Shoes

Keeping your shoes polished is quite important because it is an easy way to see who puts effort into their uniform and who doesn’t. Also someone who wears clean, polished shoes looks better than someone who wears dirty, unpolished shoes.

To polish your shoes properly, you will need:

• Shoe polish (black) –Preferably Kiwi.
• A duster, soft rag or cotton wool. – That’s what you’ll be polishing with. If the rag isn't soft it will scratch your shoe.
• Warm Water – Use warm water because it helps to smooth the polish easier, but if the water is too hot it’ll melt the polish off your shoe and you’ll have to start again.
• Your shoes-preferably DMS or Oxfords
• Yourself (You should polish them yourself, don't get your mum or dad to do it)

Method:

1)       It may take a while to get your shoes perfect, but once you have, as long as you just give them a quick polish before you wear them, it will be easy to keep up the high standard.
First, you must make sure your whole shoe is clean. Wrap the duster around your index finger so that it is smooth and has no creases. If you are using cotton wool pads, fold it in half twice, polishing with the straight part. If using cotton wool buds just pinch it about 1/3 down.

2)       Next, dip your cloth or cotton wool into the bowl of water. Squeeze off any excess water.

3)       Gently rub the cloth or piece of cotton wool along surface of the polish.  Now rub the polish into the toe cap of your shoe in circular motions, covering all of the toecap, including the sides. . The circular motion is a vital part of the process. This works the polish into the shoe and allows the polish to settle

4)       Keep repeating these circular motions until the polish has turned shiny and does not smear when you rub it. If the shoe becomes dry, wet the duster or cotton wool again. When you first start polishing, you will feel that the surface is rough. You will need to repeat this process until the surface of the shoe is smooth, and remember to use plenty of water.

5)       To finish your toecap, it is basically the same process as above, but this time use only small amounts of polish and a little more water. These small layers should only take about 30 seconds to do; you will only need to apply only a few of these layers to get a good shine.

6)       Repeat the process for the other shoe and make sure you spend the same amount of time on each shoe.

Many people will not stop at the toecap. Some people polish the complete shoe, even underneath. If you want to do this you will need to put one small layer of polish onto the rest of the shoe, including the rims of the shoe. The polishing method is exactly the same, but do not use lots of polish, use only one layer, otherwise there will be no difference between the toecap and the rest of the shoe. Repeat the process for the other shoe and make sure you spend the same amount of time on each shoe.

You will need to maintain your shoes. If you don’t they will lose their shine. To maintain them, just put a few small layers on your shoes before and after you wear them. If you do not do this, you will have to spend hours polishing your shoes in the future. It is easier and simpler to keep them in a high standard all the time. Remember to always work on your shoes, it is not something that will happen overnight, you must keep at it. It is worth it to have shiny shoes.

Top Tips:

• Do not cheat! There are people out there paint or varnish their shoes. The people who do this are lazy and do not have the right sort of attitude towards their uniform. Also this makes your shoes look rubbish and it usually cracks. Cheating is wrong! (and makes your shoes look bad)
• You will probably hear some weird methods of polishing, such as using spoons and irons. DO NOT USE THESE METHODS.  These methods are probably also hard to use and will probably mess up your shoe if you don’t have the skill to use the method. It is risky, use the one which you know and you will get to your target eventually.
• Do not use any instant shine pads. They will leave your shoe oily and your shine in your shoe will get really dull after a while.
• Replace your cotton wool and water regularly.
• Store your shoes in a box somewhere where they cannot get filled with dust

Stripping your shoes

Once in a while you might do something bad to your shoes, like dropping a large heavy object onto your toecap. After a while the polish begins to flake off your shoe. You will need to strip your shoe.

For this you will need:

• Hot water – but don’t scold yourself, it hurts.
• A rough cloth or an OLD t-shirt.

Method:

1)       Place your rough cloth into the water; be careful not to scold yourself.

2)       Rub the cloth along the shoe. You will need to be vigorous to remove the polish from the shoe.

3)       You will also need to replace the cloth every so often, to get the best effect.

4)       Do this until all of the polish is removed.

Some people use MILD house cleaners to help the polish come off, but this can be risky so stick to hot water.