How to Spit Polish Shoes

When you correctly spit polish shoes, they shine just like patent leather. Black shoes take on a new gleam under a good spit polish and brown shoes become toned and gorgeous. There is no need to buy expensive shoe shine kits - just grab a soft cloth, a tin of shoe polish and a small bowl of water.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. ~~Prepare to spit polish shoes by purchasing a tin of Kiwi shoe polish~~
   
   Purchase the appropriate color to match the shoes you're about to spit polish and don't bother purchasing the Parade gloss shoe wax - this stuff will not hold the shine like the original Kiwi shoe polish. You can purchase this shoe polish at most grocery stores, or, if you live in a remote location, look for it online at kiwishoeshine.com. A large tin of the shoe polish will set you back around $4.

2. ~~Gather your tools - a pair of shoes, a soft cloth, a small bowl of water, and your finger...~~
   
   Any 100% cotton cloth will work but a soft t-shirt or a clean soft cloth baby diaper will work best to spit polish shoes. Make sure the shoes are free of mud or debris. Gather a piece of the cloth around one or two fingers - the index finger and middle fingers work best. Make sure the cloth is smooth on the pad of your finger. You don't want any wrinkles here.

3. ~~Dip the fingers wrapped in cloth into the shoe polish and then into the small glass of water to wet the fingertip area~~
   
   In the old days, spit was used instead of water to lubricate the leather but, we will just do water here...
   
   Start to spit polish the shoes by working the shoe polish and water in very small circles (just about 1" in diameter) and applying gentle pressure to push the polish into the shoe leather. Coat the entire shoe in this fashion and go slow at it. You can't spit shine shoes quickly! Beware, the shoe won't look very pretty at this point.

4. ~~Let the shoe sit for 5 minutes with the first coat of wax and then start back in~~
   
   Dip the cloth again in the wax and the water and go over the whole shoe again. If the shoe polish doesn't go on smoothly, re-dip into the water as needed. The pores of the leather should eventually become filled with wax. If you can see pores, your shoe is not spit shined. The second time around, the leather will start to gleam. Depending on the condition of the shoes, you might have to apply more layers. You're done when you can see your reflection!

Tips & Warnings

• Set aside a lot of time to spit polish shoes. It can take up to 2 hours per shoe to do it right and even longer if the shoes have never been polished before.

Resources

• More articles by this author

[ScarlettOHairy]

on 7/8/2009 What a great course in spit shining shoes!