As a Marine Corps Veteran of Vietnam, I have polished the black oxford dress show, not an expensive shoe with Kiwi polish to have a shine that made the shoes look like patent leather. It does take time and several coats. I used only black polish. Never have use Saphir polish.
Gerald. Having been the son of WWII vet and as yourself being a Vietnam jarhead shined shoes as a little boy per instructions from my Dad.. very simply burn the petro out of the cheap polish always start with clean surface, then it’s polish, spit or water and elbow grease.... tried clear polish but never found that made any difference as you just used the color polish of the shoe. Semper Fi
military dress shoes aren't even oxfords. as for the lighter thing...kiwi, spit and a lighter sure, for the cheap ass bates that the military gets issued. buy cheap work harder. But for dress shoes above bates??? hell no.
Just make sure you alternate neutral wax with the proper colored wax for your shoes between wax sessions or else the continuous use of neutral will dull the shoe color over time. Also is you buff the shoes with a brush once waxing is done, the heat caused by the friction will provide more shine.
Cherry seems greasier than Kiwi. I always put on 3 or 4 coats of Kiwi before getting water near the shoe, Any water penetration will raise the grain and you'll be fighting to get it smooth. During the build up, spit gives better lubrication and cold water is better to cut the top layer back to a mirror finish. Never got picked up on an inspection in the Marines. That's Royal Marines not Disney ones!
Saphir IS good stuff no doubt but a decent polish from KIwi or Cherry or parade gloss will achieve equally amazing results thousands of British Army squaddies over decades of bulling have proved the worth of these so called ordinary polishes over the premium priced saphir ...so you pays your money and make your choice ..
Parade gloss is absolutely horrible. It has way too much moisture. It will give you a shine, but the shine just won't last, and it will leave your boot open to damage as it fails to remain as a protective layer. If you have at least 8 layers of noir black, then you can use Parade gloss as quick shortcut when you haven't been taking care of the boot. But you better plan on the time to strip the boot back over and start all over with your noir black or you'll have a boot that is ONLY usable for parades.
@@billriemers4885 That is normally the idea to use them only for parades, that is why they are called "best boots". I have never tried Saphir but think he could have used more water on the kiwi like he did on the other saphir, a trick to get a good shine is to "water bull" using cotton wool and just water but he seems to be really restricting the water with kiwi for some reason.
There is one basic difference between Kiwi and Saphir: Kiwi is petroleum based, and Saphir is not! Saphir is made with beeswax, and other natural waxes, which nourish the leather. Petroleum based products do *not* nourish leather!!
I stopped using Kiwi because the quality has dropped ; here in the Antipodes where KIWI was famous . I was been a big fan of shiny shoes for 50years . when I was a young guy all the men had spectacular shoes and spent a lot of time on them . I switched to Saphir a few years back for more pleasing results . I stress though quality polish does not work on low grade shoes .
I spoke at Saphir India office today. They said that premium one is the most effective in vegetable tanned leathers. Whereas using that on chemical tanned leathers won't give much distinguished results. For that regular beaut line are good enough.
i seemed to take me about an hour a boot to get a mirror gloss with kiwi in the military. i believe it comes down to time spent on the shine. kiwi probably takes 4 times the amount of effort as saphir. i have all saphir products now.
@@CobblerBob i do have a question. i have a light brown pair of boots i use neutral pommador cream on and it turned them to a dark chestnut. how do i use a cream and it not darken the crap out of my shoe?
Use neutral and use only a small amount, wipe any excess. Brush. Allow a day to dry. Anything that penetrates a light colored leather that isn’t really smooth leather will cause it to appear darker until it starts the drying process. If you use a colored product this may cause a permanent change of color. Also, some products have waxes or other chemicals that WILL remain. So, no hard and fast solution.
Hello I’m new into mens dress/ formal fashion and I just bought an eBay shine kit off someone and it comes with its own dopp case with 2 brushes, a light and dark one and 2 polishes a black and brown . But I’m a little worried about the name, it’s called PANTHER POLISH, I did a little bit of research I can’t find it anywhere besides like in Africa lol and on Etsy and Ali express. I’m wondering if it’s like a vintage or something or just not popular? I went ahead and bought the Saphir Pate De Lux just in case since this is a popular name that is Time tested. What is your opinion on the panther? Do you think I should try it anyway? Use both? Only use the panther on my boots? Thank you!!!! 🤵🏻♂️
I've also never heard of the brand. Considering how inexpensive (compared to the price of the shoes) even high end shoe polish is, I'd probably save the Panther for your cheap shoes, or for the edges of the heels, etc. FYI check out www.PurePolishProducts.com too.This video was made a few years ago before I was intruduced to PPP.
I’m pretty certain you CAN, but it would be better to remove the Kiwi to get the petroleum solvents off of the shoe. BTW check out Pure Polish Products. Since doing this video a few years ago Ive started using them. I have 2 videos about Pure Polish with the owner “Leather Talk with Andy from Pure Polish”. Pure Polish high shine is like $15 for 60mL, Saphir is like $28 for a 75mL tin. Pure Polish is made in the US too and doesn’t have potentially toxic ingredients in it. www.pure Polish products.com
Kieran Goddard totally agree and avoids any risk of cracking as a risk with Mirror Gloss. In my mind no argument over Kiwi v Saphir and the latter all day long
I wonder why in these videos, I've seen several, the shiners can never get a good polish with kiwi. I can get a shine on my duty boots that you could use for a mirror to shave with using kiwi. I tried using Lincoln polish and found that i like the results better. I can tell you the shine i get can make my co-workers look bad during roll call.
After you build up the polish using the wax and water, use a clean, dry part of the cloth with a bit of water ONLY, no wax. It will really make the shine pop.
Makes sense. The way I usually do it, I’ll dip the tip of my finger into the wax, and as the wax “wears off” of the rag and as the shine comes up I’ll rub more with the part of my finger farther down, in essence below the 1st knuckle where there’s virtually no polish, so in a way I think that’s similar. I’ll try it though...
Daniel Mahoney - I think they all work. I just like neutral because that Saphir Morror Gloss is $26 a can, and when I buy it in neutral, I can use it on all colored shoes. Of course using black on a non-black shoe will darken to toe.
I've been using Kiwi's parade glass for 20 years and I have no complaints. It would have been nice to have seen the test here done with Kiwi parade gloss vs. Saphir parade gloss.
In my military days Kiwi would give a brilliant shine but if I was on parade too long in the sun the sheen would burn off and become dull. This is in the tropics. My fix was to use Nugget to base the leather then use the kiwi to bring up the final sheen.
I’ve always used Kiwi on my shoes and boots, and would defy anyone to get a better shine than mine. I’d note that, if it’s good enough for the British Queen’s Grenadier Guards, it’s good enough for me.
I take note that test does not include Kiwi parade gloss.I use this on my black dress R M Williams boots (as now the issue dress shoes for the Australian Army)
Euro Coin Collector I’d have to agree with your comment as when I was in the navy standard kiwi was order of the day. That said I know use Chelsea dubbin a lot and cherry blossom as they’re excellent products - my personal preference ! I’ve recently used Saphir and what I like about apart from its cost is the range of colours and the more emulsion like property which is good for scuffs and white marks. I know it sounds sad but I really enjoy polishing my collection of British handmade shoes and belts it’s therapeutic 😁
Yes! This video done was done 3 years ago, and I’ve learned a lot since then. Since then I’ve been turned on to Pure Polish products. www.purepolishproducts.com. What I like about Pure Polish is the same as with Saphir, but the ingredients are non-toxic. I believe Saphir uses pine turpentine, which isn’t great for you. Anything applied on our skin gets absorbed into our bodies. Pure Polish is made in Band Oregon. I interviewed the owner in a couple videos called “Leather talk with Andy from Pure Polish“
megan meganm - I’ve never tried polishing leather on a purse, but I wouldn’t see why not? Steve at Bedos Leatherworks is the expert on that kind of stuff.
for the purpose of shining the shoes, I don't think there are differences in those type of waxes. I can mirror shine the shoes by using either Kiwi or Saphir. Saphir is more popular and expensive due to its brand name and friendlier to the leather than the other one.
If you revisit this test try the Kiwi Parade Gloss and WS Robson's beeswas and carnauba shoe polish. The first is a good value quality shoe polish that produces excellent results, while the latter is far and away the best shoe polish I have ever used.
Although I'm not looking to do a mirror gloss or anything, I'm looking to get some wax polish that will help result in a bit of extra shine (and thus more depth of color) on my shoes than I get with only conditioner and creme polish. How has the neutral stuff worked for you? I'm a little apprehensive about using on darker shoes, but the color options don't seem like they contain a perfect match for either of my pairs of shoes (I got rid of my 3rd pair...that pair of JM's I got super cheap...I didn't like wearing them much after a while), so I think I'd better go with neutral. You haven't had any issues using that stuff on dark shoes, right? Specifically, has it worked okay on the flex points of the shoes without leaving any gaudy residue? Again, I'm only talking about putting one or two thin coats on the entire shoe, not doing a mirror shine. I just want to make sure that I'm not gonna see any white residue at those flex points if I do use a small amount of neutral wax on a dark shoe.
Matt W - you are correct, whether it’s neutral or colored polish, if you just apply a couple standard coats, I’ve never had a problem with cracking. If you don’t want to darken your lighter colored shoes, I would personally still get colored polish, but get the one that’s closest to the shoe color but NOT darker than the shoe. In other words, select the colored polish that’s slightly lighter than the shoe. Neutral WILL work just fine, but it does a poor job of coloring deeper scuffs and scratches since there’s no pigment. Applying a polish slightly lighter than a shoe will not change its color, as long as the color is in the same color family.
@@CobblerBob As far as the scuffs and scratches go, I rely on colored CREME polish for that. What I was asking is about using a Neutral WAX as sort of a topcoat over the creme polish. I've seen others do this as well. I'm guessing it's okay to use a Neutral wax over a colored creme polish, right?
@@CobblerBob Great! I think, though, that I'm gonna go with the moderately priced Beaute Du Cuir stuff from Sapphir rather than the more expensive Medaille D'Or. I've had AWESOME results with the creme polish from that line, so I'm sure the wax will do just great as well!
Suggestions for how to darken or redye one's shoes? I have some pumpkin orange calfskin boots I'd like to dye brown. You seem to Airbrush the dye? Thanks Robert
Daniel P that’s an area I’ve only experimented with a few times. Those Oxblood McAllisters in this video I darkened a little bit with mixing black and mahogany Saphir polish. I have seen others brush on the Fiebings leather dye too so I know it can be done. I think the art in dying is making sure you use the appropriate color or colors. It sounds like you’ve seen my 3 other videos on the subject... “How I put a Patina on my old Bostonian Loafers” and “How I put burnishing/Patina back on a shoe” and “Restoring terribly salt stained J&Ms with Patina”. The key is making sure to get ALL the old polish off. You can start with Renomat and elbow grease, and finish removing it with alcohol. Note alcohol will often remove much of the original color, so once you go there there’s no turning back! You may want to use a pair of shoes you won’t be upset if you ruin to start. Go to a thrift store and buy an old pair to practice on.
There is a strânge thing that I discovered. If you use neutral cherry blossom and heat it into the boot with candle Light it seems to give a great shine, let it burn on the boot for 1 second. If you use a heat gun there is no such reaction.
M T - no, I don’t, but I’ve seen other professionals use one, so I’m sure it works fine! I’ve also seen others use their bare hands, or their hands with a rubber glove... many different ways to do it, just do what works well for you. Experiment on your cheaper shoes.
I got my first can ever of saphir. Now all I have to do is actually use it. You are right though saphir is pretty expensive but I guess if you want a good shine you're going to spend the money.
I made this video several years ago... My favorite now is Pure Polish Products (www.purepolishproducts.com). Their high shine wax is about half the price of Saphir Mirror Gloss.
Kirby, over at the Hanger Project, has a video which explains how the Mirror Gloss came to be. He mentioned that it used to take longer with Pate de Luxe to achieve mirror shine and what some experts were doing was to keep the lid of Pate de Luxe open so that it's solvents get evaporated and the wax solidifies and cracks. The solvents used to keep the wax softer but are also the reason why you need to wait after applying PdL before start rubbing. Mirror Gloss has a much lower concentration of these solvents and thus is harder and hence gives you a mirror shine much faster.
I understand that from the video and in person that the results are really subtle during the process but really 'pop' at the final comparison. Course, I'm just a security guard that wears black duty boots and want to keep them "nice"; having a mirror shine is nice for an office environment or an inspection but not practical for duty work. Course I'm thinking that the quality of the leather plays a large part on the final quality of any shine.
tonyu49 appreciate the feedback, but you can’t treat them the same. Different waxes require different amounts of water and they will shine up at different paces.
@@CobblerBob Hi Robert, I've used Kiwi since the 50s, my dad taught me how to 'bull' shoes and boots to a glass like finish. I'm sure you'll know that the type of leather is a big factor too......and that the British army swear by Kiwi. My pals from the Guards Division showed me the best way to get that type of finish and it takes a LOT of water, much more than you did here. I'd like to give the other polishes you show but I've got too many tins of Kiwi.....various colours....to buy any more at my age, (almost 70). However, should I need to buy more at some stage, I'll definitely try the others. Thanks for the enjoyable post!
IMO with time and patience all products work fine if applied properly, much better than the liquid polish. At the Army, I used the cheapest black Kiwi and worked perfectly fine, today I have both brands and use both, depending on the shoe quality that I am polishing. I have high end, medium a a couple inexpensive shoes. If it is going to be raining, I use the inexpensive shoes and they survive the storms.
I would use the Pate DeLuxe Medale Dior High Gloss, not Mirror. I like the mirror as a final coat, but, for me, it spider webs quite easily if over used.
I always combine the saphir's. I first do 3 coats of the pate de luxe and then i do about 7 coats with the mirror shine wax with water also, it gets the best results. Its even better to get the waxes in the correct colors, same color as the shoes.
Hey Robert. Just wanted you to know that I really enjoy watching your videos. I've been learning alot about shoes from you. Looking forward to more great videos from you!
Question: Does the Kiwi Natural Polish have Carnauba wax in it? I feel you're using to much Kiwi wax each time, it works better when you use thinner. A good bullied shine can take up to an hour per shoe. There is no short cut to a good mirror shine I've been using Kiwi for 35 odd years on school shoes, parade shoes and boots, its the best by far. English, Australian, American and many other forces use it. I would not wast your money on the other polishes. They may be quicker but anything that is worth doing is worth doing well, you must put the time in. th-cam.com/video/9vSOpAAFYSQ/w-d-xo.html
Though the Saphire mirror gloss did a better job than the other two. It was not enough for my eyes. The less expensive Kiwi done every evening 5 - 10, dry weather wearings is enough for the average guy. This means one should polish and refurbish one pair of three each week. Even this is more than most people will want to do and a reason for cheap throwaway shoes. I do it with joy.
You can purchase the polish made of carnuba wax for e.g allen edmonds shoe polish they are cheaper than saphir and does the work but definitely not better than saphir
These « pâté de luxe » and « medal Dior » are pretty fantastic 🤣 When you know what pâté is, you do want to pronounce that right! Anyways, great video man! Quite helpful
A better comparison would be Kiwi's "Parade Gloss" Saphir's "Amiral Gloss" in their Beaute Du Cuir line then Saphir's "Mirror Gloss" in their Medaille D'Or line.
If you put about 4 to 5 coats of kiwi it will shine like glass . In my Regiment we were always told kiwi will gleem but You need to use water every time you polish oh and always use the coloured polish and finish with the neutral.
B BG definitely a lot of personal preference here. Both will get the ball in the end zone. I didn’t start using Saphir until I started buying better shoes.
David Shirley - I think you’re the second person to comment positively about them, I’ve seen other professional shoe shiners use them too ,so they must not be bad.
Lincoln has been a Marine Corps favorite for many years. It's also nice to do a final buff with a long piece of soft cloth or pantyhose. The heat from friction puts a killer glaze over the surface.
Kiwi is fine for a $40 pair of shoes but you're not using Kiwi on a $400 pair. Saphir, Glenkaren, Angelus and a few others are better. Other brands do not use petroleum products and simply shine better. Products other than Kiwi cost more because they use better ingredients and they don't have the brand name Kiwi does. If you like Kiwi, great, but it isn't as good as Saphir. Also, if you are in the military, buck up for the patent leather shoes already. Semper Fi!
You clean and add more water where the sapphire is, and it shines better. Where kiwi is processed, there is very little water and polished compared to sapphire. Kiwi is better for me. I polish kiwi so that I can see my reflection in the toe of the shoe.
Thanks for the video. I prefer the regular Saphir Neutral over the Saphir mirror gloss. Only because I liquefy the neutral by rubbing it with my finger and the extra hard mirror gloss doesn't do that very easily. The toes are very shiny and water proof on my First Ave boots. Obviously I had to fill in the pebble grain with wax, which didn't take a long as one would think. On the rest of the boot, I can only really use cream polish and renovateur due to the pebble grain.
You may want to check the video settings and make sure it’s on HD 1080, and not a lower resolution. I know my player sometimes drops the video resolution down.
I'm a big fan of Saphir products, but I also spent many year polishing black military boots (before we switched to the rawhide that they still currently use), and I have to call "FOUL" to the conclusion of your 'test.' Like others have said, you devoted much more time to making the Saphir products look better. If you spent the equal amount of time on all, the result would have been more closely related. I know that Kiwi is cheap, but it's effective. I currently use BOTH products in tandem to make all of my leather footwear look fantastic. But I do know that you can shine boots to an onyx mirror gloss with Kiwi, if that's all that's available. I used no chemicals other than Kiwi, water, breath, and the occasional light blast of spittle, and as a result, used to be able to adjust my red beret in the reflection of my jump boot toe.
Try it yourself. Side by side. Like I’ve said before, the TIME you spend on the shoe is dependent on the rate at which it shines up. It DOESN’T get shinier but spending more time on poorer wax. TRY IT YOURSELF and you’ll see. Besides, we’re arguing about WAX. In the grand scheme of things, if this is the biggest problem we have, we’re BOTH pretty blessed. Thank you for taking the time to watch the video and to articulate your thoughts though. I’m fine with you disagreeing with my results and buying whatever product you want, So far I have made no money from TH-cam (I might monetize it in the future), but I do not want you to think I’m biased or dishonest.
I may be a Philistine, but I gave up spit shines when I said goodbye to the military. To me more of a satin finish (such as you might get using a cream polish) is far more elegant. It looks like quality leather that way, not plastic.
Just set you Kiwi alight, let it burn until it melts, blow it out (kill the flame) and leave it to harden. You will then have burnt off some of the oils and you will get less of a hazy shine. Just use normal Kiwi, not the parade gloss.
Kiwi shoe polish is the best in the U.S.A High polish gloss ,I know I get shiny gloss on my mirror shine ,State Prison shine state of California style,I only seen one shoe polish that comes close to Kiwi That’s “ Oso “ shoe polish made in Mexico..
Kiwi is a disaster. Try neutral from cherry blossom, british made. I guess the only good kiwi is the Black one, still I do not think it can beat cherry.
Robert, just fyi the "Pate de Luxe" is pronounced "PAH-t-uh" (or simply Pat, like short for Patrick); the way you're saying "Pah-TAY" would be the french *Paté* which is a food. Also, Medaille d'Or is pronounced "Med-EYE door" Hope I helped you improve your french :-) Thanks for the video
The problem with this video, is there is one and only one colour that is popular for people to care about a spit shine. That is black. I don't exactly see people walking around in cowboy boots. And those that do, usually aren't that concerned about how shiny the boot is. If they have cleared off all the cow dropping they are happy. Now I'm sure there are exceptions, otherwise they wouldn't sell these products. But beyond a doubt if I see a shit shine comparison, I want black. Frankly I have found all the Kiwi products are inferior, except Noir Black. That is the product I would like to see a head to head comparison with.
You also need to vary your technique depending on the type of polish you use. I can tell you Kiwi needs you to use cotton not a cloth, for best results, and needs you to dip the water into the the polish to soften it. Putting it on the shoe is too late in the process to really fill everything in correctly, as you need to soften the polish as you remove it from the tin. Saphir looks like a softer product, so you technique is probably good for that type of polish. Although, I have some on order so I will findout.
Pancho Villa the different waxes require different amounts of water. The feel of the wax dictates how much water is needed. Adding more water doesn’t make it shinier. Also, buffing any one given coat past a certain point doesn’t get it shinier. When a coat has reached max shine that’s it, you have to add another coat to get more shine. Bottom line from my experience is that you can get almost, but not quite as good a shine with Kiwi, but it takes longer.
Linda Payne - As I have explained before, each type of wax requires a different number of strokes to get it to shine. The shine does NOT come from how many times you polish it. Some point containing to rub it in or will do nothing. Go try it yourself and see what your results are.
As a Marine Corps Veteran of Vietnam, I have polished the black oxford dress show, not an expensive shoe with Kiwi polish to have a shine that made the shoes look like patent leather. It does take time and several coats. I used only black polish. Never have use Saphir polish.
"Buy cheap, work harder" sums up the military pretty well, from my experience.
Gerald. Having been the son of WWII vet and as yourself being a Vietnam jarhead shined shoes as a little boy per instructions from my Dad.. very simply burn the petro out of the cheap polish always start with clean surface, then it’s polish, spit or water and elbow grease.... tried clear polish but never found that made any difference as you just used the color polish of the shoe. Semper Fi
Lincoln wax has worked for me. Military myself and a military family.
@@gnuclur8952 Learned that lighter trick from my Army buddy and thank you to all veterans for their service.
military dress shoes aren't even oxfords. as for the lighter thing...kiwi, spit and a lighter sure, for the cheap ass bates that the military gets issued. buy cheap work harder. But for dress shoes above bates??? hell no.
Just make sure you alternate neutral wax with the proper colored wax for your shoes between wax sessions or else the continuous use of neutral will dull the shoe color over time. Also is you buff the shoes with a brush once waxing is done, the heat caused by the friction will provide more shine.
Cherry seems greasier than Kiwi. I always put on 3 or 4 coats of Kiwi before getting water near the shoe, Any water penetration will raise the grain and you'll be fighting to get it smooth. During the build up, spit gives better lubrication and cold water is better to cut the top layer back to a mirror finish. Never got picked up on an inspection in the Marines. That's Royal Marines not Disney ones!
It's pronounced "paht" (stress on the first syllable) de lux and medal "dor" (no division between d' and or). Great video, always very useful.
Saphir IS good stuff no doubt but a decent polish from KIwi or Cherry or parade gloss will achieve equally amazing results thousands of British Army squaddies over decades of bulling have proved the worth of these so called ordinary polishes over the premium priced saphir ...so you pays your money and make your choice ..
Parade gloss is absolutely horrible. It has way too much moisture. It will give you a shine, but the shine just won't last, and it will leave your boot open to damage as it fails to remain as a protective layer. If you have at least 8 layers of noir black, then you can use Parade gloss as quick shortcut when you haven't been taking care of the boot. But you better plan on the time to strip the boot back over and start all over with your noir black or you'll have a boot that is ONLY usable for parades.
@@billriemers4885 That is normally the idea to use them only for parades, that is why they are called "best boots". I have never tried Saphir but think he could have used more water on the kiwi like he did on the other saphir, a trick to get a good shine is to "water bull" using cotton wool and just water but he seems to be really restricting the water with kiwi for some reason.
I always used kiwi parade gloss for a mirror shine on any style black boots; whether issued or not. Worked like a charm every single time
Robb A-C the other option is friars black gloss paint I found out from our rather inebriated drill instructor lol
There is one basic difference between Kiwi and Saphir: Kiwi is petroleum based, and Saphir is not! Saphir is made with beeswax, and other natural waxes, which nourish the leather. Petroleum based products do *not* nourish leather!!
I stopped using Kiwi because the quality has dropped ; here in the Antipodes where KIWI was famous . I was been a big fan of shiny shoes for 50years . when I was a young guy all the men had spectacular shoes and spent a lot of time on them . I switched to Saphir a few years back for more pleasing results . I stress though quality polish does not work on low grade shoes .
I started using Saphir last year.
It is the shit.
@@60zeller???? Really???
@@60zeller Why do you say that?????
@@60zeller Shit if you don't know what you are doing.😂
8:37 The right side is shinier, partly, because you spend more time waxing on the right than the left.
Spends 3 times as long on the Saphir than the Kiwi. Basically voids any comparison he was trying to show.
This happens on every spahir vs kiwi video
That’s why we need double-blinded test instead
Thanks for the comparison between the regular and premium Saphir.
I spoke at Saphir India office today. They said that premium one is the most effective in vegetable tanned leathers. Whereas using that on chemical tanned leathers won't give much distinguished results. For that regular beaut line are good enough.
i seemed to take me about an hour a boot to get a mirror gloss with kiwi in the military. i believe it comes down to time spent on the shine. kiwi probably takes 4 times the amount of effort as saphir. i have all saphir products now.
charleywayne hinkle - that’s pretty much exactly what I found. Kiwi works, but takes longer and more effort.
@@CobblerBob i do have a question. i have a light brown pair of boots i use neutral pommador cream on and it turned them to a dark chestnut. how do i use a cream and it not darken the crap out of my shoe?
Use neutral and use only a small amount, wipe any excess. Brush. Allow a day to dry. Anything that penetrates a light colored leather that isn’t really smooth leather will cause it to appear darker until it starts the drying process. If you use a colored product this may cause a permanent change of color. Also, some products have waxes or other chemicals that WILL remain. So, no hard and fast solution.
@@nsatoday It also sounds like those boots were thirsty for conditioning!
Hello I’m new into mens dress/ formal fashion and I just bought an eBay shine kit off someone and it comes with its own dopp case with 2 brushes, a light and dark one and 2 polishes a black and brown . But I’m a little worried about the name, it’s called PANTHER POLISH, I did a little bit of research I can’t find it anywhere besides like in Africa lol and on Etsy and Ali express. I’m wondering if it’s like a vintage or something or just not popular? I went ahead and bought the Saphir Pate De Lux just in case since this is a popular name that is Time tested. What is your opinion on the panther? Do you think I should try it anyway? Use both? Only use the panther on my boots? Thank you!!!! 🤵🏻♂️
I've also never heard of the brand. Considering how inexpensive (compared to the price of the shoes) even high end shoe polish is, I'd probably save the Panther for your cheap shoes, or for the edges of the heels, etc. FYI check out www.PurePolishProducts.com too.This video was made a few years ago before I was intruduced to PPP.
Can I use saphir on top of kiwi parade gloss or do I have to strip my boots back. Please reply . Thank you
I’m pretty certain you CAN, but it would be better to remove the Kiwi to get the petroleum solvents off of the shoe. BTW check out Pure Polish Products. Since doing this video a few years ago Ive started using them. I have 2 videos about Pure Polish with the owner “Leather Talk with Andy from Pure Polish”. Pure Polish high shine is like $15 for 60mL, Saphir is like $28 for a 75mL tin. Pure Polish is made in the US too and doesn’t have potentially toxic ingredients in it. www.pure Polish products.com
Where can I buy all that you're showing in your videos
I use both Saphir”s but alternate cotes. The Pate de Lux cuts into the Mirror Gloss and gives a great shine.
Kieran Goddard totally agree and avoids any risk of cracking as a risk with Mirror Gloss. In my mind no argument over Kiwi v Saphir and the latter all day long
I wonder why in these videos, I've seen several, the shiners can never get a good polish with kiwi. I can get a shine on my duty boots that you could use for a mirror to shave with using kiwi. I tried using Lincoln polish and found that i like the results better. I can tell you the shine i get can make my co-workers look bad during roll call.
I would like to know how much is it for the kit or is there a kit?and where can I buy the kit. Thank you for your time Alfredo Sanchez
Would be interesting to see the difference between the 2 Saphir how long the shine lasts when you start wearing the shoes.
Thank you, sir. Does coating the shoes with so many waxes hurt the shoes?
No it does not hurt the shoes.
Nope! If you put a mirror shine over the vamp where the shoe flexes when you walk it will crack off.
I always put ten coats of mirror gloss on the caps and finish with one of pate d lux for that perfect finish.
After you build up the polish using the wax and water, use a clean, dry part of the cloth with a bit of water ONLY, no wax. It will really make the shine pop.
Makes sense. The way I usually do it, I’ll dip the tip of my finger into the wax, and as the wax “wears off” of the rag and as the shine comes up I’ll rub more with the part of my finger farther down, in essence below the 1st knuckle where there’s virtually no polish, so in a way I think that’s similar. I’ll try it though...
I've always spit-shined with color wax, not neutral. In the US Army, we were given just black shoe wax - should I be spit shining with neutral?
Daniel Mahoney - I think they all work. I just like neutral because that Saphir Morror Gloss is $26 a can, and when I buy it in neutral, I can use it on all colored shoes. Of course using black on a non-black shoe will darken to toe.
@@CobblerBob Got it, and good to know as I use wax on all my shoes as opposed to polish. Black polish for black shoes, brown for brown, etc... Thanks!
I wonder how Kiwi's parade polish would stack against the two Saphire's.
I've been using Kiwi's parade glass for 20 years and I have no complaints. It would have been nice to have seen the test here done with Kiwi parade gloss vs. Saphir parade gloss.
Poorly!!
In my military days Kiwi would give a brilliant shine but if I was on parade too long in the sun the sheen would burn off and become dull. This is in the tropics. My fix was to use Nugget to base the leather then use the kiwi to bring up the final sheen.
evlew - What is Nugget?
@@CobblerBob Nugget Shoe polish
I’ve always used Kiwi on my shoes and boots, and would defy anyone to get a better shine than mine. I’d note that, if it’s good enough for the British Queen’s Grenadier Guards, it’s good enough for me.
I take note that test does not include Kiwi parade gloss.I use this on my black dress R M Williams boots (as now the issue dress shoes for the Australian Army)
Euro Coin Collector I’d have to agree with your comment as when I was in the navy standard kiwi was order of the day. That said I know use Chelsea dubbin a lot and cherry blossom as they’re excellent products - my personal preference ! I’ve recently used Saphir and what I like about apart from its cost is the range of colours and the more emulsion like property which is good for scuffs and white marks. I know it sounds sad but I really enjoy polishing my collection of British handmade shoes and belts it’s therapeutic 😁
If you would have done both sides the same, but you gave the second one a lot more elbow grease.
the important thing about Saphier is the contents of the product aren't harming your shoes.
Yes! This video done was done 3 years ago, and I’ve learned a lot since then. Since then I’ve been turned on to Pure Polish products. www.purepolishproducts.com. What I like about Pure Polish is the same as with Saphir, but the ingredients are non-toxic. I believe Saphir uses pine turpentine, which isn’t great for you. Anything applied on our skin gets absorbed into our bodies. Pure Polish is made in Band Oregon. I interviewed the owner in a couple videos called “Leather talk with Andy from Pure Polish“
Will this work on my calf skin purse ?
megan meganm - I’ve never tried polishing leather on a purse, but I wouldn’t see why not? Steve at Bedos Leatherworks is the expert on that kind of stuff.
it will. it will also be hours of work
for the purpose of shining the shoes, I don't think there are differences in those type of waxes. I can mirror shine the shoes by using either Kiwi or Saphir. Saphir is more popular and expensive due to its brand name and friendlier to the leather than the other one.
Back when Johnson Murphy made quality footwear
If you revisit this test try the Kiwi Parade Gloss and WS Robson's beeswas and carnauba shoe polish. The first is a good value quality shoe polish that produces excellent results, while the latter is far and away the best shoe polish I have ever used.
Thanks for doing this. Also would be nice to compare brush shine vs spit after all the coats.
Brushing leaves marks in the wax. Ultimately, even a brushed wax needs buffing in order to obtain a mirror gloss!
How did you strip the polish off?
Acetone
Although I'm not looking to do a mirror gloss or anything, I'm looking to get some wax polish that will help result in a bit of extra shine (and thus more depth of color) on my shoes than I get with only conditioner and creme polish. How has the neutral stuff worked for you? I'm a little apprehensive about using on darker shoes, but the color options don't seem like they contain a perfect match for either of my pairs of shoes (I got rid of my 3rd pair...that pair of JM's I got super cheap...I didn't like wearing them much after a while), so I think I'd better go with neutral. You haven't had any issues using that stuff on dark shoes, right? Specifically, has it worked okay on the flex points of the shoes without leaving any gaudy residue? Again, I'm only talking about putting one or two thin coats on the entire shoe, not doing a mirror shine. I just want to make sure that I'm not gonna see any white residue at those flex points if I do use a small amount of neutral wax on a dark shoe.
Matt W - you are correct, whether it’s neutral or colored polish, if you just apply a couple standard coats, I’ve never had a problem with cracking. If you don’t want to darken your lighter colored shoes, I would personally still get colored polish, but get the one that’s closest to the shoe color but NOT darker than the shoe. In other words, select the colored polish that’s slightly lighter than the shoe. Neutral WILL work just fine, but it does a poor job of coloring deeper scuffs and scratches since there’s no pigment. Applying a polish slightly lighter than a shoe will not change its color, as long as the color is in the same color family.
@@CobblerBob As far as the scuffs and scratches go, I rely on colored CREME polish for that. What I was asking is about using a Neutral WAX as sort of a topcoat over the creme polish. I've seen others do this as well. I'm guessing it's okay to use a Neutral wax over a colored creme polish, right?
Aah, in that case it will work just fine!!
@@CobblerBob Great! I think, though, that I'm gonna go with the moderately priced Beaute Du Cuir stuff from Sapphir rather than the more expensive Medaille D'Or. I've had AWESOME results with the creme polish from that line, so I'm sure the wax will do just great as well!
Where is Lincoln polish????
Suggestions for how to darken or redye one's shoes? I have some pumpkin orange calfskin boots I'd like to dye brown. You seem to Airbrush the dye? Thanks Robert
Daniel P that’s an area I’ve only experimented with a few times. Those Oxblood McAllisters in this video I darkened a little bit with mixing black and mahogany Saphir polish. I have seen others brush on the Fiebings leather dye too so I know it can be done. I think the art in dying is making sure you use the appropriate color or colors. It sounds like you’ve seen my 3 other videos on the subject... “How I put a Patina on my old Bostonian Loafers” and “How I put burnishing/Patina back on a shoe” and “Restoring terribly salt stained J&Ms with Patina”. The key is making sure to get ALL the old polish off. You can start with Renomat and elbow grease, and finish removing it with alcohol. Note alcohol will often remove much of the original color, so once you go there there’s no turning back! You may want to use a pair of shoes you won’t be upset if you ruin to start. Go to a thrift store and buy an old pair to practice on.
@@CobblerBob thank you for your time. I really appreciate it
I will try on an old pair of shoes before I touch my aldens. I've probably watched all your videos. Lol
Fiebing’s Leather Dye works great for changing the color. Strip the finish off the shoes and then re dye.
There is a strânge thing that I discovered. If you use neutral cherry blossom and heat it into the boot with candle Light it seems to give a great shine, let it burn on the boot for 1 second. If you use a heat gun there is no such reaction.
Good video, but although you showed us how to tighten up the t-shirt on your wrist/fingers... you didn’t show us how to put it on in the first place.
Do you not use a brush?
M T - no, I don’t, but I’ve seen other professionals use one, so I’m sure it works fine! I’ve also seen others use their bare hands, or their hands with a rubber glove... many different ways to do it, just do what works well for you. Experiment on your cheaper shoes.
I got my first can ever of saphir. Now all I have to do is actually use it. You are right though saphir is pretty expensive but I guess if you want a good shine you're going to spend the money.
I made this video several years ago... My favorite now is Pure Polish Products (www.purepolishproducts.com). Their high shine wax is about half the price of Saphir Mirror Gloss.
Great video. What I like to do is melt the mirror gloss with a small coat of pate de luxe. Seems to kinda liquify it
Harrison Wedgeworth interesting... I never thought of combining them!
Kirby, over at the Hanger Project, has a video which explains how the Mirror Gloss came to be. He mentioned that it used to take longer with Pate de Luxe to achieve mirror shine and what some experts were doing was to keep the lid of Pate de Luxe open so that it's solvents get evaporated and the wax solidifies and cracks. The solvents used to keep the wax softer but are also the reason why you need to wait after applying PdL before start rubbing. Mirror Gloss has a much lower concentration of these solvents and thus is harder and hence gives you a mirror shine much faster.
I think Sapphir launched Mirror Gloss, a new product by their standards, to monetize the rising popularity of quality shoes and mirror shining.
toobalkain great marketing move
I understand that from the video and in person that the results are really subtle during the process but really 'pop' at the final comparison. Course, I'm just a security guard that wears black duty boots and want to keep them "nice"; having a mirror shine is nice for an office environment or an inspection but not practical for duty work.
Course I'm thinking that the quality of the leather plays a large part on the final quality of any shine.
Interesting...but I don't like a high shine. Looks weird to me.
Great Video! Could you make one with the shoe creams of kiwi vs saphir? I.e. clean and condition both shoes the same, but then use different creams?
Victor Kononenko - I’ll consider it...
The 2nd half was NOT treated the same as 1st. The same amount of water would've made the Kiwi shine better.
tonyu49 appreciate the feedback, but you can’t treat them the same. Different waxes require different amounts of water and they will shine up at different paces.
@@CobblerBob Hi Robert, I've used Kiwi since the 50s, my dad taught me how to 'bull' shoes and boots to a glass like finish. I'm sure you'll know that the type of leather is a big factor too......and that the British army swear by Kiwi. My pals from the Guards Division showed me the best way to get that type of finish and it takes a LOT of water, much more than you did here. I'd like to give the other polishes you show but I've got too many tins of Kiwi.....various colours....to buy any more at my age, (almost 70). However, should I need to buy more at some stage, I'll definitely try the others. Thanks for the enjoyable post!
@@tu1949 I felt the kiwi shined better but less water was used as well as buffing.
I normally don't give thumbs up but you did an excellent job in this video. Thanks.
me too. However, I don't understand how anyone can thumb down such a video :p, like... why....
Saphire Medale Dior also makes a Pate DeLuxe for about $12.
IMO with time and patience all products work fine if applied properly, much better than the liquid polish. At the Army, I used the cheapest black Kiwi and worked perfectly fine, today I have both brands and use both, depending on the shoe quality that I am polishing. I have high end, medium a a couple inexpensive shoes. If it is going to be raining, I use the inexpensive shoes and they survive the storms.
I would use the Pate DeLuxe Medale Dior High Gloss, not Mirror. I like the mirror as a final coat, but, for me, it spider webs quite easily if over used.
Mark Duvall I’ll keep an eye out for that!
I found if you finish with one of those demister pad from halfords it just brings out the shine better but don't need to rub hard
great video. well explained throughout. But using the last polish for the entire shoe toe shoes which is your favorite from the beginning! LoL ;-)
Ever tried Meltonian boot polish? I had best results with it.
Sorry I missed your comment, sometimes the notifications slip by, but no, never heard of it!
I always combine the saphir's. I first do 3 coats of the pate de luxe and then i do about 7 coats with the mirror shine wax with water also, it gets the best results. Its even better to get the waxes in the correct colors, same color as the shoes.
Nick De Bruin 10 coats???? Insane, less is more
Hey Robert. Just wanted you to know that I really enjoy watching your videos. I've been learning alot about shoes from you. Looking forward to more great videos from you!
Adam Soh - thank you!
Hey thanx for this video, I always wanted to know which Was better... Figured about Kiwi 👍🏻
Question: Does the Kiwi Natural Polish have Carnauba wax in it?
I feel you're using to much Kiwi wax each time, it works better when you use thinner.
A good bullied shine can take up to an hour per shoe.
There is no short cut to a good mirror shine
I've been using Kiwi for 35 odd years on school shoes, parade shoes and boots, its the best by far.
English, Australian, American and many other forces use it. I would not wast your money on the other polishes.
They may be quicker but anything that is worth doing is worth doing well, you must put the time in.
th-cam.com/video/9vSOpAAFYSQ/w-d-xo.html
Though the Saphire mirror gloss did a better job than the other two. It was not enough for my eyes. The less expensive Kiwi done every evening 5 - 10, dry weather wearings is enough for the average guy. This means one should polish and refurbish one pair of three each week. Even this is more than most people will want to do and a reason for cheap throwaway shoes. I do it with joy.
You can purchase the polish made of carnuba wax for e.g allen edmonds shoe polish they are cheaper than saphir and does the work but definitely not better than saphir
These days I’m switching over to pure polish products! www.purepolishproducts.com
@@CobblerBob thanks for the link Mr powers by the way what's your view on mdo pate deluxe
This video brought to you by..... SAPHIR
These « pâté de luxe » and « medal Dior » are pretty fantastic 🤣
When you know what pâté is, you do want to pronounce that right!
Anyways, great video man! Quite helpful
Use cold water and put an ice cube in the wster
A better comparison would be Kiwi's "Parade Gloss" Saphir's "Amiral Gloss" in their Beaute Du Cuir line then Saphir's "Mirror Gloss" in their Medaille D'Or line.
Lincoln wax is a overall winner. Price is right. Shine is equally goid or better as saphir but you get more wax for the mo6
If you put about 4 to 5 coats of kiwi it will shine like glass . In my Regiment we were always told kiwi will gleem but
You need to use water every time you polish oh and always use the coloured polish and finish with the neutral.
I agree re' the Kiwi.....but never used neutral....always layered up with the same, ie black!
Kiwi and water got me through 4 years in the Army. Shined like glass.
Can't lie, I prefer a shine that's a bit more subtle like the Kiwi... but the Saphir obviously does an amazing job!
Sorry for missing your comment... you can do a more subtle shine with the Saphir by just not mirror shining it too!
Definitely the Kiwi, the difference doesn't warrant the much higher price at all. Certainly when you also regard the extra time and effort put in.
B BG definitely a lot of personal preference here. Both will get the ball in the end zone. I didn’t start using Saphir until I started buying better shoes.
My grandfather would shine by moon phases back in 1936 he was a shoe boy .. a nickle a shoe a dime in full does a million dollars of good for u
See also, *The Elegant Oxford for a complete, start to finish, step by step video on how to mirror gloss!
Sorry for missing your comment.. Yep, seen it. He and Justin Fitzpatrick "The Shoe Snob" are the king of mirror shines.
Just for curiosity sake. Buy a can of pure Meguirs carnuba car wax. Compare with yours.
The smell of the Kiwi infuses my room and gives me sore throat for days, hence I switched to Saphir and Renapur leather balsam.
Ok
Thank you
I like Lincoln wax
David Shirley - I think you’re the second person to comment positively about them, I’ve seen other professional shoe shiners use them too ,so they must not be bad.
Lincoln has been a Marine Corps favorite for many years. It's also nice to do a final buff with a long piece of soft cloth or pantyhose. The heat from friction puts a killer glaze over the surface.
mirror gloss is not the same pate de lux. Medalle d'Or also has a pate de lux. mirror gloss It's only for the top-top cover.
Peter Kudinov Further clarity on this would be helpful
Kiwi is fine for a $40 pair of shoes but you're not using Kiwi on a $400 pair. Saphir, Glenkaren, Angelus and a few others are better. Other brands do not use petroleum products and simply shine better. Products other than Kiwi cost more because they use better ingredients and they don't have the brand name Kiwi does. If you like Kiwi, great, but it isn't as good as Saphir. Also, if you are in the military, buck up for the patent leather shoes already. Semper Fi!
Seamus McLiverdamage, i always had great success with Lincoln wax. Bought a kilo can because shining boots was my barracks hustle way back in the day
You clean and add more water where the sapphire is, and it shines better. Where kiwi is processed, there is very little water and polished compared to sapphire. Kiwi is better for me. I polish kiwi so that I can see my reflection in the toe of the shoe.
Water is everything. Be nice to see more water on side 1. 4 bucks vs.+ 20. Good luck getting Safir at the corner store.
Gary Gray - yes Saphir is definitely a mail order item.
Thanks for the video. I prefer the regular Saphir Neutral over the Saphir mirror gloss. Only because I liquefy the neutral by rubbing it with my finger and the extra hard mirror gloss doesn't do that very easily. The toes are very shiny and water proof on my First Ave boots. Obviously I had to fill in the pebble grain with wax, which didn't take a long as one would think. On the rest of the boot, I can only really use cream polish and renovateur due to the pebble grain.
Todd T I never thought of using both... that’s 2 people on here using that technique. I may have to try it.
Is it me or does this video seem hazy?
You may want to check the video settings and make sure it’s on HD 1080, and not a lower resolution. I know my player sometimes drops the video resolution down.
I'm a big fan of Saphir products, but I also spent many year polishing black military boots (before we switched to the rawhide that they still currently use), and I have to call "FOUL" to the conclusion of your 'test.' Like others have said, you devoted much more time to making the Saphir products look better. If you spent the equal amount of time on all, the result would have been more closely related. I know that Kiwi is cheap, but it's effective. I currently use BOTH products in tandem to make all of my leather footwear look fantastic. But I do know that you can shine boots to an onyx mirror gloss with Kiwi, if that's all that's available. I used no chemicals other than Kiwi, water, breath, and the occasional light blast of spittle, and as a result, used to be able to adjust my red beret in the reflection of my jump boot toe.
Try it yourself. Side by side. Like I’ve said before, the TIME you spend on the shoe is dependent on the rate at which it shines up. It DOESN’T get shinier but spending more time on poorer wax. TRY IT YOURSELF and you’ll see. Besides, we’re arguing about WAX. In the grand scheme of things, if this is the biggest problem we have, we’re BOTH pretty blessed. Thank you for taking the time to watch the video and to articulate your thoughts though. I’m fine with you disagreeing with my results and buying whatever product you want, So far I have made no money from TH-cam (I might monetize it in the future), but I do not want you to think I’m biased or dishonest.
I may be a Philistine, but I gave up spit shines when I said goodbye to the military. To me more of a satin finish (such as you might get using a cream polish) is far more elegant. It looks like quality leather that way, not plastic.
FloridaClay - that’s one of the things I like about men’s fashion, were each able to show our personalities through what we wear!
Can you do a review of Mothers 100% Carnauba car wax... :-)
Outstanding video
Just set you Kiwi alight, let it burn until it melts, blow it out (kill the flame) and leave it to harden. You will then have burnt off some of the oils and you will get less of a hazy shine. Just use normal Kiwi, not the parade gloss.
Interesting!
Thanks a lot it was really good and useful
Similarities to car detailing products as well in that pro products purchased on the internet are far superior to those purchased at Walmart or Wards.
Great comparison!
Kiwi shoe polish is the best in the U.S.A High polish gloss ,I know I get shiny gloss on my mirror shine ,State Prison shine state of California style,I only seen one shoe polish that comes close to Kiwi That’s “ Oso “ shoe polish made in Mexico..
Great video!!!👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽😀❤️
The Bob Ross of shoe polishing ,ladies and gentlemen. Watching Bob Ross when I was a kid I would fall asleep. It was close here.
“Bob Ross of shoe polishing” 😂😂 I think that’s a compliment? LOL.
LOL Yes most definitely. If I had said the Foster Brooks of shoe polishing then....... we'd have to think about it
I gave you a thumbs up on the video before I wrote the comment so, Yes it must be taken as a compliment.
Kiwi is a disaster. Try neutral from cherry blossom, british made. I guess the only good kiwi is the Black one, still I do not think it can beat cherry.
Best shoe Polish in Pakistan
Star shoe Polish
Great video. Take a look at Brift H if you enjoy shoe shining
Robert, just fyi the "Pate de Luxe" is pronounced "PAH-t-uh" (or simply Pat, like short for Patrick); the way you're saying "Pah-TAY" would be the french *Paté* which is a food.
Also, Medaille d'Or is pronounced "Med-EYE door"
Hope I helped you improve your french :-)
Thanks for the video
J. Carlos Andrioli thank you, I’ll work on that!
Since the word is French and means 'paste' it IS the same as food.
What if you use ear wax?
I keep hearing people say: Patay de luxe, but it should be pronounced Pateuh. The "E" is not accentuated.
In English it should be pronounced like 'pat' that's the closest to the actual pronunciation in French.
The problem with this video, is there is one and only one colour that is popular for people to care about a spit shine. That is black. I don't exactly see people walking around in cowboy boots. And those that do, usually aren't that concerned about how shiny the boot is. If they have cleared off all the cow dropping they are happy. Now I'm sure there are exceptions, otherwise they wouldn't sell these products. But beyond a doubt if I see a shit shine comparison, I want black.
Frankly I have found all the Kiwi products are inferior, except Noir Black. That is the product I would like to see a head to head comparison with.
You also need to vary your technique depending on the type of polish you use. I can tell you Kiwi needs you to use cotton not a cloth, for best results, and needs you to dip the water into the the polish to soften it. Putting it on the shoe is too late in the process to really fill everything in correctly, as you need to soften the polish as you remove it from the tin. Saphir looks like a softer product, so you technique is probably good for that type of polish. Although, I have some on order so I will findout.
Yeah Saphir promotion
Saphir also smells amazing. Kiwi, not so much.
Yep. Kiwi has more of a petroleum smell, Saphir has a great natural pine smell.
This dude cheated because he used more water and buffed more the shoe with Saphir. 🧐
Pancho Villa the different waxes require different amounts of water. The feel of the wax dictates how much water is needed. Adding more water doesn’t make it shinier. Also, buffing any one given coat past a certain point doesn’t get it shinier. When a coat has reached max shine that’s it, you have to add another coat to get more shine. Bottom line from my experience is that you can get almost, but not quite as good a shine with Kiwi, but it takes longer.
You polished one side 10 times fore than the kewi side.
Linda Payne - As I have explained before, each type of wax requires a different number of strokes to get it to shine. The shine does NOT come from how many times you polish it. Some point containing to rub it in or will do nothing. Go try it yourself and see what your results are.
LINCOLN SHOE POLISH !!!!!
"Light things on fire" sounds like a public safety hazard...