine. Old time boots were
a lot of work to smooth out and flatten the surface
and this was done by "boning". Boning was/is done by
taking the rib bone from a lamb, boiling off the
flesh and using that to work the polish in to the
leather. The boots these days are made of a much
better quality of leather and really don't need it.
The true secret to a mirror shine is to fill in the
pores in the leather with your polish without
building too thick a surface that will crack. |
Ok. Sleeves up. Let us start with a brand spanking
new pair of boots.
Step One. Take a tin of Parade Gloss, a bowl
of boiling water and a piece of old towel. Get
yourself plenty of polish on the end of the towel,
dip in to the hot water and then work in to your
boot. Finish one boot and then start on the other.
Step Two. Boot two. Work it the same way as
you did the first boot.
Step Three. Go back to the first boot and
using the rest of the old towel . Not a hard,
scratchy one. You need soft but with the fluffy gone
that brings nuisance fibres. Polish until your arms
drop off.
Step Four. Repeat Step One.
Step Five. Don't polish your boots after you
have layered on the polish.
Take your hair dryer. Click on highest heat and
lowest speed. Apply heat
to your boot so that the polish 'melts' in to the
pores. It is interesting to watch. The polish where
the heat is applied becomes very shiny and you see
it melting over the surface. get up close and
personal with the hair dryer. The polish must melt.
You can repair scuffs that have burred the leather
or the dull bit that is marked by the stirrup
leather by adding a little extra Parade Gloss and
being careful how you melt it.
Step Six. Boot two.
Step Seven. Polish, polish, polish. As in
buff with a soft cloth not more boot polish
Step Eight. Your boots are now so shiny you
just want to look at them, not wear them. Now go and
ride in your boots. They may flake off a little
polish at the crease over the ball of your foot and
maybe around the ankle but just buff with a soft
cloth. Scuff marks on the toe or heel can be brought
straight back to new with a touch of Johnsons' One
Go floor polish. |
