Bulling Boots

collisster

collisster

collisster

Soldato
Joined
23 May 2006
Posts
2,590
Location
Blythe
I got my new boots for cadets last week and the first thing I did was wack some polish on :( when the leather started to crease it kept flaking the polish off so I stripped it all off :rolleyes:
I've tried all manner of methods on previous boots such as melting it with a hair dryer letting it set and so on. but I usually end up wacking some on with a brush letting it cure overnight and shining up with a rag the next morning. Because I'm going on camp in about 6 weeks I want to try and give the good old bulling technique a go, its never worked for me in the past tho :mad: :mad: I've been told do wet a bit of cotton wool, put some polish on and keep going in circles untill the polish has disappeared and repeat until a shine comes up. that didn't work either. :(
So any soldiers or cadets share your secrets for this as I'm really annoyed at never getting a mirror like shine

Collisster
 
Not according to my Dad (ex RAF).

He just told me you probably put a bit too much on. Burn it off (didn't know what to do it with as he never had to. As it's flammable it should just melt off if you take a flame to it. Smear some on then light that, should take the rest with it.

Gotta mix spit with the polish apparently (or use water in the lid of the polish tin), that should help make it not so concentrated.
 
Use the right polish to start with: Parade Gloss and there is no other substitute so use that one. You won't get a mirror finish on your boots, only your parade shoes because the leather is different.

Get all traces of the old wax off. You can burn it off but nail polish remover and cotton wool works better. Put it back on with a duster, small circular movements with water or spit and you just keep building it up and eventually you'll get a shine you can see your face in. When the shine starts to come up swap to a yellow duster with a bit of polish and just keep adding a bit of spit by licking the end. Not too much pressure, and just before you get that mirror finish start to huff on the shoe rather than licking the polish on the duster.
 
yep, small circular movements with a duster worked for me.

Some people use a lighter on the polish first. When i was taught to polish my ATC boots i was told NOT to eat for an hour before polishing your shoes as it effects your spit and your finish (not sure how true it is however).

It may seem sad but i actually enjoy polishing shoes like that, it passes the time, you can get great results and the only bad side is you will end up with a black mark on the end of your finger :D

Its a shame that i no longer have any shoes that require proper polishing :( May have to get myself some, or start a business up with the local squadies :D
 
Last edited:
Jonny69 said:
Use the right polish to start with: Parade Gloss and there is no other substitute so use that one. You won't get a mirror finish on your boots, only your parade shoes because the leather is different.
Click to expand...
Parade Gloss is great for getting a good shine with minimal effort, but when it comes to bulling your shoes intense sunlight absolutely demolishes the shine parade gloss gives, I'd stick to normal polish.

All this is missing the point, it's absolutely pointless bulling combat boots, just put on loads and loads of brush layers to make them nice and shiny.
 
Start by giving them a really good polish (or two) with the normal brush on & off technique. This will give a good surface for the polish to hold on to.

Next, take your index finger and rub it around and around to get a good covering of polish.

Take your polish-covered finger to your boot and working in very small circles (not a lot bigger than your fingertip) apply the polish to the boot. Concentrate on getting a good even coverage of the leather but don't put it on too thick - it takes layera and layer of polish to build up a really good shine.

Once you have a good even coat take a normal yellow duster and a small pot of water. Wrap the duster around your index finger and hold the excess tight in your hand, so the duster forms a sort of glove finger.

Dip the tip of your finger in the water. The water stops the polish sticking to the duster.

Again, working in very small circles with the slightly wetted duster-covered finger, go over your first layer of polish. Give it a very quick once over first - you'll start to see the polish take on a slight shine.

Work methodically and once you've gone over the boot go back to where you started and go over again. Re-wet your duster as needed. Don't get it too wet, just a slight dampness is fine.

Once the streakyness of the first polish coat is gone (might need going over a couple of times) reapply more polish with your finger tip and repeat the process above.

3-4 coats of polish will start to get you a really nice shine.

You can polish ANY pair of boots up to a mirror finish with enough effort - some types of leather just come up easier than others.

A few further little tips.
- always use Kiwi Parade Gloss - there is no substitute
- buy two tins of polish, a brush tin and a bulling tin (means you keep any bits of crap out of your bulling tin)
- keep the same duster & reuse over and over, they actually get better for bulling as they get more used

Hav
 
Polishing your boots is where you're going wrong. You need to be 'detailing' them these days.

/Goes off to start a shop and a forum to exploit my newly found gap in the market.

NB: Non-motors regulars should disregard the above post. You'll have no idea what i'm on about.
 
collisster said:
my boots are magnum classics, I hope I can get a decent shine on them I'll try the spit :p
Click to expand...
Theres your problem right there, these boots will not shine never mind what sort of black magic you try the leather is very soft and not at all good for polishing as you have seen the polish will just crack, i know this because watching my mate put all that effort in and then watching it crack off was hilarious. If you get hold of some standard issue assault boots you can get a half decent shine on them, i always used a mix of normal kiwi polish and parade gloss about 5 coats of normal to 1 of parade using a Selvyt polishing cloth which you can pick up online or in the NAAFI for a couple of quid and its well worth it.
First id never use spit i tried it at first but it makes your polish dull very easily use some clean hot water and wrap your cloth as tight as possible round 1 finger to get a smooth bit of cloth with no creases, then dip it in the hot water and shake off any excess, then get a small amount of normal black polish and moving in small circular motions on your toe cap until all the polish is on the boot, keep doing this for around 5 coats then do the same with 1 coat of parade but use a very small amount of it as its quite greasy, keep on doing this and you should see the grain of the leather starting to disappear and a shine come out.
Once youve got them up to standard cover them when your not wearing them to keep the dust off and they should just need a quick going over with parade to keep a good shine.
Also once youve got a good shine you can stick your toe cap under some cold running water and go over them with a pure cotton wool ball this can help keep the surface nice n smooth improving shine.
That technique got me thought my 3 yrs as a cdt and could quite easily beat the shine of people who had cheated with nose cone paint.
 
Last edited:
some good points, but mostly wrong.

Using a duster you wont ever get a decent shine, you need a silvet (a very tight rag for polishing silver, available from tesco) just use normal old fasion black kiwi boot polish the gloss has to much oil in it and makes it difficlt when your going for the finish. Never use spit, it has to much crap in there like old food, just fill the lid of your polish with cold tap water

If your polishing combat boots, only do the toe caps, pointless doing anything else.
 
yeh I wasn't gonig to do them all over, blitz2163 - I'm not going to go out and get some paraboots becuase they are really heavy, so I buy magnums becuase I have achillies tendonitis :( so heavy boots are a no no basically. I'll give polishing a good shot with them though. I may do a bit breaking in so I know exactly where the creases are so I dont layer the polish up ontop of them, the thing is these bits still need waterproofing and protecting so what do you suggest to do with the creasy bits?

collisster
 
collisster said:
the thing is these bits still need waterproofing and protecting so what do you suggest to do with the creasy bits?

collisster
Click to expand...

Just wax them with a brush.
 
Zefan said:
Not according to my Dad (ex RAF).

He just told me you probably put a bit too much on. Burn it off (didn't know what to do it with as he never had to. As it's flammable it should just melt off if you take a flame to it. Smear some on then light that, should take the rest with it.

Gotta mix spit with the polish apparently (or use water in the lid of the polish tin), that should help make it not so concentrated.
Click to expand...

Yep, thats the proper oldschool way to do it and I still dont think you will get a better shine with any other method. My dad (ex RAF also) says exactly the same thing. This is what I used to do in the ATC, along with everyone else. Just do the toe caps though.
 
If I remember back to my Navy training, we burned the polish first, then kept building up the polish, using the circular motion mentioned above.

After a while, dip the duster in some water, then use the circular motion to get a shine, after that, top up with very small amounts of polish and water.
 
gjrc said:
windolene - this works very very well!
Click to expand...
completly messes with any polish already there making it a complete kick in the nads to get polished up again
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom