How to Shine Shoes

There is nothing that invokes a high level of confidence in a working man's start to his day by beginning the week with a clean crisp appearance from head to toe. It all begins will a clean haircut, well shaven face or neatly trimmed beard or mustache, a sharp suit, and most importantly, well polished shoes. Showing off your shiny duds in public let's everyone know you mean business and run a tidy ship. Keeping up clean shoe appearances only takes up a little time each week with these easy steps to follow.

Tools

Before you get started on shining your shoes, you will need to gather a bunch of newspapers or old towel to serve as your work area. It is important to do this so as to not stain your indoor carpet or rugs. Shoe polish or wax can be darn right difficult to remove from carpet fibers. You will also need a polish or wax that matches the tone or color of your shoe, old cotton cloths or socks, and a small shoeshine brush. The polish and brush can be found at just about any drug store and in most supermarkets. If both of these locations yield empty results, try a local shoe store.

Process

First thing to do with a shoe shine is to clean the shoes or boots. Use a dampened cloth to wipe off excess dirt and grime off the leather. This step is very important as you will not want to apply polish over existing dirt. Once the cleaning phase is complete, it is time to apply the polish. Take a good dab of the waxy polish with your fingers placed inside an old sock or cloth and start rubbing the product into the shoe using a circular motion. It is very important to cover every area of the shoe. It may help you to remove the laces to get in closer to the eyelets. Also consider using an old tooth brush with polish on it to get those very narrow crevices. Apply extra amounts of wax to the high traffic areas such as the toes and heals of the shoes.

Once the product is on both shoes you will want the polish to remain for about fifteen minutes. Then begin buffing the shoes with another clean cotton cloth or rag. Take extra time buffing the heel and toe sections as these areas should be the shiniest. A slight dab of water or "spit" on the toes will enhance the shiny glassy look.

Final Tips

Once your shoes are completely shiny once again, place shoe trees inside them to retain shape. Consider rotating shoes every other day for longer wear and also consider conditions of laces and inserts if when engaging in a shoe cleaning and polishing. Learning how to shine shoes is quite easy and should become a weekly or bi-weekly ritual depending on how worn the shoes become from your daily commute.