It would be great if everyone could put down their method of shoe polishing here.
I intend to create a document with a long list of shoe polishig techniques for the cadets in my squadron and in my CCF so that they can find one that works for themselves
or encourage everyone to produce videos so you can actually SEE the process 
that would be better but I imagine that that’s unlikely to happen
Basically the same, and I wish it was as quick as that: https://youtu.be/V6WOaR_aI5s
Add a layer of polish, dry, add another layer, dry and then you guessed it cotton ball with water and start bulling the polish. If it’s not shining then I go back to adding more layers of polish and cotton wool bull until I’m happy. I find when I get a decent shine that I require less layers of polish each time I have to give them a seeing to.
Never, ever used cotton wool; my NAAFi duster still survives & magically beats all other types of cloths.
Brush polish first to eradicate any loose polish, etc. Polish brush first, then “shine” brush.
My preferred technique is to start off with quite a damp section (fingertip size of course) of the duster, & a smear of polish, slowly decreasing the amount of water / polish until the duster is fractionally damp.
EDIT - I found it better / quicker if the polish was cool & the water cold (even to the extent of using an ice cube). Keep a separate tin of polish for the toe caps / bulling ONLY - use a separate tin for the brush polish - stops grit, etc, getting into the toe cap tin…
Welt / brush cleaner a good idea too.
I use an old or cheap toothbrush for the welts.
I second the use of cold water.
I use cotton wool for three purposes - taking any dust or debris off (toecap under running tap, move it about then drag a wool ball around the top and then around the sides without applying pressure), for the rest of the shoe leather, and around the sides of the sole/welt. Have a tin just for toecaps.
I don’t bring the rest of the shoe up to a full shine and neither do I use a full bulling technique, but simply “rubbing” polish in brings the upper up quite nicely.
Selvyt cloth for the toecap.
Something a lot of people neglect and a common reason for toecaps “going bad” is storage - a cool, dry place, in a box is best. Certainly don’t leave them in the main compartment of a car (boxed or not) on a sunny day…
Another factor is age and condition of the polish - if it’s cracked (through shrinkage) in the tin then it’s more likely to flake and cause scratches. The big tins are often a waste.