#6.Polish Your Shoes

Shining your shoes on a routine basis is a necessary in order to prolong the life of your shoes. Typically, you should shine your shoes at least once a week to enhance their appearance and extend their wear.

The basic rule for shining Leather Shoes is that the shoes should be thoroughly dry or they will not be able to absorb the shoe creams properly and you will not be able to polish them correctly. Additionally, the shoes will have a dull finish if polished when wet. When cleaning and polishing your shoes, you will need a standard set of tools.

1. A coarse brush
2. Several clean cloths
3. Shoe creams that match the colors of your shoes
4. An application brush or cloth used to apply the shoe cream
5. A soft, yet thick, bristle brush

How to do it:

1. take a shoe and use the coarse brush to remove any excess dirt and dust from the shoe.
2. Once all surface dirt has been eliminated, take a clean cloth and remove any remaining residue.
   
3. take the application brush/cloth and dip it lightly into the shoe cream.
   
4. Apply the show cream to the shoe, in an even coat. It is important that the cream be applied as close as possible to the shoe's sole. If the color of the sole differs from the shoe's body, avoid getting the cream on the sole. Otherwise, if the shoe's body and sole are the same color, apply the cream on the sole as well. After the cream is applied, set the shoe aside to allow the cream to soak into the shoe. This process should take approximately 10-15 minutes.
5. Once the allotted time has passed, take the soft brush and start polishing the shoe. To polish a shoe, place your hand in the shoe and swiftly brush the shoe back and forth using quick, yet firm, strokes.
   
6. Because you are removing shoe cream from a shoe as you are polishing it, it is important that you use separate soft polishing brushes for each color of shoes that you have. Not using separate brushes causes the colors to mix resulting in discoloration of your shoes.
7. After you have polished your shoe with the brush, check it for any streaks that may remain. To remove these streaks, take another clean cloth and rub them on the streaks to remove them from the shoe.
   
8. The polishing process is complete.

Tips to polish your shoes cheaper:
Grab some vegetable or olive oil from your kitchen counter.

1. remove any dirt and dust from your shoes with a slightly damp cloth
   
2. clean the sides of your sole and the heels
3. Buff dry with another dry cloth, and then pour a couple of dabs of oil onto a dry, white, lint-free cloth.
4. Gently rub the cloth over the surface of your shoes until all the oil has been absorbed and your shoes starts to get some of their shine back.
5. For the final touch, buff the shoes with a chamois cloth to really get them to gleam..