Starting Out With A New Pair Of Shoes
Strip Off The Factory Polish
Apply The First Layers Of Polish
Texture Is Important
Beginning The Road To A Real Shine
Two-Bar Shine
Call In The Parade Gloss

Maintenance Shining For The Low-Quarters
Don't Push It Off
Easy Does It

Special Things To Consider With Leather Combat Boots
Texture Again
Sides Of The Boot
These Boots Were Made For Walking

General Suggestions About Shining Shoes

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Types Of Shoe Polish:

Black:  1 1/8 oz or 2 1/2 oz container.  Always start off a new pair of boots or shoes with this type of polish.  Black polish should be used to put more coats of polish on the shoe when initially shining. 

Parade Gloss-Black:  1 1/8 oz container.  Once you have a good shine with several layers of black polish, you can turn that good shine into a great shine with a layer or two of the parade gloss.  Be careful about putting too much parade gloss polish on a shoe as it can wreck a shine if you use an excess amount.

Neutral: 1 1/8 oz container.  If you have a great shine after using both the black and parade gloss polishes, use of neutral polish can provide an "insurance" layer for your shoes.  Neutral polish is typically used for brown shoes, but is invisible on the black shoes--providing a good shine and preventing your black layers from being stripped by the weather or dirt.

Types Of Edge Dressing:

Heel & Shoe Edge Color Renew: 2.5 FL. oz plastic bottle with foam applicator.  Color renew is good for blackening the edges of your shoe sole.  However, a shine is difficult to achieve with this.  Use this to "touch-up" the sole of your shoe following wear.

Honor Guard Edge Dressing: 4 FL. oz glass bottle with brush applicator.  Honor Guard Edge Dressing is what you want to use in order to achieve an impressive shine on the edges of your shoes.  Basically, the edge dressing is painted on to the soles, augmenting the shine on the leather of your shoe.  With several layers of edge dressing, the soles on the shoe will match, if not be shinier than the rest of the shoe.  WARNING: Edge dressing will stain if it spills and the glass bottle will break if dropped.  Use carefully.

Other Very Useful Tools:

Shining Cloth: In order to shine shoes, you need something to apply the polish.  Any old, white undershirt will work or you can opt for a car cleaning sheet.  Other options include cotton balls and panty hose.  The key to the shining cloth is to ensure that it is both clean and smooth.

Horsehair Brush: Great when shining leather combat boots rather than shoes.  Use the horsehair brush to apply many layers of polish when beginning to shine a pair of leather combat boots.  It is the easiest way to shine the sides of the combat boot in an effective manner.  The horsehair brush is also a great tool to bring to the field in order to avoid gray boots by blackening your boots quickly.

Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol: Use this to initially strip the factory polish from your shoe and add it to water whenever you shine.  The rubbing alcohol will help to clean the shoe.

Newspaper Or Other Surface: Although completely optional, having a newspaper or other surface that you can dispose of is helpful in preventing polish or edge dressing stains on furniture.

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Strip Off The Factory Polish: When you first purchase or are issued a pair of low-quarters, they will come with a factory polish.  This is only to protect the shoes while they are sitting in a warehouse.  The factory polish will not help you at all in the quest to achieve shiny shoes!  Strip the polish by using water and the rubbing alcohol.  Simply "wash" the entire shoe with a clean cloth.  Dip the cloth into a mixture of water and rubbing alcohol (~50-50) and proceed to massage the low-quarters, dipping the cloth back into the mixture every so often to ensure that it is moist.  Once it appears that your cloth is no longer becoming any blacker, you have stripped the factory polish.

Apply The First Layers Of Polish: One of the keys to shining shoes is realizing that you are not shining the leather, but the polish on the leather.  Therefore, you must apply several layers of polish first.  The easiest setup is to use the cover from your polish and put water in it.  With clean part of your shining cloth wrapped around your index and middle finger, dip the cloth into the water and then into the black polish to get some polish on your cloth.  Simply spread the polish on the entire surface of the low-quarter.  Once you have covered the shoe completely with a level layer of polish, allow the polish to dry.  Repeat this several times, making sure the amount of polish that has been applied is consistent throughout the shoe.

Texture Is Important: Before you begin to worry about a good shine on your low-quarters, you must first get the polish as smooth as possible.  If the polish is not smooth when you begin to actually shine the shoes, the friction between the polish and your shining cloth will most likely strip the polish away, hindering a good shine.  If your polish is not yet smooth, continue to apply more polish and work it into the shoe with gentle, small, circular motions.  Another tactic is to add the rubbing alcohol (~80% water-20% rubbing alcohol) to the water at this point to strip some excess layers off while adding some polish in areas that need it to achieve the smooth finish.  Texture is a bigger issue with leather combat boots than it is with low-quarters, but an issue nonetheless for low-quarters.

Beginning The Road To A Real Shine: Once you have several layers of polish on your low-quarters and you have a smooth finish, you can now begin to "shine" the shoes.  Create a 90% water and 10% rubbing alcohol mixture in the cover of your black polish.  Rather than using two fingers, use only one from now on and dip it into the mixture and then the polish.  Apply the polish in the same way you did before (small circles), making sure your cloth is always moist.  You can do this by either dipping it back into the water mixture or by licking the polish on the cloth (They don't call it a 'spit shine' for nothing).  If you allow the cloth to become too dry, you run the risk of stripping off entire layers of polish.  Basically, if you feel like you are scraping or scratching the low-quarters, it's time to re-moisten your cloth.  If you feel that one area of the shoe needs more polish than the other based on the texture (one area looks more porous than another part), add more polish to the area and make sure to work it in.  Continue to add more polish while shining in small circles.

Two-Bar Shine:  Although it won't happen in a second, you will eventually begin to see the low-quarters becoming shinier than before.  As long as the surface is smooth, you should have no problem adding a little bit more polish here and there while shining.  Make sure you actually wear your low-quarters at this point in the process in case any dry polish flakes off when your shoe bends according to your step.  If this does occur, work more polish into the area where the polish is becoming "glitter."  However, don't worry about making it shiny--just have the polish there to protect the leather.  If you continue the process of adding a little polish and working it to a shine in to the low-quarter, the shoes will become progressively shinier.  Now you just have to maintain that shine.

Call In The Parade Gloss: Once you have a good shine with the black polish, go ahead and use the parade gloss polish.  Rather than applying entire layers at a time and letting them dry, work the parade gloss as though you did with the black polish once you began working on the shine.  The parade gloss should be applied in very thin layers in order to achieve maximum shine.

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Don't Push It Off: You just have to face it, your shoes are going to take a beating, especially when faced with salt in the winter or extreme heat in the summer.  Unless you want to have to begin the entire process from the beginning, you should shine your low-quarters following each wear.  If you don't, a smudge one day will deteriorate to bare leather the next.

Easy Does It: Use a very small amount of rubbing alcohol in the water to help clean the surface before you begin to shine.  If you leave dirt on the surface and apply polish over it, the polish won't shine well and dirt will get trapped under the polish.  In many conditions this could eat the leather away, ruining your low-quarters.  Only a little bit of polish is necessary when you go about shining your shoes.  When you apply the polish, work it in until it's shiny.  Additionally, make sure your shining cloth is moist.  Nothing is worse than scratching the low-quarters and leaving a gash, forcing you to have to fix it.

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Texture Again: As compared to your low-quarters, leather combat boots are much rougher.  The solution to this is more polish.  Once you have a smooth surface on the toe and the heel, shining the boots is similar to shining the low-quarters.

Sides Of The Boot:  Don't worry about achieving a glass finish on the sides of your combat boots (around the ankle, next to the laces).  Nevertheless, they should still be shiny.  The horsehair brush is great for working the polish into the side.  Later, go in and apply more polish with a shining cloth and one or two fingers.  Although not glass, the sides will still shimmer in the light.

These Boots Were Made For Walking: The "glitter effect" is even more prominent in the boots than they were in the low-quarters.  Make sure you walk around in your boots for a little while as you are adding the initial layers of polish.  By doing this, you can figure out where the creases will be in your boots and avoid losing the dry polish.  Still add polish to these areas, but don't worry about the spit shine.

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• Shining shoes isn't something someone in the military came up with centuries ago just to pass the time.  By applying polish, you are protecting the leather of your footwear. 
• The entire surface of your low-quarters should be shiny. 
• When shining your combat boots, don't just shine the toes.  The heels should be just as shiny and the sides of the boots should not be dull at all.
• Edge Dressing makes a huge difference!  Think of the edge dressing as a force multiplier for the appearance of your boots and low-quarters.  Allow the edge dressing to drip into the cracks on the top of the edges and paint it on as a layer to the sides of the sole edges.
• Always clean your shoes or boots before you shine them with a water-rubbing alcohol mixture (90% water- 10% rubbing alcohol).  This ensures that dirt doesn't get stuck under the polish and eat away at the leather.
• When you're in the field (whether that be Field Training or when you're deployed as an officer), take a large container of black polish and a horsehair brush with you.  At the end of a long day in the dirt, use the brush to blacken your boots.  Never walk around with gray boots because 1) it will ruin the leather and 2) it just plain looks bad.
• If you have a clearly uneven finish on your shoes, try the lighter trick (I recommend going outside and doing this to avoid setting off any fire alarms).  Take a lighter and melt the polish on whatever part that has the excess polish.  Allow the polish to dry evenly.  If you do not wait for the melted polish to dry, you again run the risk of stripping the polish off right to the leather.  Also, be careful not to burn the leather.
• Be careful where you walk.  Rather than trudging through the highest snow or walking through the mud if you don't have to, look for an easier and cleaner way to get to your destination.  This helps preserve the shine you've worked hard to reach.
• When you aren't wearing your boots or low-quarters, place your shining cloth over the shiny areas.  This prevents dust from accumulating on the surface or liquids spilling on the polish.
• The key to shiny shoes isn't necessarily the process, as there are many different methods to get shiny shoes.  Rather, it's your motivation.  Instead of waiting until the night before a drill lab or even the afternoon of one, shine your shoes or boots as soon as you get done wearing them.  To increase the quality of the shine, simply spend 15 minutes before you go to bed each night and work another layer into the shoes.  Additionally, pull out your polish and shoes while you watch a movie to increase the shine.
• Be proud of your shoes and your boots!  When you have an outstanding shine, people will notice. Shiny footwear improves your overall appearance by magnitudes as compared to "Hershey Bar" footwear.

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