Spit shine your car - - - technique revisited

TOGWT said:
Quote: My grandfather sold shoes for more years than the ages of everyone in this post combined!



~One man’s opinion / observations ~



Spilchy not quite so sure of the validity of your claim with this post though. LOL
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You know when you read something and it immediately sparks a memory? Well Nick's spit shine story and shoes immediately made me think of my grandfather and his decades of shoe experience. I still have all his brushes, gadgets and leather shoe shine bag. I don't know, it just popped in to my head and flowed to the keyboard like that!



Sorry about the ramble, back to the thread at hand :p
 
TOGWT said:
Spit-shine shoes (as I remember, and its been a long, long time, we used to heat the shoe polish before applying it)

Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/ Jon

justadumbarchitect *so I question everything*
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I had an old marine tell me to "fire" my boots. More of less apply a coat of wax to the boots, then use a cigarette lighter to melt the wax on/into the leather, buff like crazy, then repeat until you got the look you wanted...worked great...I don't thnk I'll do that to my car though ;)
 
~One man’s opinion / observations ~

Spilchy- my comment was only made because if you combine all the ages of the posts before my 0.02c and then add my age you’d reach high treble figures in a hurry…LOL



I talked with some of the USMC guys here at the base they still clean their boots with spit-shine and hot polish. My grandfather was in the Royal Irish Guards and taught me (RAF) how to clean and press my uniform; I think to this day he’s the one who got me started on this AR cleaning thing.



OK enough of this reminiscing… I have a mini (US version not the ‘real’ thing) to detail this week-end and I’m going to try this Wax on, wax on, wax on, wax off thing. Thanks for the insight Nick T



~Hope this helps~



Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/ Jon

justadumbarchitect *so I question everything*
 
Don M said:
I had an old marine tell me to "fire" my boots. More of less apply a coat of wax to the boots, then use a cigarette lighter to melt the wax on/into the leather, buff like crazy, then repeat until you got the look you wanted...worked great...I don't thnk I'll do that to my car though ;)
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You can also use lighter fluid instead of water with the wax, which gives a lot of shine. I wouldn't try that with a car either. ;)
 
A thought about “firing" your boots. Back in ‘52 my first issue had one pair of brogans with smooth leather and another with rough leather. We were told to put a thick layer of wax on the smooth boots and a very thick layer on the rough boots, and to then use a Zippo to melt the wax. On the smooth boots it melted the wax into the pores of the new leather, and on the rough boots it singed off some of the fuzz as well as filling the leather. I only did it a couple of times on the smooth leather, but the rough boots needed several firings. After the first few days most guys rough boots had mirror toes!



This still works on new shoes, but I’m waiting for somebody else to try it on their car.
 
I put lighter fluid on my car and set it on fire to spread out and smooth my Nu-Finish, the once a year car polish. It works great! My car is hot.
 
pocon1 said:
I put lighter fluid on my car and set it on fire to spread out and smooth my Nu-Finish, the once a year car polish. It works great! My car is hot.
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:D :D :D
 
Nick T. said:
A thought about ?firing" your boots. Back in ?52 my first issue had one pair of brogans with smooth leather and another with rough leather. We were told to put a thick layer of wax on the smooth boots and a very thick layer on the rough boots, and to then use a Zippo to melt the wax. On the smooth boots it melted the wax into the pores of the new leather, and on the rough boots it singed off some of the fuzz as well as filling the leather. I only did it a couple of times on the smooth leather, but the rough boots needed several firings. After the first few days most guys rough boots had mirror toes!



This still works on new shoes, but I?m waiting for somebody else to try it on their car.
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Spit shining your boots is an daily fact of life in the CF(Canadian Armed Forces). Only Kiwi black polish and polishing cloth is allowed to be used on crown issued boots and shoes.



The method you are referring to is known as "Burn Polish", by using a open flame to the flammable polish you are virtually smoothing out the wax in the polish, but at the same time removing much of the solvent to give the polish less motbility(if that is a word !) and faster set in time. This method is not allowed to be practiced by new recruits, but more seasoned soldiers will use it. I think this is the only difference between Kiwi's Professional line and their retail version of shoe polishes is the reduced solvent. To reduce the solvent in the polish I just set my entire tin of retail Kiwi a flame just to remove a certain amount of solvent and then snuff out the flame to obtain a reduced solvent based polish which will build up and dry faster than the original polish. I don't think car wax work in the same manner as the solvent and oils are needed to hold the protective ingredients together. Hope this helps !
 
With the revived interest in spit shining, and the odds being in favor of the weather turning nasty really fast (it is November after all) I decided to give the method a try...with #16 and NXT Spray Booster.



I was going to put a coat on the car anyway since I know the window of good weather will probably end quickly. So I gave the car a good wash, then got out the #16 & NXT Booster. Putting a finishing pad on the PC, I spread a small amount on the pad with a butter knife. Then (after properly shaking the bottle), I sprayed a mist over the hood.



Setting the PC to 3.5, I began applying the #16. Dang, did it go on sweet. I was able to cover the entire hood with that one application, it took a few minutes for all the Booster wax to be absorbed/dry, leaving a thicker than usual, but not overly thick residue/haze. I completed the entire car, using probably less than 1.5 oz of #16 and about half as much NXT Booster.



It took about 20 mnutes (including interruptions) to cover the car, so I began removing the haze. The first pass with the terry towel felt like I was going to have a real problem removing the stuff. It felt really hard and rough. But the second the nap "broke through" the haze, it wiped off like a dream. There was absolutely NO dust, and it felt so slick that I almost wish a cat would come along so I could see it fall on it's butt when it tried jumping on the hood.



I went ahead and gave the rims the same treatment, and finished the tires with Hot Shine (spray can)



Here are the pics (the wife took the 'good' camera to her grand mothers)



14912nxt_spit_shine_2-med.jpg


14912nxt_spit_shine_1.jpg
 
DavidB,



What a blast from the past! :xyxthumbs I used Beauty-Shine detailing products 12 or 13 years ago when we had a couple of detailing shops that used their products here in Santa Barbara. I had great results using the Blue Carnauba Paste Wax and Carnauba Combo Finishing Cream. Both of these products were very easy to use and I always received compliments on my car after using them. For some reason, both detailing shops went out of business and I could no longer find a place to purchase them.



I might just have to get a tin of the Blue and the Pink wax and put them in my detailing "Tool Box"!



Nick T., great post on the "spit shine" technique! Great technique with good products always produce Superb Results! :up



Cheers,
 
So let me get this straight before I try it out!



I get my choosen carnubua P21s in my case. Get my applicator, spray some QD/Water on to the part im thinking about doing. Then apply wax. Wait to haze then wipe off? Is that correct?



John.
 
I do this all the time. DavidB recommended a while back.



It also helps to get thin coats on the car.



I love using Pinnacle Crystal Mist and Souveran for this technique.
 
Please note that you will get much better results using cold water - as suggested by Brian-4DSC!



I keep a quart sized mister bottle filled with distilled water in the refrigerator in my garage.
 
Hi, Nick :wavey Great to see you around here!



Note to self: *cold* water/CM, *cold*....



4DSC is another guy I miss around here.
 
Hello Nick T :wavey I haven't 'seen' you around on any of the forums of late have you been in hibernation?
 
I have been reading of the spit shine method for months now and never took the time to figure out what it is. I'll have to try it with PG when we finally have clear weather.
 
It is great to see some of the valuable old threads reappearing like this one :xyxthumbs



Slightly off topic but what is the real difference between normal Kiwi polish and Parade Gloss
 
I tested this method out last night on my Silverstone paint. It has about six coats of Zaino and a p21s topcoat (attempting to add depth, sort of muted the silver sparkle). I threw about 4 coats on using this method, as best I could figure it out... Today, in the overcast light, parked at the coffee shop, I swear I could SEE a difference between the door and rear quarter (did the door, not the rear quarter) - the reflection of the yellow lines and the pavement certainly SEEMED darker and deeper in the door... I'll have to do some other comparisons when I've got full sun and maybe a few more coats on other areas.



If nothing else, the p21s seems to live up to its reputation of "self-cleaning"... There was drizzle and the roads were wet, yet after about an hour of drying in the garage, there was no indication on the front fender or door that it'd even been on the road. A finger-wipe revealed no significant dirt or dust. Good stuff.
 
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