I used to have my shoes shined by a shoeshine boy who comes here twice a month. But when my wife suggested that I buy a shoe shine kit, I thought hard about it. It is the income of the boy that matters more than what I can save. Fortunately, the boy had moved residence to another province and I am left with my own devices. So I have been shining my shoes for many years now with the use of the shoe shine kit. Think of the money I have been saving from that.
I don't use a shoe shine kit. All I do is buy a tin polish container and use any sort of soft towel. What I do is dampen the towel then smear some polish on it. Put your finger in the towel and firmly make circles around your shoe for about five minutes with your finger and cloth. After that, grab a clean longer cloth and grab the opposite sides of the cloth. Then rub the entire front of the shoe by moving the cloth side to side quickly. That's the way I was taught in military school. It works fairly well.
I don't actually shine my shoes, I just simply wipe it with soft cloth for it to look clean. But I do shine my shoes before. However, now I don't probably I get too lazy and I think one reason is that I normally use sandals whenever I go out and they don't need to be polished since I only have to wipe the dust from them and they're good to go
I shine my shoes myself. I can hardly get a shoe shiner or cobbler near me. The best bet for me was to get shoe shining kits and use it myself. Everyday before I wear my shoes to work I ensure they are properly shined.
Your post makes me smile because it reminds me of when I was at home with my parents. Every Sunday evening we had to polish our shoes ready for school the next day. Now I am an adult and I no longer have my parents to tell me when to do each chore, I just polish my shoes when they need it or before I am about to wear them.
I used to shine them but I haven't done so in a while. I'm not really in a position where it matters how my shoe look. Though I don't shine them, I don't let them get too dirty. Also, I haven't been to church in years which is where I usually wear those type of shoes.
I can't remember the last time that I shined my shoes to be honest, but that's only really because they never need doing. I wear a different pair every couple of days, and only in work. At home they are kept in the boxes and I always make sure they are clean before I put them away. At school I used to shine my shoes because I'd get in trouble if I didn't, but now we're going back about 30 years ago!
I don't shine my shoes because I wear sandals or tennis shoes all the time. My husband does get his shoes shined by a shoe shiner in the streets when he runs out of shoe shining liquid. It doesn't cost too much to get them shined but having his own kit sure saves some money and he could shine them very quickly before leaving to work.
I always try and shine my own shoes just for that extra special touch. In fact, I don't spend tons of money on people at the airport or for a shiner service. I do it myself. All it takes is for you to invest. Buy a personal kit or your own brush, shine, and retouch materials separately. Get creative.
This may be a segueway but let me share this experience. I seldom wear rubber shoes so when it comes to public places where there are the so called shoeshine boys, I am always a target. When we were touring Saigon, Vietnam, there was this persistent shoeshine man who would kneel and grab my foot so he would start shining my shoes. On the second day there, I decided to wear rubber shoes to avoid that pesky shoeshine man. I was looking at the display in the store and I didn’t notice that same shoeshine man kneeling by my side and grabbing my foot. But this time, it is not leather wax but soapy liquid that he brushed on my rubber shoes. I was really disgusted but what could I do?
I have never shined a single pair of my shoes. My boyfriend however polishes his work boots every few months
I guess, most of the women do not do while almost all the men do as the pattern of the shoes differ. I mostly wear sandals which do not need a polish or shine. My sports shoes too only need good wash not a polish. Given that, I never done this process of shining the shoes. However, I regularly do this for the kids' school shoes.
What, shine my trainers? As you might guess, I don't shine my shoes. I tend not to because I walk a lot. I always seem to go through the soles and have to replace the shoes long before the heel or toes get scuffed. I hate getting my feet wet, and I haven't found anywhere here that will resole shoes for less than I can buy new ones.
I use a show polish and a brush to polish my son's shoes. When we were kids, we used to apply the shoe polish and put it out in the sun for some time and then brush it. But now, I don't have time to do this. I am not at home during the day, so I just apply polish and brush them. As for myself I don't use leather shoes, so I just need to brush my shoes whenever I feel that it is becoming dirty.
It is indeed a saving of money that matters most for you are no longer be bothered by not helping that shine boy who has already moved out. Well, in my case, I used to shine my own shoes every time I have to attend to a meeting or a special gathering in connection with my job. I was using a shine kit but later I used the liquid shoe polish. I know I haven't saved any money for that but I save much time in polishing my pair of leather shoes.
I clean my shies by wiping them as I don't wear those which needs shining. However, I do shine with a special shoeshine sponge with an shoeshine within it to shine other's shoes. It is the simplest way of shoe shining. As I used the traditional way of shining shoe since childhood.
I don't have shoes that I need to shine, however my husband use to have to have shiny shoes for his uniform and I would shine his. Now I wear tennis shoes mostly for the comfort and the husband wears cowboy boots (which I clean and use a banana peel on every now and again).
I do not, but now that I think about it I probably should. I am betting that this was far more popular back in the day, and these days people probably just go buy new ones. I would think you could save quite a bit but just repolishing some old ones.
I shine my shoes at least three times a week, if I am not shining then I'd just clean them. My shoes hardly get dusty or stained because I hardly trek on dusty places or use them roughly. I use Kiwi polish to shine my shoes, this reminds I need to get a new polish soon the one I'm using is almost exhausted.
That was kind of you, @Alexandoy. Back in my workplace, I'd see broken shoe shine men who earned nothing for the day and are begging for a little food to eat for dinner. It's heartbreaking. Yeah, I guess I too would spend a little bit more to help put food in these people's stomach. I think most of us will just buy shoe polish and brush to clean and polish leather shoes. I'll have to concede, though, that the 'professionals' do better at it. My dad used to have his work shoes done by the shoe shine boy at the corner and they always looked brand new. Most of my shoes, nowadays, don't require shoe polish at all, so I get to save a lot on this expense.
