Shining boots for academy

[fal_762x51]

Clean off dust. Moist cotton ball, swipe in kiwi, use nickel sized light pressure swirl motions. At about the fifth time the shine should start. The cotton ball should almost be dry on the last application. Give a breath to fog up the tip and lightly swirl again. Polished.

[BoJackUSMC]

Just be like me.... Get memo everyday....

Lincoln, cotton ball, water, and heat gun

[vflores915]

Cotton ball soaked in Mop&Glow....

[Dstompe]

Sweet, thanks for the help. Need boots, no uniform shoes or dress shoes. We start off in long sleeve uniform and have to earn our short sleeve. Napa in the middle of summer will be having me work my *** off to get out of the long sleeve shirt.

Had $40 in eBay credit so ordered up some 5.11 atac's today. Do I need to strip new boots or should the leather be good to polish out of the box?

[pretend315]

When I was in Academy (not Napa), we had to wear Rockys. I stripped them down to the bare leather (nerve-wracking on a $160 pair of new boots), then SLOWLY built up layers of polish with a little water, Lincoln polish, and an old white t-shirt. Took a LONG time, but worth it. For maintenence between inspections (daily inspections-bummer!), just a little heat, and a little polish. Worked great for 6 months, and they still look great at work. Also, as said above, DO NOT take your boots in to get them polished. It's considered cheating by some RTO's/Tact Staff. Mop-N-Glo is considered cheating by some RTO's, and eventually looks like hell. Another alternative is to have two pairs of boots-one for beaters that you shine daily, and another pair with a perfect mirror shine with few creases. Make sure your squad/classmates boots look good, and help your class succeed. The point is not to get through alone, but to work as a team and protect your partners/team. Double-check each other before inspection, and be sure to share things that work between each other. It pays off. Best of luck!

[Invisible_Dave]

When I was in Academy (not Napa), we had to wear Rockys. I stripped them down to the bare leather (nerve-wracking on a $160 pair of new boots), then SLOWLY built up layers of polish with a little water, Lincoln polish, and an old white t-shirt. Took a LONG time, but worth it. For maintenence between inspections (daily inspections-bummer!), just a little heat, and a little polish. Worked great for 6 months, and they still look great at work. Also, as said above, DO NOT take your boots in to get them polished. It's considered cheating by some RTO's/Tact Staff. Mop-N-Glo is considered cheating by some RTO's, and eventually looks like hell. Another alternative is to have two pairs of boots-one for beaters that you shine daily, and another pair with a perfect mirror shine with few creases. Make sure your squad/classmates boots look good, and help your class succeed. The point is not to get through alone, but to work as a team and protect your partners/team. Double-check each other before inspection, and be sure to share things that work between each other. It pays off. Best of luck!

You're still wearing your academy boots!?!? Those Rockys are way too heavy, I'm buying you boots for your birthday.

[DriftinG Z32]

Sweet, thanks for the help. Need boots, no uniform shoes or dress shoes. We start off in long sleeve uniform and have to earn our short sleeve. Napa in the middle of summer will be having me work my *** off to get out of the long sleeve shirt.

Had $40 in eBay credit so ordered up some 5.11 atac's today. Do I need to strip new boots or should the leather be good to polish out of the box?

Good luck in the academy! I went through Napa back in 04'. Starting off in Class A's in the summer time heat is not fun. Make sure you're that you're squared away uniform wise. The sooner you and your class as a group are squared away, the sooner you'll all be in Class B's. Remember that it has to be the entire group. You all have to shine, or its Class A's for a very long time.

IMHO, you should strip all new boots before polishing. It gives you a good clean leather base to work with. I would break the boots in for a week prior to stripping (can't stress that enough), then apply your polish. I use Kiwi Parade Gloss, water, cotton balls, and a heat gun. The more you practice prior to the start of your academy class, the better your boots will look.

[pretend315]

@Invisible Dave-hahahaha. Good times, huh?

[Unit74]

Had $40 in eBay credit so ordered up some 5.11 atac's today. Do I need to strip new boots or should the leather be good to polish out of the box?

I wear A.T.A.C. boots daily.... they shine like crap. It's a synthetic boot that does not hold polish well. They are comfortable as a sneaker though. Again I'll say on this boot, heatgun, Lincoln polish and after a while of buildup, you can basically hit it with the heatgun, 10 min with a horsehair brush and your boots will be good to go.

[Socaliente]

I just bought some underarmor boots, lightest boots ive ever owned. I just wish they were water proof.

Our academy we couldnt have boots with toe caps. So they made you shine the entire boot.

[Dstompe]

Everything I've read has said the atacs are full grain leather. They've got a composite toe also so I figured that would keep any creases from forming on the toe and flaking off my shine.

[Unit74]

Does say full grain on the website. Also says it holds a great shine....Not!

The toe box and sides are way too thin and flex by touch once broken in. I'm not convinced that there isn't a synthetic outer layer on the boots. They don't strip well and getting polish to hold on them is slightly better than mixing oil and water.

I do love wearing them though. What I am currently wearing: http://www.511tactical.com/All-Produ...-Zip-Boot.html

[Dstompe]

Yeah that's the one I got except mine have a reinforced toe, so they shouldn't flex there and flake off the polish.

Here they are: http://www.511tactical.com/All-Produ...ASTM-Boot.html

Called in to the academy and the guy on the phone said just heel and toe need to be super shiny, so I'll probably just hit the sides and uppers with a coat or two and focus my main effort on getting the toe and heel to mirror shine.

[BoJackUSMC]

First day of academy... you do not have to worry about having super clean and shinning boots because you will be spending your time in DIRT LOL..... good times, good times...

Just remember this... happy place and happy place when you are pushing in the dirt.

Also, carry extra rag in your pocket... it will come handy..

[64physhy]

You need to strip them before you shine them, that is probably why it all flaked off. Shaving cream and a stiff-bristled brush works to strip them. Once they are stripped and dried, get a good shine on them and put a very thin coat of Mop&Glow on them to make them really shine.
To get a good shine, you need to use heat on the first few coats to get it into the leather, then just a bunch of thin coats using cold water.