That is correct. The reason for this, is that the solvent needs time to flash off. If you use a layering method as The Elegant Oxford does, the solvent causes additional layers added to move the polish below which can cause streaking or even polish smudging. The left won't ever be AS good as the right one, but it could have been much better with more knowledge of the product and the theory behind how shine affect the leather in shoe shining.
Bigly. I thought that was what everyone did. There weren't a lot of shoeshine videos around in those days. The only choice in polish was what color of Kiwi you needed.
As a former sailor, I can attest to the fantastic results myself and generations of service members have been able to yield using the Kiwi products. I have no doubt that the fancy creams and waxes you use are a better product, but there isn’t anything wrong with getting mirrored up using the classics. It all comes down to technique, dedication, and a bit of pride. As always, an outstanding video!
An old Navy guy here as well. Back in my bootcamp days, NTC San Diego, circa 1969, some of the guys would light the wax. We used cotton balls, H2O, spit and whatever it took. We got the job done on those Navy "last" shoes...
A former British Soldier, I've been polishing my boots to a high shine for decades. Even before joining up as a Cadet. Kiwi was always my go-to preference & I always enjoyed bulling my boots. It's like a therapy to me. When I got out, the need for that particular skill went away for some time but years later, I started to keep my Doc Martens up to a high shine & so I used the old skills. My dancing shoes are always well polished as well. Having recently bought a pack of Kiwi tins (they've been withdrawn from the stores here but can still be found online), I came across The Elegant Oxford channel just a few weeks ago & took the plunge to try Safir, such my impression of your results on here. I'm very impressed & can confirm the difference between the two brands wholeheartedly. I also love the techniques used, many of which are very familiar but others are more fine tuned. Thanks for sharing your methods but also for making the videos as interesting as you have. They make for great "easy viewing" of an evening, as well as serve as inspiration even for this "old timer" polisher. Turns out you CAN teach an old dog some new tricks after all. 🙂
These videos bring back memories of my father shining his black shoes on Saturdays. He always made a production out of it; laying all of his supplies out on newspaper. He used Kiwi and I remember always just wanting to stick my finger straight into that tin of black wax. Lol I wasn’t allowed to touch it though. I remember really liking the little kiwi bird picture on the lid.
Lisa White-Pagano 1. Your dad left you with a great memory. As a dad we never know what our kids pick up. 2. I have memories of things such as this of my dad. Specifically what he smelled like when he drove me to school. Usually of aftershave. He wore classic scents that didn't cost a lot and were found in most drugstores. I find myself gravitating toward wearing those same scents now.
When I was a kid in the early 60's, I would shine for extra change. I used Esquire, Kiwi and sometimes Griffin. One of the tricks I used was to melt the paste in the can and apply it while it was still molten. Worked great and the clients loved the extra attention.
I love watching your videos. It brought back memories of shining my dad's shoes. He was in the military and one of my chores was to shine his shoes. He taught me how to apply the polish and give his shoes that "spit" shine. I notice that you don't buff your shoes. Dad always taught me to end the process by buffing the shoes with a clean old t-shirt. We always used Kiwi because in the 1960's, that was the only polish at the Base Exchange. To this day, I find polishing shoes to be fun and very therapeutic. I think I'll upgrade to Saphir products and start shining my shoes again! Thanks
Yes as many have stated, kiwi is military issue and you can absolutely get perfect results with kiwi. I've found 3 keys. I think the best cloth is a super soft cotton T-shirt scrap. You want the fabric to be smooth. Second you need to add small amounts of water, my way was dipping the rag in and getting about a pea sized drop on the shoe. Lastly, slow and layer by layer with no brushing on the toe once you start getting it to the high gloss. Don't let it go dry but don't drench it. Just enough to keep it lubricated and smooth. For me though idk if I like a mirror finish on my civilian shoes. Just a good solid brush
Kiwi Shoe Polish pays for the upkeep of the Bulford Kiwi in the UK. It was built by New Zealand soldiers after World War One, and the design of it was based on a drawing by my Great-grandfather, who travelled to the Natural History Museum in London to ensure its accuracy. Not overly relevant to this video topic, but perhaps an interesting piece of history for those with a taste for it.
I use the kiwi parade gloss on my operational police boots. If you use cotton wool balls instead of a cotton cloth to apply the polish and drops of water, you get a proper mirror shine with a glass like appearance. You do have to put lots of layers on though, but it’s certainly possible. I’ve been doing it for almost 20 years now 😊
You definitely got me motivated, went to the thrift store and purchased three pair of Johnson & Murphy’s and all under $10. Wish I could upload the pictures. Thanks again.
Good on you Barry. Nothing better than looking dapper while still saving money. You don't have to be rich to look great but you do have to be smart and resourceful.
If you take care of them you could hand them down to your children! I have a pair I have resoled twice; I think they are 25 years old? I learned to have toe and heel taps installed to get more life at the wear points. Enjoy those shoes!
I LOVE your content! It is true! I am a female but I learned it is important to 1) Iron your clothes 2) Wear Clean/Shined Shoes 3) Wear a nice tie/learn to tie a tie. It really is important. I am going through all of my leather products and starting to clean them up | restore and condition them because of your videos. Thank you!
Same! I’m starting to move towards leather products and better quality items, that typically come with more maintenance. These types of videos are very helpful!
And I think it sucks. Not as a negative Nelly, but a different exhortation to be comfortable in whatever feels comfortable on your skin. I was taught to always look my best which resulted in a lot of spit shining and insecurities, and I realised that I'll always look best when I'm comfortable internally 👍
@@ge3029 who says looking your best and being comfortable in your own skin have to be separate from one another. @the elegant oxford certainly never said that. His whole idea is that when you look your best it makes you feel confident, and that makes you feel more comfortable as a result.
@@blakeberlin6295 Ok, you seem sincere so I'll see if I can help elucidate my point better for you. Nothing makes you feel better. Thats a choice (usually stemming from hundreds if not thousands of previous choices cumulatively on the same subject) that stems from within. Looking your best is seen from many different points of view. An example is my own teenage years when I learned what GQ magazine was and how dressing in certain ways made me a more erudite man and someone to respect. I watched my Mother and sister do the same with Cosmo/Fair Lady and etc. It took effort, money and no amount of insecurity to always try and "look my best". I've watched the heaving masses of "civilisation" wax eyebrows, bikini lines, toss away really good quality clothes that were no longer "in fashion" and work really hard to buy the latest "in thing" determined from the fashion houses that profited from it all. I eventually saw little to respect from the heads of those fashion houses. I learned that they were insecure too, rejecting people on the basis of what they put on, rather than who they were. I learned that people that were beautiful inside were not necessarily beautiful on the outside and this created significant cognitive dissonance for me. As I learned to retrain my mind that I could be comfortable in my skin, I slowly learned that I was beautiful as I was, and didnt need to please others by "dressing to my best". If I was genuine and true within myself, then I was beautiful. This wasnt an easy task and I still trip on up it at times. I learned that marketing and appearance is fleeting, and genuine authenticity is a prize worth pursuing. Like we say in Africa: are you smiling from the teeth, or from the heart? I would say - learn to smile from the heart, and you will automatically look your best. Thats true comfort within your skin.
Kids use to sneak a lighter into basic and hold it under the polish. Everyone would take a smell of liquified polish. You'd get high from that stuff. Yes, the smell of polish reminds me of basic training Hell, but looks so good. You forgot bleach. The smell of bleach is important.
You can totally get a great shine out of Kiwi, but the shine: 1. Doesn't last as long. 2. Takes a lot longer to get. Saphir just makes it so easy to get a long lasting, high-gloss shine. I also find that the Saphir doesn't wipe off as easily. Whenever I use Kiwi, even after rigorous and exhaustive brushing, I notice the wax can come off and stain your pants if you cross your legs. Saphir does not have nearly as bad of a problem in respect to this, and indeed, barely has it at all.
I accidentally stumbled upon your channel, and not only am I blown away by the skill of work you are capable of I'm also mesmerized by watching you work. My father was an MP in the military and I can remember as a kid him always shining up his boots with KIWI. I had literally forgotten all about that time until I spent the last hour watching your videos. Keep up the amazing work you do!
I have to say, I keep coming back to this one to compare my kiwi shines. There's a local bespoke shoemaker near me that I trialed for fit with their made to measure before going bespoke. They delivered with everything I wanted but the wear pattern during break in made me consider toe taps and I brought it back for them to add them. Their first question was "What do you use?" when they saw the mirror shine I did. Not quite as good as yours, Preston but I did manage to impress a bespoke shoe maker. One that also sells Saphir and was surprised that a customer brings in a mirror and says that it was lexol and kiwi.
I'm glad I found your channel. I'm from a military family, and I've always mirror shined (spit shined) my boots and my dress shoes. However, I always used Kiwi brand waxes. I'm going to get some sapphire wax and try it out. I've learned a lot of tricks and shortcuts to get a mirror shine over the years. Have you ever tried applying a little dark blue (navy blue) wax on a black shoe or boot to add to the mirror shine? A Sargeant in the military showed me this trick, and it gives the appearance of a deeper, better shine. I also use clear wax sometimes on a mirror shine. It's like clear coating the wax ,giving it a visibly deeper shine. Just like a clear coat does to car paint.
Based on this video, I shined my shoes for the first time, as you mentioned, prior to a job interview. I got the job. I don't think anyone noticed my shoes, but still, it made me feel good, and I think that helped. Thank you.
My 2 cents, I have been using kiwi in the military JROTC to Active Duty, and I will say if I had the knowledge and availability of Saphir, it would have saved me a ton of time. I am not a mindless sheep pushing products, I can only go with the experience I have had. I get the neutral cream and the Amiral gloss for both black and brown dress shoes and it has been so much better in terms of build-up and lasting shine. Kiwi really isn't a money saver if you have to use twice the amount. If you haven't used Saphir products, please give them a try, you might have the same experience as I did
Preston, the subtle & soft lighting you use at the end of the video in the final presentation part is just perfect to see and be able to appreciate the terrific shine on those black cap toes... well done!!
Excellent demonstration. Thank you. If they were not side by side it would not be noticeable. You are a true treasure to men who want to look their best. I have ben using Kiwi for decades and even with the lower quality of product I still feel like a million bucks with my shoes (boots actually) shined. Love your work keep it up. Thank you again.
In boot camp for the navy all they gave us was kiwi, on Sundays which we got a few hours to write letter and pretty much do what ever a lot of us would just shine our boots and let me tell you some of these guys had some of the best results I've ever seen with the kiwi! Definitely good to use on a budget!
For crappy ole Bates, (which I'm assuming is what they were shining in Navy bootcamp when you were there) Kiwi does just fine. If i had a pair of what this guy is shining here, I'm not using Kiwi.
Adizzl32 I was in the navy and I was one of those guys that’s why while watchuthis I was like he just didn’t put in enough work to show kiwis shine possibilities still great video tho
@hhhk20 Stop being a douche. As the daughter of a dentist, my mother has told me plenty of stories about people who had no clue how to brush their teeth and needed to be taught by the hygienist. Did you know that you can mess up your gums by brushing or flossing too hard? Did you know that you are supposed make small circles with the toothbrush and not a just back and forth motion. Did you know that some dentists recommend that you brush your teeth after every meal? If you’ve never done something before, even if it’s simple, you’re going to need some instructions. Again, stop being a douche. @viciousbig10 Here’s a shoe-shine tutorial: m.th-cam.com/video/_gaxkWZPv6s/w-d-xo.html
This is motivating me to want to get shiny. I always wished we lived back in the 20’s thru the 60’s when men always wore suits and fedoras and dressed up for everyday things. It just had a certain classiness to it. I get to wear nice clothes a lot in my church activities which is good so that I can put these tips and hints to practice. Thanks for your time and info.
I used kiwi all the time in the army. As a guardsmen in the British army; I must say kiwi did have some problems like cloudiness to a finish and was very sensitive to weather and room temperature change when applied. Even though these factors do play a part in all polishes you use, I found it most of a problem with kiwi. Better polish definitely became a big time factor considering to polish a pair of boots would take a minimum of 4 hours to get to parade standard on a good day. Good polish not only reduced time it also reduced factors mentioned and “ polish rolling” which drove me mental😂.
I used predominantly kiwi for about 2 years into my service, as it was always available in most shops. It wasn’t till I started buying pairs of brogues for myself that I started discovering polish from independent shoe makers. My favourite for me was Crockett and Jones own brand of shoe polish. It was a lot more expensive but was amazing. As I did need to survive as we all do on limited funds, I would use kiwi polish to build up the bulk of the layers on my boots. Because I had a massive pair of cavalry jack boots to polish, I would only use my expensive polish to bring the boots up to their final shine; which eliminated any cloudiness in the finish. When doing a pair of shoes, I’d just use the expensive polish from start to finish, as it was better for leather and they were my own shoes not the armies 😂
I didn’t get a grainy feel from Crockett and Jones polish. I did find most wax/ oil based polish, which Crockett and Jones was did tend to eliminate that problem. Also just as a tip to opening a tin of polish, I found gently scraping off the top layer of polish before you start. This helps removing any grit or dust from previous air exposure. Then you won’t contaminate your polishing cloth. Also try to use a separate tin for your polishing cloth to your polishing brush, again to help stop dust and debris contaminating the good polish. Hope that helps
I like the comments from the military guys : ) I did a stint in the Yugoslavian army and can confirm. With enough time and dedication and some tricks we could beat your results. We would warm up the cheap military shoe cream and then polish with a worn damp sock, pure magic : )
Excellent demonstration. I've been using Kiwi because that's what's available here and my shoes are very inexpensive. If (when) I buy better shoes I'll step up to Saphir but now I use the same shoes for doing yard work and for going out . . . but I shine them up for going out.
I live in France and I’m literally in love with shining my shoes. I recently bought new shoes, and the guy who sold them told me they used only Saphir Lotion Mink Oil, and the Médaille d’Or wax. At this point I thought it wasn’t possible, because I was always using the cream before the wax. You proved me wrong here, so thanks again 😁
Definitely a helpful video! I work at a Mens Warehouse and am always wanting to look my best. Leather shoe care is becoming my top priority right now as I’ve noticed not a lot of people know what they’re doing, especially me.
My hat off to you sir. Thank you for the information. This brings back memories of shining my fathers shoes every week for a quarter. It helped later in the Marines.
Simple, elegant, classy...I love shining my boots n shoes since I was a kid. Great video. Great format. I only wish you had more to watch...ill stay tuned;)
Your videos brought memories of my military Dad getting his gear ready for the coming day. The old shoe kit and the Brasso. It is a shame people don't seem to care about such things anymore.
Excellent results, thank you, easy to see the better product. I used Parade Gloss for years, in military, and found it OK, but the Saphir does stand out. After Military, the first you do is look down at the foot wear, I joined an organisation with close Military ties. As a Civilian, now, I had purchased a pair of shoes, that had nearly a patent leather shine, and were easy to maintain (made in Aust as well). After my presentation, my Boss (magic person also Ex Mil) and I were walking back to the company car. He looked down and said, "Top pres, Mate, but you're not on Parade anymore, so you can disperse with the high shine" No, after nearly 50 years work, that spit polish is still to the fore.
ha ha me too......I in fact wear black Oxfords on a daily basis and the city grime certainly takes its toll on them. Luckily I have one with rubber soles.... I have another pair with leather soles but I am still hesitant to take them outside...not wanting to grime them up
Thank you for sharing this comparison. Very detailed, thorough, and unbiased. The quality and music in your videos are the best. Keep up the great work!
You said that Kiwi doesn't smell good. I never noticed until I smelled it and then Saphir side-by-side. After I smelled the difference between the two, I threw out all of my Kiwi and purchased Saphir. Now, I wish that I didn't throw the Kiwi out because I want other people to smell the difference, lol. Keep up the great content!
The problem I find with Saphir is that it goes all white and speckled when it gets wet. Even just a couple of drops of water from washing your hands in the bathroom can result in a ruined finish not to mention getting caught in a rain storm can completely ruin the finish taking hours to resolve. Can you do a video on this subject please?
For 20+ years I used Kiwi or Lincoln to shine my boots and shoes in the Army. When everyone started wearing the Corfams, I got a pair but dumped them because my feet would sweat. It has only been in the past couple of years that I started using the Saphir. The biggest problem I had with Kiwi is the buildup of wax.
Very thoughtful video. This is exactly what I needed to see. Now all I need is a video that teaches me how to shine extremely inexpensive shoes, i.e. Stacey Adams, Kenneth Cole and Aldo. Great video.
Very nice thanks for posting. I've always had clean shoes and my boss always judged candidates by their shoes and presentation. Although I am sad I can't get Kiwi OXBLOOD polish any more they really made my shoes look classy
I remember using kiwi back in the 80’s as a soldier for parades. But here is a hack that we used alongside the kiwi. We would give our parades boots a coating of bees wax and burn that into the leather with a hot spoon, we would then spend a few hours shinning our parade boots. The shine was good, but I will be honest your version with the sapphire creams and restoration products is far superior. I have placed all those products including good quality shoe trees and a couple of good quality wooden boxes and horse hare brushes on my amazon list to buy.
I used kiwi parade gloss to shine my boots in the Army. Never had a problem getting a mirror shine out of it. It does take more than 5 minutes and 1 pass though. I didn't miss the fact that he put much more care and effort into the Safire shine either.
I actually didn’t. I made sure to take 20 minutes per shoe. I used kiwi for years when I first started taking orders. Never got the shines as fast as I do now with Saphir.
As Rustin said, look up affiliate links, especially Amazon affiliate links and you could definitely be making more money with this channel. I have searched for the products since watching a couple of your videos. It's a win-win.
Great video! I was just trying to decide whether to restock my Kiwi supplies or take the leap into Saphir-land. Going to make the upgrade, looks totally worth it. Thank you
@@Kingfisher1215 It's called "Fire Shine," where you melt the wax so that it seeps deeper into the pores. Here's a TH-cam tutorial on how to do it: th-cam.com/video/n4aTZfqtcpM/w-d-xo.html Personally, I find it a bit too risky and damaging, but everyone has their own preference.
@@Kingfisher1215 Yeah literately you can light polish on fire. I tried it on some Angelus wax. I fumbled a container and it fell on the floor. So I salvaged the pieces back into the container and lit it with a lighter so the wax can melt back together and there was a flame. I used the lid the cover the container to stop flame. I don't recomend this at all around combustible material or you can start a fire. It was a rookie mistake on my part.
@@abelhernandez2591 Most shoe polish has turpentine as an ingredient, which is why it's flammable. Even the Saphir products that he uses indicate on their website that the wax polish includes it.
Love the saphir shine but not bad on the kiwi. Overall I enjoyed the video Love the background music, and the narration was flawless Is unbelievable how peaceful I felt watching this video! You got a huge Like! And a new subscriber!
While in the military , I shined a pair of cochran jump boots top to bottom to a patent level shine ( many hours ) . I used safir products . Those boots were celebrated for years . I must say the higher the gloss the hotter they get in the sun . We dubbed them " Mickey Mouse microwaves " because of it . Love your videos Sir
Actually, a patent leather shoe is a must for black tie. Anything else displays a lack of dress knowledge. I had a friend who wore winged tips with his tux. Looked awful but then, he was too cheap to buy a pair of shoes he would only wear once in a great while.
I love this SO much! I'm female myself and I love some nice shoes, but I don't know how to shine my own leather shoes and boots, are they any different? Could you make a video about that?
Saphire you can use on most normal shiny skin, there are special one for cordovan lether, but it is expensive leather and normaly not the case for beginners anyway. I have seen people use Saphire even on aligator.
Having just aquired a used pair of loakes Oxfords, I notice there is a reasonably heavy knick out of one of the toecaps. Do you cover damage repair in any of your videos? Or would you consider a 'damage limitation' tutorial video? Many thanks, brilliant content! 😊
I would love to see a shoe maintenance and beginner shoe care vid. I have a bunch of questions, and i can't seem to find reliable/consistent answers online. Like how often should i use a conditioner on my shoes... If i have to use a conditioner, do i need to/how do i strip the wax off. Do you leave shoe tree's in all the time, or take them out after x amount of hours? If you do take them out after a certain amount of time, do the trees need to rest before going into another pair of shoes? Do you use the same brush for all steps, like cleaning, conditioning, and polishing? When i do need to clean my shoes, do i brush them off and then re-wax them? How long should i wait in between wearing a pair of shoes again? Do i need to give them a couple days? I have so many basic questions, and it's hard to find a knowledgeable source of info. These all probably are second nature things to you, but for me this is all brand new. I have owned a pair of "dress shoes" for ever but they have always been cheap Walmart or similar shoes that just aren't nice. Would love to get a couple pairs of nice shoes and properly maintain them. O and I love the channel. I have already learned a lot. thanks for the vids.
Good attitude! Get any pair of nice black shoes and any pair of nice brown shoes at your local thrift store. Buy 1 tin of black and 1 tin of brown shoe polish, and a cheap brush for each. Any leather lotion is fine, so is Kiwi. Wear the shoes, even around the house, occasionally caring for them. Shoe trees all the time, if you can. Watch videos on TH-cam for techniques. You will do fine.Good luck, sir!
Thanks for this comparison video... I have used Kiwi products for years because I couldn't justify the price difference. But seeing the Saphir in action makes it easy to see how I can up my shoe game moving forward. Great channel and great videos...
Thank you for the compairison. Cant wait to get some saphir in the future but for now you saved me some money trying to get a saphir mirror finish with lowcost polish 😊😂.
I finally pulled the trigger and bought 4 pairs of stacey adams, dunbar,dickinson,barcliff,Alden all on eBay for cheap. I was amazed at how easy,fast, I could shine these shoes to BEYOND a mirror polish more like a wet diamond. I had spit shined shoes as a kid and over 2 decades in the marine corps. All I can figure is the leather is the best I have ever polished I've been use to far lower grade leathers and have always had amazi,g results. I can say one thing I hate kiwi parade gloss, stick to regular kiwi polish that is some awesome stuff.
I've mirror shined a pair of parade boots for 4 years with regular Kiwi and shined my other pair for a month with Pate de Luxe. My friends say they can't tell the difference between both shines. My only observation is that Pate de Luxe shines faster than Kiwi and needs more buffering, while Kiwi needs more layers to get the mirror shine
As a cost concious "middle measure" may I suggest regular cost shoe creams for color (Meltonian was the old pick but got discontinued) then picking up a bottle of saphir lotion/reno and a tin of neutral(undyed) saphir wax for final shine? The neutral wont ever give you true "glass" results, but it still gives a great finish and smells amazing. 40 bucks (reno + neutral) is a lot more palatable than a full set of colors.
I love the smell of shoe polish!! Nostalgic for me I guess. Sooo satisfying having a nice shine!! My Docs are from the early 80s and still great!! I love these videos!! I see I'm not the only one !!! 😜 Have never seen Saphir up in Canada but just ordered some online!!
I’ve used both and prefer the standard kiwi polish (not parade gloss). While you don’t quite get as glossy a shine so quickly, the kiwi seems to hold up better to general wear and tear. Sapphire polish cracks way too easily and then it looks terrible.
There's a meditative quality to shining shoes -- and watching shoeshine videos. Have to admit, I always loved the acrid smell of Kiwi polish but there's no denying the outstanding shine you got from the Saphir. Inspires me to raise my game.
This is very helpful. I’ve found that if you do an after-buff or what I will call the “shining” part of the shoe (actually after the buffing is finished), do it lightly with some kind of silk material, it should help your shine to really pop out. Especially if you have it like almost right at the edge of mirror glossiness but not quite. Awesome video thank you! Edit: added in the part that you’re essentially “shining” not buffing in my way of explaining, it’s like doing the little circles but not so much pressure so you’re not smearing it all over again, you need to use a gentle rub and it will be that perfect amount! Should be. Whatever works? I wish you guys the best.
Shinin shoes is a satisfying challenge.i learned in military school and have been makin glass ever since. Your shoes look outstanding. I wanted to share. I set the kiwi on fire to liquify, horsehair and saddlesoap first of course. Then, with a cold wet rag I rub in the liquified polish. Now I’m doing boots that are going to scuff more likely or are previously scuffed so I use more polish. Rub in thick and completely cloudy, then walk away for an hour at least. Then horsehair, then cotton baby diaper, then spit and a pair of panty hose. The hose are so fine they will squeak and a shine so fine . I learned this from a Texas A & M cadet back in 1981. If you’ve ever seen their boots, then you have seen shine. They don’t play . Cheers!
I’ve never had a problem using Kiwi and have gotten some amazing results using their products. The technique matters just as much as the polish itself.
Thank you for sharing how to get better results from basic accessible products as well as showing the value in a other products. I'm looking forward to my next shine!
SubieSpecial you can’t get good leather under on a new shoe for less than 300. Once you go into Cole Hann territory, you’re mostly dealing with top grain or corrected leather. It’s a totally different kind of product that these shining techniques wouldn’t even work with.
I was never in the military and I can get a shine on my boots that you can shave with. I always use Kiwi. Never the parade gloss. I also don't use lotion first. Maybe saddle soap to clean, but, that's about it.
I've used Kiwi brand saddle soap, Bickmore Bick 4 leather conditioner and Kiwi black Parade Gloss for decades to spitshine my Corchoran jump boots prior to standing guard mount at the beginning of my shift, it leaves a mirror finish and does the leather good.
In the military I found that leaving the kiwi on for 10 to 20 minutes before polishing improved the shine greatly.
I confirm.
Yep. And you brush that shit on nice and thick.
That is correct.
The reason for this, is that the solvent needs time to flash off. If you use a layering method as The Elegant Oxford does, the solvent causes additional layers added to move the polish below which can cause streaking or even polish smudging.
The left won't ever be AS good as the right one, but it could have been much better with more knowledge of the product and the theory behind how shine affect the leather in shoe shining.
I used to make it melt so it could go deeper in the leather. The old military also used to polish with the back of a spoon.
Bigly. I thought that was what everyone did. There weren't a lot of shoeshine videos around in those days. The only choice in polish was what color of Kiwi you needed.
As a former sailor, I can attest to the fantastic results myself and generations of service members have been able to yield using the Kiwi products. I have no doubt that the fancy creams and waxes you use are a better product, but there isn’t anything wrong with getting mirrored up using the classics. It all comes down to technique, dedication, and a bit of pride. As always, an outstanding video!
HOOYAH!!!
And, may I ask Sir, what's your technique? Any advise? please!
An old Navy guy here as well. Back in my bootcamp days, NTC San Diego, circa 1969, some of the guys would light the wax. We used cotton balls, H2O, spit and whatever it took. We got the job done on those Navy "last" shoes...
Brave Knight yes, seems like with his spit and shine he's spitting everywhere...lol
It seems that the biggest difference is that the Saphir makes it easier to get a great shine faster. Seems to last longer, too.
A former British Soldier, I've been polishing my boots to a high shine for decades. Even before joining up as a Cadet. Kiwi was always my go-to preference & I always enjoyed bulling my boots. It's like a therapy to me. When I got out, the need for that particular skill went away for some time but years later, I started to keep my Doc Martens up to a high shine & so I used the old skills. My dancing shoes are always well polished as well.
Having recently bought a pack of Kiwi tins (they've been withdrawn from the stores here but can still be found online), I came across The Elegant Oxford channel just a few weeks ago & took the plunge to try Safir, such my impression of your results on here. I'm very impressed & can confirm the difference between the two brands wholeheartedly. I also love the techniques used, many of which are very familiar but others are more fine tuned.
Thanks for sharing your methods but also for making the videos as interesting as you have. They make for great "easy viewing" of an evening, as well as serve as inspiration even for this "old timer" polisher. Turns out you CAN teach an old dog some new tricks after all. 🙂
If I’d known about saphir when I was in the Army it would have saved me hundreds of pushups
And miss out on getting ripped?
@@TheElegantOxford hahahaha great comment
I'm sure they'd find an excuse to have you do push ups anyway.
Flotările sunt de folos 😉
These videos bring back memories of my father shining his black shoes on Saturdays. He always made a production out of it; laying all of his supplies out on newspaper. He used Kiwi and I remember always just wanting to stick my finger straight into that tin of black wax. Lol I wasn’t allowed to touch it though. I remember really liking the little kiwi bird picture on the lid.
Lisa White-Pagano 1. Your dad left you with a great memory. As a dad we never know what our kids pick up. 2. I have memories of things such as this of my dad. Specifically what he smelled like when he drove me to school. Usually of aftershave. He wore classic scents that didn't cost a lot and were found in most drugstores. I find myself gravitating toward wearing those same scents now.
Ima Doll
💯🙏🏻
Likewise. I remember my dad out in the garage with this little wooden shoe shine kit that kept all his supplies.
If I hadn't gotten a complimentary newspaper in the mail, I would be out of luck.
I have pretty much the same memories
When I was a kid in the early 60's, I would shine for extra change. I used Esquire, Kiwi and sometimes Griffin. One of the tricks I used was to melt the paste in the can and apply it while it was still molten. Worked great and the clients loved the extra attention.
Joe Pasquarello a hot plate that is used to heat smelly candles works great for melting the wax. Takes about 10 mins.
Ima Doll
She means “fragrant” candles, I’m sure.
I do this in Leather bars and at Motorcycle rallies. I think the polish spreads more thinly and evenly, and I'm a pyro.
I love watching your videos. It brought back memories of shining my dad's shoes. He was in the military and one of my chores was to shine his shoes. He taught me how to apply the polish and give his shoes that "spit" shine. I notice that you don't buff your shoes. Dad always taught me to end the process by buffing the shoes with a clean old t-shirt. We always used Kiwi because in the 1960's, that was the only polish at the Base Exchange. To this day, I find polishing shoes to be fun and very therapeutic. I think I'll upgrade to Saphir products and start shining my shoes again! Thanks
I think glass toe is a military term ...
@@manjulanextable what about camel toe😉
Am I the only one watching this closely, with no intentions on shining anything?
Try it out! You’ll have fun!
No. i'm eating breakfast here watching these. it's very soothing.
@@TheElegantOxford A few years in the army satisfied all my shoe shining needs for life.. lol. Great work!
Luxe Media Lol!
@@Unc_Talks Yeah i was in army too for two years. not really fixated on shoe shining here thou.
Yes as many have stated, kiwi is military issue and you can absolutely get perfect results with kiwi. I've found 3 keys. I think the best cloth is a super soft cotton T-shirt scrap. You want the fabric to be smooth. Second you need to add small amounts of water, my way was dipping the rag in and getting about a pea sized drop on the shoe. Lastly, slow and layer by layer with no brushing on the toe once you start getting it to the high gloss. Don't let it go dry but don't drench it. Just enough to keep it lubricated and smooth.
For me though idk if I like a mirror finish on my civilian shoes. Just a good solid brush
Kiwi Shoe Polish pays for the upkeep of the Bulford Kiwi in the UK. It was built by New Zealand soldiers after World War One, and the design of it was based on a drawing by my Great-grandfather, who travelled to the Natural History Museum in London to ensure its accuracy. Not overly relevant to this video topic, but perhaps an interesting piece of history for those with a taste for it.
Frequently drive past the Bulford Kiwi! I hope Kiwi will continue to maintain it now that they no longer sell in UK retail stores...
I use the kiwi parade gloss on my operational police boots. If you use cotton wool balls instead of a cotton cloth to apply the polish and drops of water, you get a proper mirror shine with a glass like appearance. You do have to put lots of layers on though, but it’s certainly possible. I’ve been doing it for almost 20 years now 😊
Cotton balls don’t work for me
Very expensive.
I always used kiwi neutral wax after using the kiwi black wax to clear up the 'haziness' on my jump boots. Always left a mirror shine for me.
I'll second that!!!!!!
31 years of service here in the army.... I used kiwi the entire time.
Plus it cleaned up any wax you may have gotten on the floor in basic. Rub some neutral on the smudge and it would come right off.
Neutral on top of black? That would never have occurred to me. I might try that some time.
Kiwi is the best polish in the world
After a nightmares day of work. I find this so therapeutic. Love it.
I have been using Kiwi all my life. Looks like its time for a change. I'm sold.
Visit TheElegantOxford.com for all your Saphir needs. Use code DECFRIENDS for a small discount at checkout
You definitely got me motivated, went to the thrift store and purchased three pair of Johnson & Murphy’s and all under $10. Wish I could upload the pictures. Thanks again.
Great stuff Barry, what a deal
Good on you Barry. Nothing better than looking dapper while still saving money. You don't have to be rich to look great but you do have to be smart and resourceful.
If you take care of them you could hand them down to your children! I have a pair I have resoled twice; I think they are 25 years old? I learned to have toe and heel taps installed to get more life at the wear points. Enjoy those shoes!
I LOVE your content! It is true! I am a female but I learned it is important to 1) Iron your clothes 2) Wear Clean/Shined Shoes 3) Wear a nice tie/learn to tie a tie. It really is important.
I am going through all of my leather products and starting to clean them up | restore and condition them because of your videos. Thank you!
Same! I’m starting to move towards leather products and better quality items, that typically come with more maintenance. These types of videos are very helpful!
“Always look your best”
Great advice.
And I think it sucks. Not as a negative Nelly, but a different exhortation to be comfortable in whatever feels comfortable on your skin. I was taught to always look my best which resulted in a lot of spit shining and insecurities, and I realised that I'll always look best when I'm comfortable internally 👍
@@ge3029 who says looking your best and being comfortable in your own skin have to be separate from one another. @the elegant oxford certainly never said that. His whole idea is that when you look your best it makes you feel confident, and that makes you feel more comfortable as a result.
@@ShellyCline you've successfully missed my point 😌.
@@ge3029 I thought Shelly was spot on. If I missed your point, I would like to know how.
@@blakeberlin6295 Ok, you seem sincere so I'll see if I can help elucidate my point better for you. Nothing makes you feel better. Thats a choice (usually stemming from hundreds if not thousands of previous choices cumulatively on the same subject) that stems from within. Looking your best is seen from many different points of view. An example is my own teenage years when I learned what GQ magazine was and how dressing in certain ways made me a more erudite man and someone to respect. I watched my Mother and sister do the same with Cosmo/Fair Lady and etc. It took effort, money and no amount of insecurity to always try and "look my best". I've watched the heaving masses of "civilisation" wax eyebrows, bikini lines, toss away really good quality clothes that were no longer "in fashion" and work really hard to buy the latest "in thing" determined from the fashion houses that profited from it all. I eventually saw little to respect from the heads of those fashion houses. I learned that they were insecure too, rejecting people on the basis of what they put on, rather than who they were. I learned that people that were beautiful inside were not necessarily beautiful on the outside and this created significant cognitive dissonance for me. As I learned to retrain my mind that I could be comfortable in my skin, I slowly learned that I was beautiful as I was, and didnt need to please others by "dressing to my best". If I was genuine and true within myself, then I was beautiful. This wasnt an easy task and I still trip on up it at times. I learned that marketing and appearance is fleeting, and genuine authenticity is a prize worth pursuing. Like we say in Africa: are you smiling from the teeth, or from the heart? I would say - learn to smile from the heart, and you will automatically look your best. Thats true comfort within your skin.
Brother, Kiwi and windex smells like old school boot camp. The nostalgia and hatred are transcendent.
Hahahahah.... This is gold
Don't forget Simple Green.
We used Future floor polish
TheScamr anyone ever try Vaseline worked for shinning my shoes lol for inspection
Kids use to sneak a lighter into basic and hold it under the polish. Everyone would take a smell of liquified polish. You'd get high from that stuff.
Yes, the smell of polish reminds me of basic training Hell, but looks so good.
You forgot bleach. The smell of bleach is important.
You can totally get a great shine out of Kiwi, but the shine: 1. Doesn't last as long. 2. Takes a lot longer to get. Saphir just makes it so easy to get a long lasting, high-gloss shine. I also find that the Saphir doesn't wipe off as easily. Whenever I use Kiwi, even after rigorous and exhaustive brushing, I notice the wax can come off and stain your pants if you cross your legs. Saphir does not have nearly as bad of a problem in respect to this, and indeed, barely has it at all.
Will probably change over!!!
I accidentally stumbled upon your channel, and not only am I blown away by the skill of work you are capable of I'm also mesmerized by watching you work. My father was an MP in the military and I can remember as a kid him always shining up his boots with KIWI. I had literally forgotten all about that time until I spent the last hour watching your videos. Keep up the amazing work you do!
Awesome!
I have to say, I keep coming back to this one to compare my kiwi shines. There's a local bespoke shoemaker near me that I trialed for fit with their made to measure before going bespoke. They delivered with everything I wanted but the wear pattern during break in made me consider toe taps and I brought it back for them to add them. Their first question was "What do you use?" when they saw the mirror shine I did. Not quite as good as yours, Preston but I did manage to impress a bespoke shoe maker. One that also sells Saphir and was surprised that a customer brings in a mirror and says that it was lexol and kiwi.
I'm glad I found your channel. I'm from a military family, and I've always mirror shined (spit shined) my boots and my dress shoes. However, I always used Kiwi brand waxes. I'm going to get some sapphire wax and try it out. I've learned a lot of tricks and shortcuts to get a mirror shine over the years. Have you ever tried applying a little dark blue (navy blue) wax on a black shoe or boot to add to the mirror shine? A Sargeant in the military showed me this trick, and it gives the appearance of a deeper, better shine. I also use clear wax sometimes on a mirror shine. It's like clear coating the wax ,giving it a visibly deeper shine. Just like a clear coat does to car paint.
It amazes me how many views these shoe polishing videos get but I never see anyone walking around with polished oxford shoes.
You haven't met me yet 😋😋
Get new friends ;)
My boots are mirror shine.
True, I probably watch moore then I shine.
People in trailer parks don’t wear shoes!
You have inspired me to start shining my own shoes. I never have in the past and your videos have convinced me to start.
When this COVID-19 thing is over, I’m going to have the sickest shined shoes ever!!!
amen brother
Lol, this covid has compelled us to watch things we naver used to 😌
Amén to that brother
Oh yeah!!! Hold my beer.
If only I had dress shoes😂
Based on this video, I shined my shoes for the first time, as you mentioned, prior to a job interview. I got the job. I don't think anyone noticed my shoes, but still, it made me feel good, and I think that helped. Thank you.
sí se nota un par de zapatos bien lustrados claro que sii
My 2 cents, I have been using kiwi in the military JROTC to Active Duty, and I will say if I had the knowledge and availability of Saphir, it would have saved me a ton of time. I am not a mindless sheep pushing products, I can only go with the experience I have had. I get the neutral cream and the Amiral gloss for both black and brown dress shoes and it has been so much better in terms of build-up and lasting shine. Kiwi really isn't a money saver if you have to use twice the amount. If you haven't used Saphir products, please give them a try, you might have the same experience as I did
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Mop and glow
Would like to know if the admiral gloss gets you a mirror shine ? , i hesitant at buying the premium saphir wax coz my shoes aint that expensive.
@@MrAshar101 GO FOR IT!. It's worth every penny my dude.
Always used Kiwi parade for my boots in the army....got them parade grade all the time.🙂
I use Kiwi. No shine like it if you do it right.
Exactly. Anything is is just people trying to be fancy.
As long as you don't have to stand on parade in the tropical sun too long.
Used Lincoln stain. www.lincolnshoepolish.com/
you right kiwi the best
Preston, the subtle & soft lighting you use at the end of the video in the final presentation part is just perfect to see and be able to appreciate the terrific shine on those black cap toes... well done!!
Excellent demonstration. Thank you. If they were not side by side it would not be noticeable. You are a true treasure to men who want to look their best. I have ben using Kiwi for decades and even with the lower quality of product I still feel like a million bucks with my shoes (boots actually) shined. Love your work keep it up. Thank you again.
I'm crying, this is so really beautiful shoe shining , greetings from México
I'm sobbing hysterically.
In boot camp for the navy all they gave us was kiwi, on Sundays which we got a few hours to write letter and pretty much do what ever a lot of us would just shine our boots and let me tell you some of these guys had some of the best results I've ever seen with the kiwi! Definitely good to use on a budget!
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(shoe_polish)
Honestly I prefer to use Angelus or Lincoln over Kiwi anytime. Is affordable .
That Air Crew shine!
For crappy ole Bates, (which I'm assuming is what they were shining in Navy bootcamp when you were there) Kiwi does just fine. If i had a pair of what this guy is shining here, I'm not using Kiwi.
Adizzl32 I was in the navy and I was one of those guys that’s why while watchuthis I was like he just didn’t put in enough work to show kiwis shine possibilities still great video tho
Can you do a video on shining shoes for beginners? The do’s and don’t’s , materials, etc.
@hhhk20 Stop being a douche. As the daughter of a dentist, my mother has told me plenty of stories about people who had no clue how to brush their teeth and needed to be taught by the hygienist. Did you know that you can mess up your gums by brushing or flossing too hard? Did you know that you are supposed make small circles with the toothbrush and not a just back and forth motion. Did you know that some dentists recommend that you brush your teeth after every meal? If you’ve never done something before, even if it’s simple, you’re going to need some instructions. Again, stop being a douche. @viciousbig10 Here’s a shoe-shine tutorial: m.th-cam.com/video/_gaxkWZPv6s/w-d-xo.html
hhhk20 Nah I feel that but you don’t gotta be a dick about it
Bravo Luca thank you for being helpful, unlike some.
This is motivating me to want to get shiny. I always wished we lived back in the 20’s thru the 60’s when men always wore suits and fedoras and dressed up for everyday things. It just had a certain classiness to it. I get to wear nice clothes a lot in my church activities which is good so that I can put these tips and hints to practice. Thanks for your time and info.
I used kiwi all the time in the army. As a guardsmen in the British army; I must say kiwi did have some problems like cloudiness to a finish and was very sensitive to weather and room temperature change when applied. Even though these factors do play a part in all polishes you use, I found it most of a problem with kiwi. Better polish definitely became a big time factor considering to polish a pair of boots would take a minimum of 4 hours to get to parade standard on a good day. Good polish not only reduced time it also reduced factors mentioned and “ polish rolling” which drove me mental😂.
Would love to know which polish you found best!
I used predominantly kiwi for about 2 years into my service, as it was always available in most shops. It wasn’t till I started buying pairs of brogues for myself that I started discovering polish from independent shoe makers. My favourite for me was Crockett and Jones own brand of shoe polish. It was a lot more expensive but was amazing. As I did need to survive as we all do on limited funds, I would use kiwi polish to build up the bulk of the layers on my boots. Because I had a massive pair of cavalry jack boots to polish, I would only use my expensive polish to bring the boots up to their final shine; which eliminated any cloudiness in the finish. When doing a pair of shoes, I’d just use the expensive polish from start to finish, as it was better for leather and they were my own shoes not the armies 😂
@@waynehill2686 Thanks for the reply! Might give Crockett a try... It doesn't leave a grainy finish like kiwi parade gloss or anything, does it?
I didn’t get a grainy feel from Crockett and Jones polish. I did find most wax/ oil based polish, which Crockett and Jones was did tend to eliminate that problem. Also just as a tip to opening a tin of polish, I found gently scraping off the top layer of polish before you start. This helps removing any grit or dust from previous air exposure. Then you won’t contaminate your polishing cloth. Also try to use a separate tin for your polishing cloth to your polishing brush, again to help stop dust and debris contaminating the good polish. Hope that helps
@@waynehill2686 V helpful, thank you!
I like the comments from the military guys : )
I did a stint in the Yugoslavian army and can confirm. With enough time and dedication and some tricks we could beat your results.
We would warm up the cheap military shoe cream and then polish with a worn damp sock, pure magic : )
what year? I may of been on UN tour during your time? lol
Excellent demonstration. I've been using Kiwi because that's what's available here and my shoes are very inexpensive. If (when) I buy better shoes I'll step up to Saphir but now I use the same shoes for doing yard work and for going out . . . but I shine them up for going out.
nemo227 I own 8 pairs of shoes(I wear a suit and tie to work) and not one pair is under $400. My shine guy and myself both use Kiwi. It’s fine.
I live in France and I’m literally in love with shining my shoes. I recently bought new shoes, and the guy who sold them told me they used only Saphir Lotion Mink Oil, and the Médaille d’Or wax. At this point I thought it wasn’t possible, because I was always using the cream before the wax. You proved me wrong here, so thanks again 😁
Definitely a helpful video! I work at a Mens Warehouse and am always wanting to look my best. Leather shoe care is becoming my top priority right now as I’ve noticed not a lot of people know what they’re doing, especially me.
My hat off to you sir. Thank you for the information. This brings back memories of shining my fathers shoes every week for a quarter. It helped later in the Marines.
Simple, elegant, classy...I love shining my boots n shoes since I was a kid. Great video. Great format. I only wish you had more to watch...ill stay tuned;)
Nice dog is it a malamute
I feel like I need to get some shoes to shine now.
You need papers
You need papers
You need pampers
Macix ?
you can find Allen Edmunds shoes in Thrift and consignment shops for $10-29 dollars, resole for $100, and shine
Now I feel like getting all of my dressing shoes out and just shine away great videos 👍
Your videos brought memories of my military Dad getting his gear ready for the coming day. The old shoe kit and the Brasso. It is a shame people don't seem to care about such things anymore.
Excellent results, thank you, easy to see the better product. I used Parade Gloss for years, in military, and found it OK, but the Saphir does stand out. After Military, the first you do is look down at the foot wear, I joined an organisation with close Military ties. As a Civilian, now, I had purchased a pair of shoes, that had nearly a patent leather shine, and were easy to maintain (made in Aust as well). After my presentation, my Boss (magic person also Ex Mil) and I were walking back to the company car. He looked down and said, "Top pres, Mate, but you're not on Parade anymore, so you can disperse with the high shine" No, after nearly 50 years work, that spit polish is still to the fore.
Perfect for going from your toilet to your leaving room and impressing your cat
Nice one
The USMC uses Kiwi. That “glass toe” with Saphire is outstanding.
The USMC switched to Lincoln Wax instead of Kiwi
However you can use any Polish that will give you that “glass toe”
Ive become some weird shoe-shine-fetish-junky because of you. This is my kind of ASMR.
Jesseca Alba me toooooo!😬
Jesseca Alba I know right?
I want to open a shine shoes shop , and I will do it for free, I love this too much
ha ha me too......I in fact wear black Oxfords on a daily basis and the city grime certainly takes its toll on them.
Luckily I have one with rubber soles....
I have another pair with leather soles but I am still hesitant to take them outside...not wanting to grime them up
I'm now ashamed of my shoe polish kit.... I can do better.
The side by side comparison really illustrates your point. Thanks for another awesome video!
Thank you for sharing this comparison. Very detailed, thorough, and unbiased. The quality and music in your videos are the best. Keep up the great work!
You said that Kiwi doesn't smell good. I never noticed until I smelled it and then Saphir side-by-side. After I smelled the difference between the two, I threw out all of my Kiwi and purchased Saphir. Now, I wish that I didn't throw the Kiwi out because I want other people to smell the difference, lol. Keep up the great content!
The problem I find with Saphir is that it goes all white and speckled when it gets wet. Even just a couple of drops of water from washing your hands in the bathroom can result in a ruined finish not to mention getting caught in a rain storm can completely ruin the finish taking hours to resolve.
Can you do a video on this subject please?
For 20+ years I used Kiwi or Lincoln to shine my boots and shoes in the Army. When everyone started wearing the Corfams, I got a pair but dumped them because my feet would sweat. It has only been in the past couple of years that I started using the Saphir. The biggest problem I had with Kiwi is the buildup of wax.
Very thoughtful video. This is exactly what I needed to see. Now all I need is a video that teaches me how to shine extremely inexpensive shoes, i.e. Stacey Adams, Kenneth Cole and Aldo.
Great video.
Check out my detailed and comprehensive shine video if you need help. As long as it’s leather, it can be shined.
Very nice thanks for posting. I've always had clean shoes and my boss always judged candidates by their shoes and presentation. Although I am sad I can't get Kiwi OXBLOOD polish any more they really made my shoes look classy
I remember using kiwi back in the 80’s as a soldier for parades. But here is a hack that we used alongside the kiwi. We would give our parades boots a coating of bees wax and burn that into the leather with a hot spoon, we would then spend a few hours shinning our parade boots. The shine was good, but I will be honest your version with the sapphire creams and restoration products is far superior. I have placed all those products including good quality shoe trees and a couple of good quality wooden boxes and horse hare brushes on my amazon list to buy.
I used kiwi parade gloss to shine my boots in the Army. Never had a problem getting a mirror shine out of it. It does take more than 5 minutes and 1 pass though. I didn't miss the fact that he put much more care and effort into the Safire shine either.
I actually didn’t. I made sure to take 20 minutes per shoe. I used kiwi for years when I first started taking orders. Never got the shines as fast as I do now with Saphir.
You should add links to the products you use
As Rustin said, look up affiliate links, especially Amazon affiliate links and you could definitely be making more money with this channel. I have searched for the products since watching a couple of your videos. It's a win-win.
Great video! I was just trying to decide whether to restock my Kiwi supplies or take the leap into Saphir-land. Going to make the upgrade, looks totally worth it. Thank you
There's something very satisfying about these videos.
If you want a great shine... work the KIWI just like you did the Saphir. They will look identical.
He cheated .. 'boned' the shoes.
I noticed the half hearted attitude with the kiwi.....it was bound to fail !
I noticed there was a less amount of product used with the kiwi...
Or Saphir is just an objectively better product. Kiwi is bad for your shoes. If you have high end shoes, why cheap out on the care products?
...its called product endorsment ;)
When I was in the Marines all we used was Kiwi. We would light it on fire then rub it into our boots, then buff them to a mirror finish.
Calvin Wayne Weir light it on fire? Can you explain more? I've never heard of this, I'm intrigued by the concept.
@@Kingfisher1215 It's called "Fire Shine," where you melt the wax so that it seeps deeper into the pores.
Here's a TH-cam tutorial on how to do it: th-cam.com/video/n4aTZfqtcpM/w-d-xo.html
Personally, I find it a bit too risky and damaging, but everyone has their own preference.
@@brandonfuentes3339 so it's an actual thing, wow. An ex-infantry mate of mine told me about it and I thought he was having a yarn
@@Kingfisher1215 Yeah literately you can light polish on fire. I tried it on some Angelus wax. I fumbled a container and it fell on the floor. So I salvaged the pieces back into the container and lit it with a lighter so the wax can melt back together and there was a flame. I used the lid the cover the container to stop flame. I don't recomend this at all around combustible material or you can start a fire. It was a rookie mistake on my part.
@@abelhernandez2591 Most shoe polish has turpentine as an ingredient, which is why it's flammable. Even the Saphir products that he uses indicate on their website that the wax polish includes it.
Love the saphir shine but not bad on the kiwi. Overall I enjoyed the video
Love the background music, and the narration was flawless
Is unbelievable how peaceful I felt watching this video!
You got a huge Like! And a new subscriber!
That mirror shine is AMAZING. I like that very much. Wish more men would do a mirror shine on their shoes, it really stands out well.
While in the military , I shined a pair of cochran jump boots top to bottom to a patent level shine ( many hours ) . I used safir products . Those boots were celebrated for years . I must say the higher the gloss the hotter they get in the sun . We dubbed them " Mickey Mouse microwaves " because of it . Love your videos Sir
I never cared for an extreme mirror shine, unless I'm attending a black tie function.
I agree. It's too much like patent leather to me and can sometimes look plastic/cheap.
I always have my work shoes polished and I often get compliments from both colleagues and students. M.
That was the sort of put-down the Queen uses. M.
I disagree respectfully, the dude looks like a “million bucks” with this method of shining!
Actually, a patent leather shoe is a must for black tie. Anything else displays a lack of dress knowledge. I had a friend who wore winged tips with his tux. Looked awful but then, he was too cheap to buy a pair of shoes he would only wear once in a great while.
I love this SO much! I'm female myself and I love some nice shoes, but I don't know how to shine my own leather shoes and boots, are they any different? Could you make a video about that?
As long as they are real leather they will shine just the same
Saphire you can use on most normal shiny skin, there are special one for cordovan lether, but it is expensive leather and normaly not the case for beginners anyway.
I have seen people use Saphire even on aligator.
"I'm a female myself..." Why the word "myself"?????????????????????
@@usernamemykel its just a very normal sentence? I also said female, not "a" female
Betty vW
Your response shows folks that you missed a few English grammar classes, but certainly no one is perfect.
Having just aquired a used pair of loakes Oxfords, I notice there is a reasonably heavy knick out of one of the toecaps. Do you cover damage repair in any of your videos? Or would you consider a 'damage limitation' tutorial video? Many thanks, brilliant content! 😊
I just ordered my first set of Saphir products and am excited to shine my first pair of shoes.
My Step dad, great man, taught me to shine my shoes. Good to see others passing on the information.
Could you give us the best beginner DOP kit so we know where to start? Love the videos!!
I would love to see a shoe maintenance and beginner shoe care vid. I have a bunch of questions, and i can't seem to find reliable/consistent answers online. Like how often should i use a conditioner on my shoes... If i have to use a conditioner, do i need to/how do i strip the wax off. Do you leave shoe tree's in all the time, or take them out after x amount of hours? If you do take them out after a certain amount of time, do the trees need to rest before going into another pair of shoes? Do you use the same brush for all steps, like cleaning, conditioning, and polishing? When i do need to clean my shoes, do i brush them off and then re-wax them? How long should i wait in between wearing a pair of shoes again? Do i need to give them a couple days? I have so many basic questions, and it's hard to find a knowledgeable source of info. These all probably are second nature things to you, but for me this is all brand new. I have owned a pair of "dress shoes" for ever but they have always been cheap Walmart or similar shoes that just aren't nice. Would love to get a couple pairs of nice shoes and properly maintain them.
O and I love the channel. I have already learned a lot. thanks for the vids.
Good attitude! Get any pair of nice black shoes and any pair of nice brown shoes at your local thrift store. Buy 1 tin of black and 1 tin of brown shoe polish, and a cheap brush for each. Any leather lotion is fine, so is Kiwi. Wear the shoes, even around the house, occasionally caring for them. Shoe trees all the time, if you can. Watch videos on TH-cam for techniques. You will do fine.Good luck, sir!
How to shine and care for shoes should be mandatory teaching in all public schools for everyone. The Shoe Lobby would probably be against that though.
You seemed to put more love into the left shoe using the Saphir products :-)
Thanks for this comparison video... I have used Kiwi products for years because I couldn't justify the price difference. But seeing the Saphir in action makes it easy to see how I can up my shoe game moving forward. Great channel and great videos...
Thank you for the compairison. Cant wait to get some saphir in the future but for now you saved me some money trying to get a saphir mirror finish with lowcost polish 😊😂.
I finally pulled the trigger and bought 4 pairs of stacey adams, dunbar,dickinson,barcliff,Alden all on eBay for cheap. I was amazed at how easy,fast, I could shine these shoes to BEYOND a mirror polish more like a wet diamond. I had spit shined shoes as a kid and over 2 decades in the marine corps. All I can figure is the leather is the best I have ever polished I've been use to far lower grade leathers and have always had amazi,g results. I can say one thing I hate kiwi parade gloss, stick to regular kiwi polish that is some awesome stuff.
Amazing therapy! Greetings from Portugal
"HEY TOMMY, GO GET YOUR SHOE SHINE BOX!"
I've mirror shined a pair of parade boots for 4 years with regular Kiwi and shined my other pair for a month with Pate de Luxe. My friends say they can't tell the difference between both shines. My only observation is that Pate de Luxe shines faster than Kiwi and needs more buffering, while Kiwi needs more layers to get the mirror shine
As a cost concious "middle measure" may I suggest regular cost shoe creams for color (Meltonian was the old pick but got discontinued) then picking up a bottle of saphir lotion/reno and a tin of neutral(undyed) saphir wax for final shine? The neutral wont ever give you true "glass" results, but it still gives a great finish and smells amazing. 40 bucks (reno + neutral) is a lot more palatable than a full set of colors.
I am going to use your methods for restoring a pair of leather ladies clogs. Thanks!!
hey do some exotic skin cowboy boots how to care and shine on ostrich, shark, caiman belly, snake skin and turtle skins alike please
Like to see that too.
Uppity White Man me too!
I have some ostrich boots and would love to see a video on how to shine them!
Yeah, same here. Also, Uppity White Man...your name is hilarious. I love it.
Cole haan makes an exotic skin product, but you will not get a high gloss shine!
Would you please show us how you tie the cloth on your hand? What type of fabric is it? Is it safe to use without gloves? Many thanks from Canada
I've used flannel or cotton t-shirt rags. Works wonderful.
juan treviño me too
Great question! I've wanted to ask the same thing...
Cotton is a good choice.
This is why I keep my worn out socks.
We too used kiwi for our parade uniform boots, ammunition bag, and saber sheath!
I love the smell of shoe polish!! Nostalgic for me I guess. Sooo satisfying having a nice shine!! My Docs are from the early 80s and still great!! I love these videos!! I see I'm not the only one !!! 😜 Have never seen Saphir up in Canada but just ordered some online!!
I’ve used both and prefer the standard kiwi polish (not parade gloss). While you don’t quite get as glossy a shine so quickly, the kiwi seems to hold up better to general wear and tear. Sapphire polish cracks way too easily and then it looks terrible.
There's a meditative quality to shining shoes -- and watching shoeshine videos.
Have to admit, I always loved the acrid smell of Kiwi polish but there's no denying the outstanding shine you got from the Saphir. Inspires me to raise my game.
Once you go Saphir you can’t go back haha. Thanks for commenting.
Angelus or Lincoln is better than Kiwi. Can you do Saphir Admiral Gloss vs Saphir Mirror Gloss review?
That was my first thought. Angelus or Lincoln is what most shine men I knew ever used.
This is very helpful. I’ve found that if you do an after-buff or what I will call the “shining” part of the shoe (actually after the buffing is finished), do it lightly with some kind of silk material, it should help your shine to really pop out. Especially if you have it like almost right at the edge of mirror glossiness but not quite. Awesome video thank you!
Edit: added in the part that you’re essentially “shining” not buffing in my way of explaining, it’s like doing the little circles but not so much pressure so you’re not smearing it all over again, you need to use a gentle rub and it will be that perfect amount! Should be. Whatever works? I wish you guys the best.
Shinin shoes is a satisfying challenge.i learned in military school and have been makin glass ever since. Your shoes look outstanding. I wanted to share. I set the kiwi on fire to liquify, horsehair and saddlesoap first of course. Then, with a cold wet rag I rub in the liquified polish. Now I’m doing boots that are going to scuff more likely or are previously scuffed so I use more polish. Rub in thick and completely cloudy, then walk away for an hour at least. Then horsehair, then cotton baby diaper, then spit and a pair of panty hose. The hose are so fine they will squeak and a shine so fine . I learned this from a Texas A & M cadet back in 1981. If you’ve ever seen their boots, then you have seen shine. They don’t play . Cheers!
I’ve never had a problem using Kiwi and have gotten some amazing results using their products. The technique matters just as much as the polish itself.
Please put an (Amazon?) link so we can easily locate the optimal products for the job. #shineyourshoes
I seconds on where to buy Saphir products, tnx!!! 😀
The beauty of this is that no one is going to care how shiny your shoes are, just as long as they are shined.
no one cares if you shine your shoes either. Do it for yourself or don't do it at all unless you work in high fashion
Thank you for sharing how to get better results from basic accessible products as well as showing the value in a other products. I'm looking forward to my next shine!
Always used Lincoln stain wax when I was in the Army and it never failed me during inspection
I have a lot of respect for folks that address all price points. Have you considered reviewing shoes old or new at an affordable price point?
SubieSpecial you can’t get good leather under on a new shoe for less than 300. Once you go into Cole Hann territory, you’re mostly dealing with top grain or corrected leather. It’s a totally different kind of product that these shining techniques wouldn’t even work with.
tolan65 you can get Meermin for $200. The quality of Cole Haan back in the days was better than their are now. This goes for J&M as well.
NandoShines ASMR pretty sure that’s corrected grain leather.
@@Troyboy23 Meermin
Do you use a separate brush when you use the saddle soap? If so what kind of brush do you use?
I use a sponge to apply saddle soap, then clean up and buff with a soft cloth.
Yeah that saddle soap brush is ruined as a buffing brush with any! polish now. That shit never comes out. That's why it's so good for leather.
I was never in the military and I can get a shine on my boots that you can shave with. I always use Kiwi. Never the parade gloss. I also don't use lotion first. Maybe saddle soap to clean, but, that's about it.
How do you do it? ANY TIPS?
My last name is SHINE I have been. Shinning my shoes all my life . Nice presentation. Iam a senior now.
I've used Kiwi brand saddle soap, Bickmore Bick 4 leather conditioner and Kiwi black Parade Gloss for decades to spitshine my Corchoran jump boots prior to standing guard mount at the beginning of my shift, it leaves a mirror finish and does the leather good.