Not sure if it was a local issue, but when we ran a “uniform care” evening recentyl, there were several cadets (male & female) who could not get a shine on their shoes.
Easy, I thought, I’ll get them shiny in 5 mins. Nope, not with my polish / duster, nor with theirs, previous layers left on or stripped off.
The only common factor was that the brand of shoes was Grafters. Those who had second hand leather shoes (DMS, etc) = no problems.
i used cherry for ages and recently made the switch to kiwi where near the lace hole area I am having those dull patches that I am trying to use the hairdryer technique to get rid of but even with cherry polish and gloss I was able to get an alright shine now with kiwi I have a much better shine but no matter what polish they use they should be able to get a shine is the polish flaking off or is it just applying but not shining also maybe the shoes need a clean?
Yup - Grafters are awful to polish as are some other similar shoes. In my experience buying issue shoes from ebay is the best way.