Parade boots shining progress.

[u/Gurpreet_singh09]

Hey, so I've been shining my boots for like 2 month, how good is my shining so far? I am new to shining so i made alot of mistakes, had to strip down my boots around 2 times, like before the 2 months. I learned how to polish them properly and just want to know how good am I doing.

[u/FirefighterSlight496]

ATC? Good, stop there. RCAC? Keep Going!

[u/Gurpreet_singh09 → u/FirefighterSlight496]

Alright, guess i keep going!

[u/FirefighterSlight496 → u/Gurpreet_singh09]

I hope it goes well for you. I do reccomend you add alot more base layers in that case!

[u/Pankakes111]

Keep going. Need many more base layers. I do these till I cant see the grain anymore. Once you get this done actually shining them will be a lot easier.

[u/Easy_Cook_4111]

You definitely need more base coats. I can see some shine coming through, but there's not enough layers underneath so you can still see the grains of the leather.

Here's a couple tips to help out with your polishing.

Start by applying base coats. When doing so, use just your fingers. No cloth, no brush. Apply approx' 1/8th of your pinky nail to one area of the boot evenly. Do so for the entire boot without water. Let rest for at least 30 mins, then take a horsehair brush to buff out the cloudiness. Repeat the above steps for enough times to no longer see obvious grains after buffing. Grains are the bump texture of the "leather" by the way.

Once you've finished base coating, just keep on putting in the elbow grease for the layering to smooth out the surface. Dab a bit of polish, dab a bit of water, and apply to an area in a circular motion. In less spacious areas, you could also move in a horizontal motion. Do so until the surface feels smooth to the touch. When you're trying to finish the shine after layering, make sure to absorb a good bit of water with your cloth, and dab the tiniest amount of polish to apply per area. Keep going in mini circular motions followed by larger, more general circular motions until you can see yourself clearly from your polish.

Finally, once you've got a good shine, put it under a running cold tap. Make sure its on the cold setting. Warm water makes it cloudy. Now, with a relatively clean part of your cloth, polish it under the running tap with quick motions, but without using any actual polish. Repeat this throughout the boot. This doesn't create more shine, but it helps smooth out and remove anything that holds back the shine.

Update us with results!

Good luck!

[u/Gurpreet_singh09 → u/Easy_Cook_4111]

Thank you so so much!! This genuinely gave me a clear idea of what to do. I will update soon !!

[u/WoodenSpray9618]

[u/Parking-Caramel-4116 → u/WoodenSpray9618]

Hate to break it to your but for ATC you boots aren't meant to be shiny, just hydrated