To wax or to polish?

[sussamb]

I was told many years ago how to apply wax to leather, from a friend of my late father.
His friend had been an officer in the Guards, and i will never forget the mirror like sheen on his shoes.
By what i can remember, you apply very small amounts of polish, with a damp very warm cloth, and then build up the mirror finish.

I've bulled boots in the Army but only for parade use, you wouldn't want to bull walking boots 

[Dyffryn Ardudwy]

I only wish i had written down the exact way to polish either parade boots or dress shoes.
The officers name was Maj Martin Everett, and after leaving the Guards, he joined the 3rd Bettalion Royal Regiment of Wales.
My father was the RMO back in the late 1970s early 80s, and i will never forget the mirror like sheen from his shoes.
He told me the exact way to clean and polish his officers kit, but i never took it all down, I wish i had listened, but it was his shoes that most impressed me.

[ninthace]

I've bulled boots in the Army but only for parade use, you wouldn't want to bull walking boots 

I did pitch up for a walk with an ex RAF mate with a set of bulled walking boots just to wind him up.  Normally though, I am happy to just buff them up to a normal shine.

[Ronin83]

I always thought polish is just cosmetic and didn't actually treat the leather at all. I though wax was the opposite.
So can we have a vote to summarise?


Wax, polish or either?

[Mel]

I always thought that waxing and polishing are two different processes.  Waxing nourishes the leather and polishing adds the shine to make them look nice, plus the shiney surface repels water.  Bulling is polishing on steroids 


So my vote goes for waxing occasionally and cleaning and polishing at all other times.

[ninthace]

I always thought polish is just cosmetic and didn't actually treat the leather at all. I though wax was the opposite.
So can we have a vote to summarise?


Wax, polish or either?

Wax
My regime is: wash and scrub (if reqd); shake hard to remove excess water; apply wax (Leder Gris) with bit of old T shirt; buff vigorously with "putting on" brush with emphasis on stitching; work up bit of a shine with "polishing" brush. Store out of  direct light at room temp (22C).  If boots are particularly mucky the clean is "laces out" otherwise it is "laces out" approx 1 in 5 cleans. Where possible, clean is after every trip but in dry weather that can be stretched a bit

[KimE]

Walking through the same stream 4 times and in a lot of ash during forest fires ruined my polish (and the boot itself) on my military boots.

[jimbob]

Has anyone used WD40 as a boot waterproofer / protector.

Was not totally phased by the idea when I spotted this use on Google. After all it was developed as a hydrophobic lubricator.

[ninthace]

Has anyone used WD40 as a boot waterproofer / protector.

Was not totally phased by the idea when I spotted this use on Google. After all it was developed as a hydrophobic lubricator.

And it would stop them squeaking as well as making them easy to undo 

[jimbob]

And it would stop them squeaking as well as making them easy to undo 

Aye, nowt worse than squeeky boots and overtight laces.

[Alderfen]

I used lanolin oil on my Haix boots last time, I might use something else next time, whats the worst that can happen?

[Ashtons99]

Thanks for all the comments folks, I’ve gone for the parade gloss polish then applied the grisport stuff over the top. It seems to have kept the high polish with the satisfaction of some level of additional treatment

[BuzyG]

I was told many years ago how to apply wax to leather, from a friend of my late father.
His friend had been an officer in the Guards, and i will never forget the mirror like sheen on his shoes.
By what i can remember, you apply very small amounts of polish, with a damp very warm cloth, and then build up the mirror finish.

I always prefer to use a good quality polish than a wax, because using too much wax dry's out the leather, i discovered that on an old pair of Brasher Hillmasters.

The leather lost its suppleness and dried out too quickly with a wax, leading to premature cracking of the leather around the toe area, so a good quality shoe polish i found to be a lot better.

I suppose you can use whatever product you find that works best, but Turtle shoe polish is my favourite.

I still have my drill boots in the garage in a case, with socks over the toes to protect the finish on the wax polish. Last time I wore them was as captain of the guard, about 1988.  I may have to go dig them out and see if they still shine like they did. 


As to leather walking boots I find Nickwax excellent and re apply it after pretty much every outing in wet conditions.


Edit:  A lousy picture, I just snapped it in the garage. But you can have a laugh that I still keep them anyway.  A long way from passing muster, before the DS start.

[ninthace]

You are not coming within 100yds of my hangar with those taps!

[BuzyG]

You are not coming within 100yds of my hangar with those taps!

What's a few sparks between crewmates. 


There's a few missing.  Possibly sucked into the intakes of the Wasp on HMS Ajax.