How to Shine Men's Dress Shoes Like a Pro

Section: Men's Footwear - Blog

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So you’ve picked up your new custom tailored suit, accessorized it with a killer tie, and finished off the look with a classic pocket square, but what about the shoes? Your sartorial efforts are for naught if those brogues are dull and lifeless or worse still, scuffed. But what does it take to shine shoes like a pro? Fortunately for you, Montagio's got your back. Here's all you need to know about shining your shoes like the experts do.

Tools

To get that perfect shine you’ll need the following items:

• Newspaper or an old t-shirt
• Polish brush
• Horsehair shine brush
• An old toothbrush
• Polish
• Dry cloth

Set up

Play it safe and set up on the kitchen floor or another easy-to-clean surface. Tiled floors are best but the bathroom floor will do; just avoid carpets at all costs. Once you’ve found your spot, lay out your newspaper or that old shirt you never wear.

Prep

Lay your shoes (we’ll assume we don’t need to tell you to take them off) on the newspaper and unlace them. Sure, it’s time-consuming, but trust us, you don’t want polish on your laces. Now is also a good time to make sure the door is closed to keep pets and small children away from that lovely looking polish.

De-muck

Take your shine brush and get rid of any loose dirt on the shoes. You could also use a damp cloth for this step but if you do, you must wait until the leather is totally dry before moving onto the next step.

Polish

Once you are sure that you have the right shade of polish for your shoe, apply a generous layer all over using your polish brush. Use an old toothbrush to get into all of those seams before leaving the shoes to air dry for at least 15 minutes.

Shine

What you are doing in this step is removing any larger pieces of polish from the shoe but still leaving a thin layer to protect the leather. The horsehair shine brush is perfect for this job, but you’ll have to put a bit of effort into it, especially around the eyelets. Then, you can use a dry cloth to really bring out the shine if a glassy finish is what you’re after.

They say you can learn a lot about a man by taking a look at his shoes. A highly polished and well taken care of pair implies you are a man that pays attention to detail. A scuffed pair, on the other hand, signifies that even though you may have the best intentions, you might have a slight propensity to leave things half done. Now, which camp would you rather be in at a job interview or even when meeting a prospective client?

Take our advice and take care of those shoes like you would your suit, it’s an investment that is more than worth the time taken to see it through. In fact, now that you have your shoes shined up like new pennies, it might be time to put them on and stroll on down to ourSydney showroom. You'll enjoy browsing our selection of men's suits and accessories that might look swell with those nicely polished shoes.