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Civil Air Patrol
Willow Grove JRB
Squadron 902
902 BCOP (Basic Cadet Orientation Program)
Suggested Polishing Methods
  1. Preparation:
    1. Remove any previous attempts to polish your shoes by using a shoe brush or some other drastic measure, like scraping the polish off with the edge of an old cassette case.  Do NOT scratch the leather.  It will NOT heal.
    2. Dip your brush in Kiwi Black and polish the whole of the shoe. Brush off the polish with a soft brush or cloth. Repeat for the toecap only
  2. Shining:
    1. Fold your cloth into a triangle and wrap it around your index-finger so that the cloth under it is smooth - this will avoid smears and scratches later
    2. Dab the cloth in some clean water, ensuring that the water soaks into the cloth
    3. Place a small amount of polish onto the wet part of the cloth and work the polish into the leather in a circular motion working in a regular pattern around the toecap
    4. You may need to put just a touch more water on the cloth if it feels like it is starting to grate.
    5. Once all the polish has been rubbed in, repeat the process, alternating between Kiwi Black and Kiwi Black Parade Gloss.
    6. A good shine on a new pair of shoes should take anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes
  3. Caring for your shine
    1. All you need to do now is to make sure nobody scuffs them, stands on them or spills anything on them.
    2. Keep out of reach of little peoples' sticky hands
    3. Keep a cloth over them to keep off dust. Some people pull socks over but you risk scratching your toecaps that way.
    4. If you manage to keep them scuff free and shiny, all you will need to do before you go to cadets is just give them a quick polish using the technique above.
    5. To get rid of any swirls of polish on your toecaps, run them under the cold tap while rubbing the toecap with pure cotton wool.
  4. Things you will need:-
    1. 1 x tin of Kiwi Black shoe polish
    2. 1 x tin of Kiwi Black Parade Gloss
    3. 2 x shoe brushes
    4. 1 x good quality cloth
    5. small amount of water
  5. Useful tips:
    1. Once you start getting a good shine on your shoe, breathe over the entire toecap so that your breath condenses on the toecap. Continue rubbing the shoe with your cloth until there is no sign of smearing polish.
    2. Using Maroon Parade Gloss alternately with Kiwi Black helps give a deeper richer looking shine - in my opinion at least
    3. If your polish is old or has white specks on it then it is time to replace it as it will not be very effective.
    4. Instead of using a good quality cloth, you could use small swabs of pure cotton wool. Make sure it says so on the packet as cheaper cotton wool is mixed with other coarser materials which produce scratches on highly polished toecaps.
    5. Never use spit instead of water as spit is greasy and will make your toecaps look grey.
    6. DO NOT use flames from any source to melt or light the polish! It is highly dangerous and removes the nutrients from the polish that protect the leather.

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