shining and protecting your footwear
HI Folks,
Well its a new year, we have a new president and hopefully better times are ahead for our people. We had it too good for too long and maybe took our freedoms and opportunities for granted. I know I did. Like so many of our good Amereican folks, I used my home like an ATM machine. Need a boat, no problem, just refinance the house. WEll now I have a nice little boat but the house is worth less than the loan. Yeaowwwww!
I do feel very fortunate to be the business I’m in though. While most businesses have slowed, shoe repair has bounced back. my phone is ringing off the hook. “Let’s see , new boots for $150 or new heels for $15? That’s a no brainer.
Let’s talk shoe shines. I used to have the shoe shine concession in the Hyatt Regency hotel in Sacramento across from the state capital, home of the “Govarnator” Arnold. He has two hundred pairs of cowboy boots but that’s a different story. Back to shoe shining.
Leather is skin and needs care. When I shine a pair of shoes or boots, first I wipe off the item with a damp clean rag to remove dirt or dust then I coat the sole and heel edges with Kiwi “Scuff Cover”. It comes in brown and black and can be found at most sundries stores. After that sole and edge dressing dries, I apply the polish. For soft leather or faded leather items I furst use Meltonian shoe creme. Other cremes are avalaible and work as well but Meltonian has more colors to choose from. I apply polish with a damp sponge. Not wet just damp. It spreads the polish evenly and in the case of wax polish gives you a quicker “spit shine”. One most shoes, I first use creme to clean the leather and cover scuffs then wax to give them more shine and waterproofing. Use a horsehair brush for buffing off the polish. Two coats of wax usually will give a nice gloss to the item. use the brush for a buffing then use a shoe shine cloth or cotton “t” shirt for the final buff. An old black shoe shiner friend of mine who taught me how to shine shoes used to say.
“Mac, you can get a pretty good shine with a brush but you gots to pop the rag to get the lustre’.
And he was right.
If you want to waterproof your footwear before you shine them just put a coat of silicone spray or liquid on the item, let dry for one hour, then shine as shown above.
Keep you shoes and boots looking nice bacause they last longer and in business, when you meet someone, first they look at your eyes, then your neckwear and finally at your shoes. So the last thing they see is your shoes. Keep your shoes in good repair. Remember, your shoes get the blues when there’s holes in their soles. All the best, Mac