Comments on: 30 Days to a Better Man Day 2: Shine Your Shoes

By: William Langdon

William Langdon — Wed, 01 May 2013 00:40:34 +0000

I am doing this challenge, keeping a really open mind, because I really want to try and get something out of it.

I have shined my shoes before back home, but I haven’t done it in a while and I never took the time to really appreciate the labor. The smell of the polish reminded me of when I was a child sitting in my dads walk in with him as he taught me how to shoe shine.

It feels like forever ago and doing it again now made me miss my father and got me wishing I could learn from him all over again.

I have finished shining my shoes, and though it took some time, I found peace in the repetitive work, and I have a feeling of accomplishment, however small, at looking down and seeing the clean, fresh, shiny shoes on my feet.

I am a new user but I am really starting to love AoM.

By: Tuttle

Tuttle — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 22:25:47 +0000

Thanks for the post, the shine of your shoes definitely reflects your maturity. I know this for a fact, because of the difference in the maturity of me and my dorm-mate, whose shoes glow.

By: Marc

Marc — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:24:02 +0000

Hi Guys

Well i know i am a little late for the 30 day challenge but i am going to do it non the less, as a kid i used to love shining my school shoes and in the army to but now i am a scuba instructor in South Africa and well lets say we don’t wear shes that require shining, so will washing all my flip, flops, or cleaning my fins or even my levis do?

Thanks for the post love reading AoM

By: Delilah Decimal

Delilah Decimal — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:18:07 +0000

My father and grandfather wore cowboy boots when I was a kid. I remember seeing the cans of polish and the brushes. My grandfather was a gentleman of the highest caliber, and the shine he kept on his boots was immaculate. I think this is a wonderful thing for men of my generation to learn as it does display their pride and thoughtfulness, both in their appearance and respect for their belongings. Gentlemen, I’m 28, I’d be impressed by a pair of shined shoes. A man who cares enough to put a good shine on his shoes has the ability to take care of a woman.

By: John

John — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 20:00:56 +0000

I have never shined my shoes and it certainly has not effected my manhood. I have a great wife, am successful econmically in a creative position, and have told everyone who has ever asked me to wear a tie to get bent. I consider my badass, scruffy shoes a mark of my manhood.

By: James

James — Sat, 22 May 2010 10:32:13 +0000

Have to agree this is a great post. Although not in the military my self ( i was in cadets) my family has a tradition going back to WW2. I think you cannot underestimate the worth of well shined shoes. It says a lot about a man and i can still remember my first cadet course where i just sat down and spent 2-3 hours polishing. Shone like glass. It taught me personally the value of handwork and the rewards that go with it.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Sat, 15 May 2010 17:06:08 +0000

When I was in the military, I found some liquid Kiwi wax in a tube with a sponge applicator. This was NOT those fake, paint-like neo-waxes that would flake off, but actual liquid wax. It made my jump boots glow. Got lots of compliments and my annual review actually got a little bump because my boots got noticed. The tube was small enough to keep in a leg pocket of my BDUs. Whenever I had a couple spare minutes, I’d pull it out and put on another coat.

By: Robert Christiansen

Robert Christiansen — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:14:22 +0000

This was something that I have totally forgotten about, my dad was in the air force and we have a large family of 6 and we lived all over the U.S. and in Italy as kids. The art of shining my shoes and or taking care of my shoes is a real trip down memory lane for me. It was a great experience for me to turn on the radio and sit on a stool and do something all the men in my family used to do together , with my dad overseeing the proccess.

By: tibor

tibor — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:31:20 +0000

Some types of leather don’t take to polish well. I have several pairs of Merrell Worldwalkers, which are very comfortable for walking, and you can even get away with wearing them in a semi formal situation, such as with a blazer and khakis. Yet, they are very difficult to shine. I remember in the military, in boot camp, they had us strip the original polish off with shaving cream, right down to the tan leather. We’d then build up a black Kiwi shine using the spit shine method. I’s painstakingly slow, but eventually the shoes looked like glass. I’ll have to try the rubbing alcohol as well as cotton pads as described above.

By: Day 2: 30 Days to a Better Man! « The Better Man Project

Day 2: 30 Days to a Better Man! « The Better Man Project — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:17:17 +0000

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