Bulling Leather Army Boots

[UKRay]

The British army (and probably most others around the world) has a tradition of polishing leather army boots until they resemble mirrors. I'd be very interested to know the processes used to get this finish and whether these processes vary around the world and between military establishments.

Can any of you fine military people help with a description of how you would give new army boots a proper military shine and what this process is called in your part of the world?

Thanks,

Ray

[barra]

The British army (and probably most others around the world) has a tradition of polishing leather army boots until they resemble mirrors. I'd be very interested to know the processes used to get this finish and whether these processes vary around the world and between military establishments.

Can any of you fine military people help with a description of how you would give new army boots a proper military shine and what this process is called in your part of the world?

Thanks,

Ray

In Australia this is known as spit polishing or spit shining. Alas this process has more or less died as we move into the sensitive new age. What has also died is the skill of attention to detail that was applied to spitty-ing boots/shoes that naturally rubbed off into other aspects of Military life. Now it is all patent leather shoes and the little whozawatzits of today can't even manage to keep them clean. OFF soap box now.

As a former drill instructor my boots naturally had to be better than my recruits so I think I am fairly adept at this lost art. Anyhoo there are more spit polish recipes out there than you can poke a stick at. Every soldier since the dawn of time has tried to come up with the best method and short cutting tricks. I will list my old method and list a few variants that mates have used.

The term spit polish comes from the fact you literally spat on the boot to add moisture. it is also believed that whatever is in saliva was a mild cutting compound. Here is my polish recipe evolved over 20 years of trial and error.

Most people I know use straight Kiwi Parade gloss polish but I scooped out the polish and put it into another can about twice the size. To this I added beeswax to about 1/3 the volume of the polish and a good sized dollop of Johnsons floor wax. I then Melted all ingredients together . The beeswax makes for a nice firm polish. Get a nice soft lint free cloth and wrap it around your finger. Add a small amount of moisture to the finger tip (damp not wringing wet) and rub the finger in the polish so that only a small amount of polish is there. I believe in this case less is more. Now begin by rubbing the polish onto the show in small circular movements with a a fair amount of pressure. This generates heat and friction to melt the polish in. When you see and feel it getting dry and another small amount of moisture to the finger. When you see the cloth has no more polish add another small amount. Keep repeating this process over the whole shoe adding more small layers of polish. When you feel you have achieved the look and are on your final coat, increase the size of your circular movements with the finger so as to blend in the swirl marks.

Moisture:

1. actual spit

2. tap water (depending on your region)

3. distilled water

4. Huffing on the show which applies a small mist of moisture from your breath

5. Use a spray bottle. When using this method I find it was better to not actually spray water on the boot/shoe but it was better to spray into the air near the boot and move the boot thru the mist. This seemed to apply the right amount of moisture.

I use pure white vinegar and finish with huffing.

Another method to apply the polish is to get a cotton ball,dip this in your moisture and apply the polish to the moistened cotton ball and then use the same circular movements on the shoe. I find old T shirts a bit coarse but a good material is old flanellette shirts or pyjamas.

Melting the polish in tricks

Apply the polish (again in relatively small amounts) and then use a cigarette lighter to lick the polish and melt it in. Be aware the polish is flammable.

Heat a tea spoon over a flame, wipe off the soot and use the spoon to melt in the polish.

Finishing off or shall we say the poor mans spit polish.

Apply polish to the shoe and Buff vigorously with one leg of your significant others stockings/panty hose stuffed with a rag. The stockings make a great buffer.

cheat tricks.

In Australia the is a brand of liquid floor polish called one go. A cotton ball was dipped in the one go and wrung out well. This was applied to the shoe. OMG did it look super mirror shiney. Only problem was the practice was frowned upon as cheating but on the same note everyone either did it and the bosses both knew and did it themselves in their younger day. Problem 2. If the shoe got wet it turned a tell tale milky white "BUSTED". RSM's would go on inspection armed with a water bottle, spray bottle or water pistol to catch out the heathens who did it.

Super cheat method.

Paint the shoe in gloss paint, leather lacquer or tire black.

If you are spitty-ing shoes or boots, wear them in first to form the creases in the shoe that naturally occur as we walk. Then avoid

large amounts of polish in the areas that flex as you walk.

Barra

[Dwight]

The US military used to do the "spit polish" thing too, . . .

I think that it has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur with all the new digicamo, . . . rough out boots, . . . etc.

But if you want that polish, . . . want it quick and dirty, . . . clean up your leather real good, get all the dirt, dust, mud, hairballs, etc. ALL OFF the leather to be done.

Mix up a 50/50 solution of Resolene and tap water, . . . apply with a real "bristle" brush ( a 1 inch or 1 1/2 inch wide one ) in a slathering motion of left-right-up-down, repeat, repeat and build up a thin lather of bubbles on the surface.

Once you get the thin lather, . . . quit applying liquid, . . . keep brushing until ALL the bubbles are gone. Hang in the sun to dry. Let it dry for about 48 to 72 hours.

THEN, . . . get out your KIWI shoe polish (it is THE shoe polish) for this job, . . . follow the Aussie DI's instructions. The Resolene will super significantly reduce your polishing time, . . . it will be easier to "fix" when you scuff it up, . . . and the DI and his water bottle won't bust you

May God bless,

Dwight

[Echo4V]

The only thing that has been missed is breaking down new boots before polishing. Saddle soap, hot water and a stiff bristled scrub brush. Scrub like you've never scrubbed in your life, the boot will be a greyish color when it's ready to start polishing. Start with a thick coat of polish and buff with a boot brush, then start with the instructions from Barra. One trick we used to use on Fridays ( we used to break our boots down and re shine every weekend) was to put rubbing alcohol on a cloth and gently wipe down the boots it would extend the life of the shine for a day or two but you couldn't get a good shine again until you broke the boots down ( cleaned off a layer or two of polish to get all the alcohol off). I've even seen people cut their polish with alcohol and I've seen the can's lit on fire then put out ( by putting the lid back on the can) and only using the polish while it was still in liquid form. The best cloth I've found for the job was cloth baby diapers, in fact we were issued two diapers when I was in boot camp just for spit shining.

David

[UKRay]

Fascinating!

Thanks guys. There is a whole 'culture' here that people outside the military know little about. Can anyone else add anything? Stories? History? Where did the idea come from? Does anyone still do it?

Ray

[TTcustom]

I can only reinforce what Bara and Echo said. This was the same procedure I followed. I used cotton balls for a while but the flannel "gun patches" worked best for me. Soft flannel cloth or diapers seemed to be the most popular I seem to remember. Keeping the polish to a minimum in the creases was important. All of the cheating methods would wind up giving you a cracking boot that was useless. Pretty cool that this is the methodology around the world.

[gary]

Ray,

All of the above plus my recipe (from 27 years in black boots and then brown shoes). I was never a drill pig so my boots and shoes didn't have to reach the same standards but I did train officer recruits for a couple of years so had to be scrutinised carefully at times.

Break in the boots - I used to wear them as my day to day working boots for about a month before making them my 'best' pair. With some types of boot you actually seem to break-in your feet as the boots hardly flex.

If you got any big chunks taken out of the leather from clambering over tanks or kicking things, you could fill those in with a mixture of melted beeswax and melted kids crayons' to get the right colour. You probably couldn't do that now as wax crayons probably don't contain wax 'cos it's a health and safety risk or some such.

The Army used to (cleverly) issue grained leather boots and you had to get rid of the grain to make the leather smooth before bulling them - heated teaspoon bowl and use polish as a 'lubricant'. Spoon not too hot.

Apply a thin coat of pure beeswax as a base coat. Build up layers of polish (always Kiwi and, when it came out, Kiwi Parade Gloss as it has a higher percentage of beeswax (I think)). Keep bulling as Barra et al indicated.

The best cloth, I found, was a very fine jeweller's polishing cloth but a high quality yellow duster did just as well.

Once you'd got the high gloss finish we 'water-bulled' which meant holding the boot under a running cold tap and gently bulling under running water with cotton wool. This got rid of the final smears.

If you're bulling something flexible like a Sam Browne belt you should flex the leather every now and then (small flakes will come off) otherwise you will have a beautifully shiny belt that cracks and splits as you try and put it on.

To keep the boots shiny for particular parades you have to walk around like a penguin, on your heels, to reduce the flex in the leather.

If you're bulling brown shoes, put a coat of black polish on once every 6 or so coats of brown and it gives a deeper shine. I did the same with black boots, using an occasional coat of brown and that seemed to improve things.

We used similar techniques for horse tack but had to be careful not to get the polish layers too thick. Even 'best boots' had to be stripped back to the leather every couple of years and the whole process restarted.

We also, for some arcane reason that was never explained, had to scrape the black paint off the lacing eyelets back to the original brass so that we could (had to) polish the brass eyelets as well. And iron the bootlaces flat. And polish (bull) the part of the sole between the heel and the main sole. And I believe some units made their soldiers polish any studs (13 studs per boot) in the base of the boots.

I believe bulling was invented during the British colonial period as a method of occupying troops to stop them going to the local town and getting drunk, annoying the local population, getting beaten-up and collecting a venereal disease of their choice.

'Cheats' involved varnish or black gloss paint (put them somewhere dust-free to dry - long story but funny) or floor polishes such as 'Seal' or 'Klear'.

All the cheats or patent leather were just not cricket, old chap.

When we were boy soldiers, we had to spend an hour in the barrack room every Saturday evening, in absolute silence, straddling our bed with nothing but boots, duster, tins of polish (and a small tin of water for those who didn't like spitting) while the Duty Sergeant walked up and down to make sure we had as miserable a time as possible.

Ah, nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

Gary

[celticleather]

I sell Morello polish in my shop, for achieving a high-gloss shine. It's a paint-on polish that forms a smooth base for the subsequent use of Kiwi Parade Gloss or Guardsman Gloss polish. I think it's regarded as a bit of a cheat, but that doesn't stop vast numbers of army cadets from buying it!

http://www.cadetdire...er1.php?pg=1863

[somewhereinusa]

I was the equalavant to a DI in the Navy, my ONLY job in evenings (while everyone else cleaned barraks) was to polish my boots. I once got my a** chewed out for helping with the cleaning.

It's been over 35 years since I did it, but I seem to remember water,rubbing alcohol and boot polish. Also very risky(if you burned the boot you were in big dudu) hold boot over a lighter flame

to melt the mess. I don't remember what cloth I used, but it was probably something supplied by the chief. Believe it or not his boots were not creased from walking and had the shine of

patent leather. He also wore custom made uniforms. I was very impressed by the custom made camel hair great coat. I learned a great deal from that man.

Edited July 14, 2010 by somewhereinusa

[Frank]

In the service when I was in basic, we'd polish the entire boot with black polish and a bristle brush. Then for hours we'd sit there with a wet cotton ball (several) and shine the toes and heels almost until you could see your reflection. Just work them in a circular motion all over the toes and heels. This was a nightly process when you had people in front and in back of you who didn't know how to march! Wow, the good ole days!

[hivemind]

My experiences from seven years as a USMC musician largely jive with the above. One thing that wasn't mentioned was that the most recent version of the US GI black combat boot (the one with the padded collar and the speed lace eyelets) is made from leather impregnated with some kinda softening agent. We always said is was silicone, but I don't really know. These boots never polished worth a shit, and we all bought Georgia brand boots for drill and ceremonies. We saved the speed laces for PT and field exercises.

We would also occasionally, when we were doing 4-6 ceremonies a day and crazy busy, resort to a good buff shine with a boot brush and then wipe on a thin coat of Mop & Glo. It'd carry you through a few days, but you had to remove it afterward, which sometimes could suck.

Most of us had two sets of Georgia boots, so that we could always be polishing one while wearing the other. As a musician, we were expected to look better than anyone else in the Corps, so we had all kinds of tricks we'd use. Our utilities had so much starch in them they could literally stand on their own. We even went to lengths like snipping the prongs off our ribbon stars, filing the backs smooth, and super gluing them onto the ribbons so that they never moved.

[RandyScott]

Talk about a trip down memory lane! Hour after hour of spit polishing boots. I used the basic technique as outlined by barra, 100% cotton diaper was, and remains to this day (and I polish my dress shoes weekly to this day and it has been many, many years!). My shoe shine kit is a 7.62 ammo box that is older than my children and I am a granddad. I remember using cotton balls, spit, water, breathing on the shoe. One pair of boots for junk on the bunk inspections, parades, formal inspections, etc., two pair of 'users' in rotation. I still do a basic polish, buff with horsehair shoe brush, use a piece of flannel to buff to a semi-gloss, then lick the cloth covered finger and just barely touch the Kiwi Parade Gloss and rub it gently on the leather till it takes on the shine I want. If traveling a bit and my shoes get a little beat up, I will use lighter fluid or alcohol to remove a layer and blend in the skuffs and start the whole process over. Oh.. and of course, the killer was all the effort to get the 10 yard shine and then stand in the summer sun while the sun turns your spit shine into crap or the wind picks up and the dust very nicely coats your loving efforts. Oh well, it was to build esprit de corps, discipline, activity traps to keep you busy. Oh, to the poster who was in the USMC Band.. did you ever do the Evening Parade at Eighth and I?

[hivemind]

Oh, to the poster who was in the USMC Band.. did you ever do the Evening Parade at Eighth and I?

Negative. Gonna digress a little here to explain how Marine bands work.

There's two bands in Washington DC at 8th and I: The President's Own Marine Band and The Commandant's Own Drum and Bugle Corps. Those guys are special, in different ways.

The President's Own aren't really Marines, for the most part. With a few exceptions of guys who auditioned from the fleet bands, those guys are people with advanced music performance degrees who would otherwise be playing in symphony orchestras, studio bands, and the like. If they pass the audition, they come in as Staff Sergeants (E6) and enlist "for duty with The President's Own Marine Band only". They don't go to boot camp, they don't deploy, hell they even have different rank insignia. Real Marines have crossed rifles in their chevrons, those guys have a music lyre.

The Commandant's Own are Marines, they do go to boot camp, and start off as privates, but that's the only duty station they serve at. The Commandant's Own is a drum and bugle corps, which means that their instruments (other than drums) are different from a normal band, so they're of no use to the fleet bands.

The rest of the bands are called "fleet bands", meaning they serve in the Fleet Marine Force like any other regular duty Marines. There are twelve of these bands:

Marine Corps Base Band, MCB Quantico, Virginia

2d Marine Air Wing Band, MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina

2d Marine Division Band, MCB Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Marine Corps Recruit Depot Band, MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina

Marine Corps Logistics Base Band, MCLB Albany, Georgia

USMC Forces Reserve Band (4th Marine Division), New Orleans, Louisiana

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Band, MCAGCC Twentynine Palms, California

Marine Corps Recruit Depot Band, MCRD San Diego, California

3rd Marine Air Wing Band, MCAS Miramar, California

1st Marine Division Band, MCB Camp Pendleton, California

Marine Forces Pacific Band, MCB Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii

III Marine Expeditionary Force Band, MCB Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan

Each one has an official strength of 50 enlisted and one officer, but in reality generally hover between 40 and 45 Marines. Some of these duty stations are pretty cushy (Hawaii, New Orleans and 29 Palms come to mind) and some are definitely not (the two division bands and the two MCRD bands, for example). I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, where we not only played 600+ gigs a year, but also were in the field about a month a year, and deployed to Desert Storm and Haiti while I was there (1991-1995). We had a secondary job as a security platoon for the commanding general, so when the division deployed, so did we. While I was there, I went on helocasts in the Atlantic, fired about fifteen different weapons, from pistols to MK19 automatic grenade launchers (spent a lot of time on one of those), and did riot control training for our deployment to Haiti. Lots of different stuff, and at times it got pretty high-speed. The band is an oversize platoon, so it's used for a lot of "weird" jobs, where a standard platoon of 30 guys is too small, but a company of 120 Marines is massive overkill. Sometimes we were "just right" for the mission, and we got sent.

29 Palms, on the other hand, is a training base, and when I was there the band there has life pretty easy. You don't go to the field, or really do much in the way of "Marine type stuff". Your job was to look good and play music. We'd go down to Palm Springs to party every weekend, go snowboarding at Big Bear all the time in the winter (I could see the mountain from the barracks), and roll out to Lake Havasu, Arizona or Laughlin, Nevada when we really wanted to cut loose. Hell of a good time being stationed there, once you got past the desert heat and environment.

Anyways, I was in from 1991 to 1998, and had a hell of a good time, and wouldn't trade it for anything.I played for Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton, the Queen of England, and visited every state in America except North Dakota. We went to England, Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico, Russia, Finland, Canada, Bermuda... hell, I can't even remember all of it. When we were traveling, you're in a different city every weekend, staying in hotels and doing concerts and parades, and hitting the bars and clubs every night. Hell of a life for a kid right out of high school - lemme tell you, the women sure do like the dress blues.

Edited July 15, 2010 by hivemind

[Echo4V]

I knew I should have been in the band.

[MBOGO]

My two cent's. I was an MP, and we were supposed to set the standard, and when we were up to full staff (almost never) the best uniform and boots would get the shift off. I like free days off.

For the GI silicone treated speedlace jeep soled boots, to get a good shine on them, the complete exterior grain had to be sanded off. Then a base of Kiwi black, and keep going until it was filled in. Usually about three or four nights process, as the Kiwi had to harden, and you had to use a lot.

For the jungle boots and Corcoran jump boots, I liked to start with a 400 or 600 wet sand to give the surface some tooth, to hold the polish (I had some auto body experience) otherwise it would flake off. They seemed to have a lacquer finish, or something like that.

Once you had a good base, of Kiwi black, using the lightly applied techniques described above (I used an old 100% cotton tee shirt, four layers thick), and a mister spray bottle (hair spray pump bottle works best). After I got the black good and shiny, I would do around two cotes of Kiwi clear. It would give it depth, and it seemed to be much shinier than the black, and it wouldn't "swirl" up as much. It probably had something to do with not having any pigment in it. I did experiment with Kiwi blue, and cordovan as a top cote, they worked good, but the clear is always easy to find. I tried the Kiwi parade gloss, didn't get any real "WOW" results. Lincolns seemed grittier, and was more expensive.

As for the cheats I liked the Chattanooga Fats' "Seal-A-Shine". The shoe shine shop in the PX sold it. It took out all the swirls, didn't turn milky if it got wet, held scuffs down, I never could find any negatives about it.

Before I used the Seal-A-Shine, as a rule my boots looked like mirrors, and I would spend 10-15 minutes to re-shine them when they got scuffed.

[JerryLevine]

Fascinating!

Thanks guys. There is a whole 'culture' here that people outside the military know little about. Can anyone else add anything? Stories? History? Where did the idea come from? Does anyone still do it?

Ray

Hi Ray,

I found this rather belatedly while I was searching for how best to create a stirrup slot on a saddle tree with Arizona bars, so not sure quite how I managed to end up on this page.....

Anyway, I've been a Grenadier Guardsman (red coat, fluffy hat, big houses in London, etc, etc) since 1980 and if you're still interested in this subject I can add to what our American colleagues have already posted 2 yeras ago. It still very definitely goes on (I was Chief Usher on the Queen's Brithday Parade this year and I'm just about to bull my civvie shoes to go to MoD, so I've had recent expereince).There are some significant differences, but the common factor is Kiwi polish!

All the best,

Jerry

PS If you know anything about sorting out Arizona bars.........!

[EricDobson]

I'm always interested in this topic! Anything you can add will be greatly appreciated!

[cuzi]

Hi All

It is done pretty much the same all around the world. Here in South Africa the procedure is/was called 'Boning' the boots. Also at inspection before guard duty the neatest soldier on parade was given the duty off . He was called 'Stockman' in Afrikaans which is 'Stickman' in english but don't ask me why. These were the good old days in South Africa.

[rickybobby]

In our boot repair shop (cowboy boots!) we polish every pair after doing heels and soles. Customers really like to see the boots looking like they did when they bought them! Any way we also sell polish on line and I sell a bunch of Lincoln wax polish to cadets. They seem to like it for a super gloss. I have never used the Kiwi Parade polish but it sounds like it does a great job too. We also sell boxes and boxes of metal heel plates and full Army Rims. We have every size of each that is available (they seem to be hard to find,everyone who orders them are thrilled to find out about our selection of all sizes). I don't know if there are groups in the military that require Metal Heel Plates but there are a bunch of people using them (in the military) and in civilian life.

Most of the boots we polish is done with Meltonian Polish, it works well and we have all colors.

Our shine method is pretty simple for cowboy boots, Clean & Condition, Apply polish, Buff with horsehair brush, Finish with soft towel. There is no mirror finish like the military but with the mud, dust and cow poop cleaned off the customers are happy!

[8thsinner]

I have never been in the military but did like using military boots, cheap, strong and lasting.

So I did take to polishing my boots to mirrors.

I found a good process for myself which went something like this.

Kiwi (regular) would be brushed on as quickly as possible to provide heat with a heavy brush and left for an hour.

I would buff this off as quick as possible to get my base coat.

Then with a finger and a regular polishing cloth I would take to the polish with a wrapped finger, starting by using small circles in the polish until you can see it melting then scoop of the shiny polish and start to rub this in. When it got kinda sticky you went to a different spot.

After it was all at that sticky point I would go at it again with the up turned tin of polish holding ice cold water to harden the polish at that level. It got pretty good results.

I tried spitting, I tried breathing on em, but nothing got as good a finish as using cold water.

I probably put 3-4 coats on like this over a few hours.

After this I would finish with two layers of parade gloss maybe even three. I used the same process but buffed the last layer with speed and stocking or just a T shirt.

I used to do this every saturday without fail before I even had breakfast and get into town about 3...

After a while I stopped doing it, probably because the scuffing just got too annoying.

But I still use the same process every couple of years especially when new boots are being used.

[JerryLevine]

One major difference in British Army boots - known as 'Ammuntion' or more commonly 'Ammo' boots is that they come with a knobbly, textured finish when fresh out of the box (actually when they're first thrown at you by the storeman!). This has to be burnt down to form a smooth surface for the polish to adhere to. If you can break the boots in a bit, so that creases form when you flex them, so much the better. However, most ammo boots get double- or triple-tapped; that is to say one or two extra soles are added to the boot, so that flexion is not an option!

I did the burning down with a butane burner direct to the leather. I can hear the shouts of horror; but it was done in ignorance 30 years ago! First though, polish is added to the surface to prevent over-heating one spot and cracking the leather. The surface is then 'burnt' until the bumps have gone. I've heard of people using soldering irons, teaspoons heated in a cooker flame, etc, etc, but the effect is the same. There is a risk of completely burning through the leather or charring the surface, so if you're going to try this be very careful.

Once the surface has been 'burnt down', beeswax (it must be very pure beeswax) is rubbed into the still-warm surface. It must sink in but not leave too much on the surface. Once the beeswax has set, the boot is then 'layered up'. A scoop of Kiwi polish is taken with the fingers and spread evenly all over the surface of the boot. Water or more commonly saliva is used to help smooth the polish. After several layers, the boots are then left to dry while you try to clean your fingers and get some sleep before Reveille.

The polishing or bulling is done with a 'Sylvet' cloth. If you get a new one, it needs washing a couple of times and throughly rinsing before use. The cloth is dunked in hot water for a few minutes and then wrung out thoroughly (the dunking removes caked on polish from last time). Hold index and middle finger together and wrap a single layer of the cloth around them. Twist the rest of the cloth so that the layer becomes tight and the rest of the cloth is gripped around the back of your hand and secured in your fist out of the way. You'll need to change positions in the cloth every so often, so you get the knack eventually! Now in a new tin of Kiwi (it must be new or have never had a brush in it. Dry polish in the brush gets into the polish and forms a sort of grit that is very detrimental to a mirror shine), get a little on you cloth cover fingers and start making small circles. After a while, you'll notice a shine starting to appear; keep going, using spit to lubricate. It's now really important to keep your cloth clean, without any trace of dust, old polish, etc. Once you've finished (ie can see your face in the polished surface), the final step is to 'tapping down'. I was told to use a new piece of cotton wool, and while running the boot under a cold running tap, carefully rub over the surface of the polish. Not sure what this does; perhaps it just acts as a lubricant for the finer polishing surface of the cotton wool.

After you've worn the boots, polish will have cracked off where the creases are and you will see your hard work come flaking off. Not to worry though, as long as you've gone the foundation right, the majority of the boot's polish will hold up. The way to get the flakes off is to use a bunched-up pair or stickings/tights/pantyhose. The little holes in the weave catch the sharp corners of the flakes and bring them off with the damage that a brush would do. Then its back to the Sylvet, spit, polish and small circles!

If all the above seems not to make sense, try here: http://www.guardsgea...oots/4528222660 I AM NOT associated with this site, but it looks like you can get all the gear from them, or even to get the whole job done by them!

Good luck,

Jerry

Edited October 9, 2010 by JerryLevine

[MBOGO]

Jerry,

What is cotton wool? I that the English way of saying flannel?

[8thsinner]

http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Baby-Cotton-Wool-Balls-200-Pack_924008/?CAWELAID=334516152&cm_mmc=Shopping%20Engines-_-Google%20Base-_---_-Boots%20Baby%20Cotton%20Wool%20Balls%20200%20Pack

[Ferg]

Fascinating!

Thanks guys. There is a whole 'culture' here that people outside the military know little about. Can anyone else add anything? Stories? History? Where did the idea come from? Does anyone still do it?

Ray

I was in the US Navy and served on board about half dozen flight carriers. We wore flight deck shoes with a sole that resembled suction cups, so you didn't slide off into the ocean

Unfortunately, the shoes/six inch boots, were a suede finish. During down times I polished the toes of many boots. Only polished back to the first stitching. I used brown KIWI shoe polish and spit.

Soon I was being asked by everyone to do their boots. Finally just showed them how to do it. The finish could eventually become a good 1/32 to 1/16 inch thick. If you didn't kick any bulkheads with them

you could expect several weeks of use from them before re-polishing. I used an old T-shirt to apply the wax.

ferg

[JerryLevine]

Jerry,

What is cotton wool? I that the English way of saying flannel?

Not really sure how to describe cotton wool in American! Definitely NOT flannel, though. It looks like cotton candy/candy floss and is used to dab on disinfectant, lotions, etc or by the girls to take off make up. This link might help:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cotton-wool.htm

Anway, in the UK it comes either as balls, which look very like cotton bolls just before they're harvested off the cotton plant, or as a roll. I either take a pinch of the cotton wool or a complete ball to wet it under the tap for tapping down.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Jerry