need some help

[kilted redleg]

I was on a website that dealt with British military regalia. On the site came a shoe polish kit for spit shinning [bulling] your shoes, included in the kit was a stick of bees wax. My dad taught me how to spit shine shoes [his police duty shoes] when I got into the U.S. Army all we used was what my dad taught me, polish, cotton balls or soft rag and water. What's with the bees wax - do they melt it on the polished shoe then rub it in or rub it on the shoe? How's it done?
I apologize for showing my ignorance on this matter - I just don't get the wax.

[Me cousin Jack]

Not sure about the bees wax, but here’s a thread from last year on shinning, maybe something helpful in there.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...estions-94477/

[JohnnyO]

In my (now long gone day) we would pack the boots with damp newspaper, then melt the beeswax and apply to the boots. Bravehearts would just "dust" the boot with the flame of a paraffin torch, set to cool. Then melt the end of the stick of wax onto the boot, working in with a paintbrush. The rim of cooling wax on the welts & seams was peeled off with a pen knife before it set. The rest of us melted the wax in a mess tin, then applied with a paint brush.
The boots then "set" in a hard, inflexible surface suitable for many hours of bulling during "domestic" evenings.
I'm pretty sure there are various clips on U tube illustrating the technique if you search, "Bulling boots", or "Guardsmen bulling" type headings.
Incidentally, although the term 'spit & polish' is used, in my day it would be a disciplinary offence not to use clean water, contained in the lid of the tin of Kiwi polish.
In the R.A.F. only Cherry Blossom was obtainable on the base, and it was a tin of Cherry Blossom which was displayed on the "Kit & Bedroll" poster in the barracks. So, Cherry Blossom it had to be for kit layout. The junior NCOs used to stock up on Kiwi which they purchased out of camp and resold to recruits at a good markup.

[OC Richard]

I was on a website that dealt with British military regalia...

...when I got into the U.S. Army...

It often happens on this site that people with US military experience naturally apply their knowledge and experiences to Scottish Highland Dress and British military dress.

However there are many things that US military units and Scottish military units do differently.

The shoes, called brogues, issued in the Scottish battalions are pebble grained and aren't expected to polish the same way that smooth US military shoes do.

Here is a pair of Scottish military brogues

[kilted redleg]

Well thanks guys that clears up that question now I know - to quote my senior drill sergeant in basic training Sgt. First Class Birtchard "Need I say anymore."

[Steve Ashton]

As it was explained to me many moons ago in boot camp, the process of bulling and spit shining are very different.

Bulling was to achieve a thick, waterproof protection and spit shinning was used to produce a very high shine.

We were taught to bull the sole edges of shoes, building up layers of beeswax until all of the roughness at the sole edge was filled.

Then the polish was applied to the uppers and over the beeswax on the sole edges to create the mirror shine.

Bulling could also create a non skid surface to the sole bottom with beeswax in much the same way that you wax a fiberglass surfboard.

[Benning Boy]

I forget the exact woording, but spit shining isn't, or wasn't, required by regulation, a highly buffed boot or shoe using only a brush and buffing cloth was acceptable. Of course overdoing things is a popular activity in the Army, and spit shining was the rule and not the exception.

Spit shining actually speeds deterioration af the footwear. It traps moisture in the leather.

Corcran jump boots have a toe cap that was normally spit shined. Along the edge of this cap there are holes in the manner of broging. When spit shining they get filled with polish. We used tooth picks to clean polish out of these holes.

[OC Richard]

Here are modern Scottish soldiers showing the amount of shine possible on these pebble-grain brogues.

They're well shined, but not the mirror-like gleam that US soldiers get on their smooth-leather shoes.

[Tobus]

I won't pretend to know what the beeswax was actually used for with that polish kit, but I would think it's best used for melting onto and sealing the stitching/seams to make them waterproof, and not for using as a polishing agent on the uppers.

I've never used beeswax for polishing leather, but I have been using it for polishing horn handles. It's pretty sticky stuff, and takes some vigorous buffing to take down to a smooth finish with a satisfactory shine. Personally, I'd consider it a nightmare to use on shoe leather compared to real shoe polish. But that's just me.

On the pebble-grained military brogues, I agree that a mirror shine really isn't the thing to do on them. They can be made to gleam nicely with some work, but they aren't intended to get a patent-leather looking shine. I think the previous polishing discussion that was linked to earlier in this thread had a photo of my Sanders brogues after some polishing, and that's about as good as I think they ought to be. At least, when it comes to the way they do it in the regiments.

[Miller6582]

Spent some time in the TA (British Army Reserves). The beeswax is for initially burning boots such as ammo boots which have a pebbled leather grain. I have never found it necessary. Bulling my issued brogues was always just done with a cloth, polish and water.