Bulling Leather Army Boots

[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

[MBOGO]

I understand now, thanks guys. From cotton balls to a sheet form. I've never seen the sheet form, but used cotton balls at different times, for different things for shining boots.

[newfiebackflip]

I am in the Canadian Forces and I have been in for 10 years now.

The best way without totally screwing your boots up and getting in major crap by the Regimental Sergeant Major is a long boring and sometimes painful process of using spit, cold water, kiwi boot polish, kiwi cloth, elbow grease and a whole lot of free time.

There is no real way to cheat it, I have tried the majority of them and I have gone through a lot of boots. It will take hours and hours to even get a good base coat, but you keep to keep at it. The only good little cheat I can offer is when you store your boots, put each boot in pantyhose. This way its harder to scratch your mirror finish and the micro fibres actually kinda help the shine a bit.

This is the steps I use.

1) Put cold water in the lid of your Kiwi Polish

2) Wrap kiwi cloth around your trigger finger

3) Saturate your finger/cloth with water

4) Get a small bit of polish on the wet cloth

5) Small circular motions with the polish ( make sure when you start to feel some friction re-wet the cloth)

As the boot starts to to shine a bit don't be affraid to let a little spit drip from your mouth onto the surface. You don't need a lot!

Also as it starts to get a nice gloss go over it again with the wet cloth and more polish but this time you can make the circular motion bigger and bigger.

Your going to be going over the same spots over and over and over.

Hope this helps

[BillB]

One trick we used at the Academy to keep the shine on the toe from getting buckled when you walked and to allow you to walk normally was to take a razor blade and very carefully cut a line from one side of the toe to the other side just in front of the buckling. This cut has to be deep enough to create a "fracture line" or "expansion joint" but not deep enough to penetrate the leather and ruin the shoe/boot. In some version of boots this cut line was not needed since the toe leather was a separate piece of leather sewn on and this seam created the expansion zone.

BillB