Thread by @tristupe

It was a Saturday Shoe Polishing Day this late morning. Started at 10am.

First, always make sure the shoe's verandah are brushed and blackened. Keep black, black. Brown, brown. Clear, neutral. It's essential.

Then you layer the leather with shoe wax as thinly as possible. In circular motion until it fades to a blur. Repeat at least 5 more time. Allow it to form a haze, and then take a lint free clothes to wipe it off. My left Florsheim Brogue in light brown uses neutral to keep color

After the Florsheim Brogue was completed, I worked on the Obermain high cut Brogue. The last Obermain produced in this nice cutting and color. Same process, layer (brown) until haze, them wipe off. Repeat x5.

You may realise that even the sole, was blackened and brush to shine. Every shoe a man owns should be kept clean and tidy. Please remove all price tags or any dirt. This is important.

Once I am done with the Obermain, I started on my High cut Florsheim Brogue. I love the patterns. The color is darker brown, bordering reddish/magenta. Here, you can see which was polished, and which will be buffed.

Happy with my Florsheim in Dark brown, I started layering my 14+ years old wedding wingtip shoe. This shoe is full leather, includimg the sole. A leather shoes should be all leather. My two Florsheim are, just like this Swank Wingtip. Swank no longer in Malaysia.

As I been layering this Swank for weeks of years, the leather is so conditioned that it doesn't takes a lot of effort or time to shine it. Can you see the reflection of my daughter's dress and my phone?

As my fingers were already stained in black wax. I worked on my John Cossack. This shoe was only allowed to be worn by Form 5 and rankholders back on RMC. I went to buy one after I left RMC. Tell me that IGP shoe can't match mine.

If you are not convinced how shiny I shined the John Cossack, here you are. It's all done up, and no Magic paint or Cat Kilat. Just pure layering of shoe wax and hard shinning over the years.

I then move to the oldest if the lot. The Timberland Classic with Commando sole. I have this shoe for 15+ years, a second one after u claimed warranty from Timberland 4-years into the first pair as the sole came off, and Timberland can't fix it after 4-tries.

This second pair I got in 2003 also had the sole dislodged after 4 weeks. Fed up with it, I went to replace the sole myself and had it stiched down. Never had problem since. Made in Dominican Republic. I scraped all old waxes and reapply layers of it again. End results here.

This Timberland was the first luxury shoe I ever afford, after using credit card points (the exchange rates were really good), and top up RM200. ROI already.

Moving on to the next shoe. A Safety shoe from Red Wing. This one has the sole to be much thicker for Electrical Hazard. I uses this when I go to non-construction sites (like a retail station), and still able to pair this up with a work pants for the formal look. Polished!

The last pair for today, will be the Red Wing 2455. My Safety Boots for the past 4 years, going to no less than 100+ sites, waterproof as Goodyear welted. Wax to keep them presentable at all time. A Safety Boots can look sexy (and polished) too!

What I use to clean/brush/polish/shine my shoes? These. I keep away from Kiwi as it has too much solvent and dries up your leather. Starwax is local from Melaka. It has mink oil in them, cheaper than Kiwi. #win.

Thanks for reading! I really enjoyed my time cleaning and polishing these shoes. A man's pride is at his shoe. How well you take care of them is a reflection of how much you take care of yourself, and your own pride+intergrity. A man should also shine his wife's shoes and bags!

Thought I leave this here. Shoe shinning is an art. Not to be mistaken with polishing, or brushing. You have to find the best fit for the event and shoe.

And this was the end results of a properly shined shoe.