Hi I am a new air cadet in Sussex, I would like to know the best way of polishing new parade shoes from cadet direct?
I have been told may different way of polishing the shoes like with fire and polishing cloth, cotton balls hot or cold water. All with normal kiwi shoes polish. But I would like the best way to polish the shoes for my uniform inspection as a PJNCO.
Thanks for reading and answering back
From cdt
Have a look at the other 300,000 topics about polishing shoes 
PJNCO?
Think it means potential JNCO but if youâre so new you donât know how to polish youâve prob got a bit of time to wait until youâre ready for stripes.
âRank is NOT the be all and end allâ - The best thing my OC told me.
Thought so too, but was confused as s/he said they were new as well
Thank you for your opinion about what to do about polishing for PJNCO. And yes AMW potential JNCO.
???
The unpopular answer;
There isnât one.
Thereâs no single best way. Itâs what works for you.
No 1 Air Mobility Wing, out of Brize?
Whilst there is no single âbest wayâ there are a plethora of terrible ways.
Forget setting the polish on fire. Forget layering it up and leaving it overnight. Forget basically anything which sounds complicated/risky/or totally bizarre.
Cold water, softest cloth you can find, practice.
The key is in using the right amount of polish and the right amount of moisture. Once you get the technique itâs easy but in the early stages itâs best to have someone who can do it well guide you.
As a new cadet I would hope that your Squadron should give you some practical training.
Slightly late and youâve probably been answered already - but I always use a microfibre cloth, black kiwi polish and cold water. I get a fair bit of polish on my cloth and go in small circles until I give up or it looks good enough, then I go ham bulling it. I use water on the polish-covered microfibre cloth, rather than putting water on the shoe first. Not sure if this is the best way, itâs the way that works. Iâve had my shoes since around November and have been told theyâre a âgood effortâ (I havenât polished them since the start of March) so, my method works ok. Hope this helps x)
It is very much Individual technique based on personal experience. I bought a secondhand pair of shoes*** as an emergency replacement for a cadet (VIP visit that same evening), brushed polished the toe caps to âkeyâ them, then spent about 7 mins polishing each one. Best I could do in the short ârescueâ time, I didnât have longer as I had to dive off to sqn.
I used an old (soft) duster that hadnât had polish on it for about 2 yrs, Parade Gloss polish - & my top secret tip, an ice cube in the water in the tin lid to keep things cold. 
ALWAYS water on the cloth, in decreasing amounts as things build up, only just a drop or 2 with a very small smear of polish as you finish off.
*** Indirect recommendation - Cambridge surplus supply shop has moved to near Barton, on the main road. Very good service.
One of my cadets constantly gets scratch marks on his shoes while polishing. He runs them under water to clean before polishing and uses a polishing cloth on decent shoes. Any ideas how to fix this for him?
Invest in a sylvette cloth. Then for the final few coats of kiwi black use soaking cotton wool with very little polishâŚi mean hardly anything. This will ensure scratches are filled. Then bull with a freah piece of cotton wool to ensure polish is fully bulled. Slightest grinding feeling change cotton wool or new piece of cloth
Cheers iâll let him know. I know he currently uses a Selvyt cloth.
Might be worth soaking it andbthen put it on a high temp wash
Dried/flaky polish can cause issues too, or dust in a tin left open. Sometimes looks ok in the tin. Keep visually checking the cloth/cotton wool and feeling for the grinding.
