Cadet Uniform Tips and Suggestions

Shining Boots!

First, it's important to know there are no shortcuts to a properly shined pair of combat boots. Although products do exist to give you a quick shine, in the long run they're worthless and even damaging to your boots. Yes, you with the parade gloss - throw it out and learn how to do the job right. Real spit-shining takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, but anyone who knows how to do it can spot a faker a mile away. Do yourself a favor and put in the time.

What You Need:
Shoe Polish
Cloth
Water

How it Works
Spread a medium-thick layer of paste polish over the portion of the boot to be spit shined.
Allow it to dry for 5 to 10 minutes.
Wrap a soft, clean cloth around your index finger so that it is smooth (no wrinkles). Alternately, you can use a cotton ball. Dip your finger or the cotton ball into a container of water. The cloth/cotton should be wet, but not dripping.
Buff the dried polish (using a circular motion) with the wet cloth/cotton ball, until the wax starts to become shiney.
Still using the damp rag on your finger, apply a fine layer of polish in a circular motion and keep on rubbing lightly until a hazy shine develops.
Using the (now) damp cloth, or cotton ball, keep applying THIN coats of wax, buffing them with a small circular motion.
When the boot is highly glossed, use a clean dry soft cloth or a shining brush to give it a final buff.

Tips:

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 wax 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.