Can You Mirror Shine a Shoe Using Powered Tools to Make it Easier? 

Alfred Sargent went out of business during the pandemic and their inventory was appears to have been acquired by creditors. The family and some investors purchased the factory machinery and are now making shoes under the Paul Sargent name.

I used to shine shoes (professionally) when I was 13-15. The reason you won't get a mirror shine with any of those brushes is because of the hair filament size. It's like trying to get a mirror shine with 600 grit sand paper.

There was a shoe shine place at a food court in Irvine I used to go to 20 years ago. The guy had an air gun or power drill of some kind with an attachment, and this guy did the best shines with it I have ever seen before or since. $10 and 15 minutes. It was incredible. I've spent 20 years looking for the tools he used and have yet to find them. But I know it exists (or can be done) and it works better than anything I've ever seen. I wish I had asked them about it before they moved out, but I was new to it and didn't realize how special his work and tools were.

When I was in the Army, I used strips of cloth diapers wrapped around a dowel in a drill to do my first heavy duty polishing on my brand news boots and low quarters. It made such a good first layer, that it was extremely easy to bring back a good shine quickly after that. Hardly spent any time at all on my footgear after that initial polish. All I had to do was rub some polish on with my finger, let it dry and then whip it with a polyester, or nylon sock after that.

You can do an almost mirror shine with tools, but it wont be like the real deal. First, you need a silk wheel: i have one on my finishing bench and they're not so easy to find. Then, forget the polish and use pure beeswax or carnauba wax, put on the wheel itself. Then you use the wheel at low RPM to saturate the leather with wax. It's wonderful for bookbinders, not so formidable on aniline or box. Source:i work as a shoemaker since 2012.

It’s truly a talent learned by experience and reputation, a skill which the Army no longer uses! I enjoyed mirror shining my boots and took pride in the result.

Because I'm an auto detailer, I've always pondered as to whether or not I can/should use a mini-polisher for shoe-shining. Just have to be careful not to burn the leather.

Great video! When I was in the Air Force in the 80’s we were issued combat boots with a capped toe. I was able to get the mirror shine on the toe cap using - black wax, horsehair brush, water, and buffing cloth. But the secret ingredient which appeared to get the wax to layer up and provide the mirror shine was panty hose applied with a buffing motion over the toe.

Preston, on the cotton buffer head, hit it with a lighter real fast and blow it out and it removes all the lint flyaways… I do this all the time on my wool dauber’s. Best way to rectify.

I may have found a way! I use a very fine cloth buffing wheel on my bench grinder to do the majority of the shining when I wax (aka burn down, look it up) my drill boots. The wheel is made up of multiple layers of soft cloth stacked on top of each other, which you then use the edges of as it rotates. Although I’m working on a pretty thick layer of beeswax (which was applied hot, so now hardened) the wheel does get close enough to a mirror shine that a minute or so by hand is enough to finish it off. I think this could probably work on a show that hasn’t been done with beeswax if you: •ran the wheel very slowly (and made sure it was the softest available •applied the polish only one or two layers at a time and buff each application to the highest shine possible as you go, rather than doing the majority at the end •and didn’t use any water, as I’ve had better results by just touching a block of beeswax gently to the buffing wheel for lubrication. Like I mentioned, I’ve only ever used this in scenarios where I’m polishing over a thick layer of hard beeswax, but I really think with a little adjustment it could probably work for normal shining too. Hope there’s something in there that can help 👍

Thanks! What you said about kids is true, time flies by really fast, enjoy those moments!

I'm so glad in a way that method didn't work I knew it wouldn't the only true way to a mirror shine us patience and practice which I have both been doing mirror shine since my service in the military 1976 and I still take pride in my shoes...there are no short cuts ..great video

Been following your channel since almost the beginning. Love your content. Honestly your ice and ipa water method is still the best out there for a mirror shine.

Loved the ending about living every moment - with your family at the end. .:)

Thank you for your integrity! Excellant shine! And saving me lots of lint!

I use a powered horsehair brush to get mirror shine on boots for the law enforcement academy. The rpm is alot lower than the one you used, I use Lincoln shoe polish and a heat gun. I finish my shines off with spit and a cotton t-shirt but the brush does 95% of the job. Great video!

I use a battery powered mini car polisher that has a head that is horizontal to the shoe rather than vertical. The polisher has a maximum 2800 rpm speed and I run it at about half speed. I don't have a lint problem. But it only provides a good base shine rather than a mirror shine.

I may have found a way! 1 use a very fine cloth buffing wheel on my bench grinder to do the majority of the shining when I wax (aka burn down, look it up) my drill boots. The wheel is made up of multiple layers of soft cloth stacked on top of each other, which you then use the edges of as it rotates. Although I'm working on a pretty thick layer of beeswax (which was applied hot, so now hardened) the wheel does get close enough to a mirror shine that a minute or so by hand is enough to finish it off. I think this could probably work on a shoe that hasn't been done with beeswax if you: •ran the wheel much slower than I do, of course making sure it’s the softest available •applied the polish only one or two layers at a time and buff each application to the highest shine possible as you go, rather than doing the majority at the end •and didn't use any water, as I've had better results by just touching a block of beeswax gently to the buffing wheel for lubrication. Like I mentioned, l've only ever used this in scenarios where I'm polishing over a thick layer of hard beeswax, but I really think with a little adjustment it could probably work for normal shining too. Hope there's something in there that can help 👍

When I was in the Army, there was a method that was used by a few soldiers that seemed crazy. You would cake on a bunch of Kiwi on your boots, and then "bake" them in an oven (I don't remember what temp) and it would create an almost plastic-like mirror polish when you finished them.

HILARIOUS I have been using an electric drill exclusively just for polishing my work shoes ALWAYS does a great job.

Good video. The burnishing process and the smoothing and glassing over of the wax with the soft cotton cloth is integral to that hard shine.

Regarding the fuzzies you get from the felt polish pads: You can limit those by applying a quick sanding to the pads. Start the felt pad spinning and apply some sandpaper. The fuzzies should latch on and leave you with a cleaner felt pad. You /should/ be able to then use the felt pad (at low speed) to get a much finer shine than the horsehair brush wheel gave you.

Wonderful nothing like elbow grease.

More water on the brush. You've put the same amount of water as with the shamois yet the surface of the brush is dozens of times bigger. The ratio was off. The idea is there so it MUST be possible somehow. Again, great video, thanks for exploring.

I think the problem lies in the materials. Short fiber cotton is bound to do exactly what it did: throw lint all over the place! I had one beautiful mirror shine *ruined* by a single piece of lint, captured for all to see, in the clear glass of the shine. You do *not* want to know what I said when I discovered it! You may have more success if you try putting an old merino wool sock over the polisher. I use one, by hand, to finish and maintain my shines, both mirror and satin, and have had no problems. Who knows; maybe the animal recognizes the other animal! Other than that, it's best to stick with 100% cotton t-shirts or chamois. I think that Dremel attachment was meant for polishing things other than shoes. It *was* a fun video!

Beautiful family ! Thank you for sharing these videos with us !

Preston, great video and thanks for taking the drive. Mike at the factory and Enrique (the finisher) were only producing a high gloss shine, not a mirror. I don't think they were actually trying for one, but I think the actual finishing we do by hand is not what the machines can make. The high gloss in the factory comes from the special polish and the buffer Mike was using which was different than the other buffers in the factory. I think your videos show the most important and best ways to the mirror. The number of layers of wax was the key for me. Keep up the great work, my friend.!

What about using a desktop wheel buffer with a nice cloth wheel. You know the ones that look like grinders with a wheel on both sides. You can adjust the RPMs and since it is stationary you can move the shoe around the wheel rather than opposite. It would allow you to have more control and reach all the nooks and crannies.

If you had a fabric wheel that would most likely take it to a mirror shine. I'm not sure if the same principle applies but when sharpening knives one changes the grit of the stone until the scratches are indistinguishable to a mirror finish. And people do use Emory cloth to polish things as well.

In my opinion: Been watching this channel on & off again. I like the guy & see him struggle on the quest of the quick best shining methods. It's like this: 1.) Dry brush clean. 2.) Alcohol based dye the damage the same color. 3.) Rub out the surface scuffs with pine wood (leather is uniformed this way). 4.) Redye to a uniform color. 5.) Apply a high gloss clear/neutral polish haze over the entire outside. 6.) Brush to bead up the polish. 7.) Draw a nylon stocking across the large areas for a mirror shine. 8.) Continue to brush off the ashy polish flakes as you wear the shoes & nylon shine routine until the polish loses its ability to shine. 9.) Repeat every third wearing. The color needs to be in the leather, not on top. Pigmented polish stains clothing. Polish helps leather dry uniformly & keep it soft. You must rotate shoes with leather uppers every three days to keep the leather from bunching/stretching/fraying at the bends due to sweat saturation & keeping the contact cement from releasing. Can't wear the same shoes every day no matter the shoe/boot if its supposed to last. They do make power shoe buffers, but those are for paraffin waxes - not bee's wax. Kiwi would be OK being they offer such a machine. Kiwi is a thick cake type of wax I'm not partial to. I like Saphir Admiral Gloss Neutral polish. Would like Saphir Medaille D'Or Mirror Gloss, but it's way too expensive for a shoe polish. Where did those wonderful shoe trees come from?

First, don't use any high speed machine. Second, don't use any harsh materials. To be honest, machine shine is definitely possible but you have to find the right combination. I will suggest you put a soft sponge onto a lathe and adjust the speed to a low setting and give it a try. Otherwise use those 12v handheld drills.

I really enjoy your videos. I was in the army back when you had to shine boots. I loved the mirror shine. Now I am a motorcycle police officer with a very tall boot that needs to shine everywhere. Any tips for a mirror shine that has to be out in the weather?

Shoe shining is so satisfying

This was a fun video. I shined some shoes the other day, the sun really helped to melt the wax.

Being in the Army we used to have to get our Parade boots like that, we used to sit around for hours at basic training with ta tin of parade gloss boot polish a wet rag to get our boots to look like that. However after basic training I was shown by a senior soldier a quicker easier method by using black gloss kilrust spray paint, just do it in small light thin coats and put them in a large cardboard box to dry overnight, repeat until you get the desired look... Even got a well done from the CO on my boots.

I've been using high quality buffing pads for 10 years. If there's a difference between the machine and hand polishing, that difference is lost within 10 minutes of wear.

I concur. What a beautiful family. You sir are blessed!

I got a show polisher for graduation in 1970. I still use the brush attachments to polish shoes today. It is a right angle unit with 2-3" brushes, one black and one for brown. The pads for polish are long gone. Perhaps a right angle buffer as used for car detailing would be best. The Dremel is too fast and not enough torque at low speed.

Such a beautiful family! Wishing you all the best!

Nice job keep up the good work Lil bro 💪 👏 👌 👍 🙌.

When I was in high school (way back mid last century) it was a really big deal to have mirror shined shoes. I could never get the spit shine thing down. I started shining my shoes with Lincoln polish and a lambs wool on a drill. When they were as shiny as I could get them, I followed with simonize car wax and the lambs wool. Nobody's shoes shined more than mine. They weren't expensive shoes, and no-one's shoes last very long at that age, so while I never saw any damage to the leather, I'm neither recommending this method nor recommending against it.

Could you do a video on how to go about polishing shoes with contrasting colors?

I love your channel. Now that we are meeting in person again I need to take care of my shoes. With all the difference waxes (admiral, mirror, Oro etc) just saying “navy wax” doesn’t tell me what to get. Could you link to the exact products you use?

Cotton ball is what I used in the army, looks great. Heat gun, cool. Better than a lighter.

I think the rpm needs to be lot lower to achieve a mirror shine. At the current speeds the friction is causing the heat to take the layers away. I have always wondered and was kinda hoping this works

i was in the army before we switched to the "moleskin" tan boots. i bought one of those shiners at a garage sale and it was the best $3 i spent while in the army.

I have a bosch drill and bought a circular brush from aliexpress that you can fit on the drill, and shoe shining becomes so easy for me, that I don't need a wax to make it clean and shiny. You need a brush with smooth bristle. I tried with cloth but I preferred the brush.

Try again with the Dremel using the more solid lint attachment. From the video it looked like you used some sort of rotary brush (can't be sure). The lint attachment could work. Probably you need to dip it into the water though. The spinning motion would push out most of the water almost instantly, hopefully leaving enough humidity in the lint. BTW, I'm not an expert of shoe shining, just someone with decent DIY experience to get a sense of how to replicate the basics of one process using some other tools. I'll try it myself. If I manage to get a decent shine, I'll let you know.

Hell yea, never seen a live from you, this is great!

Dear Preston great videos. I just buy my first pair of oxfords and I'm looking for shoe trees for them. But, I'm a little confused about the size that I need. My shoes are size EUR41. So, what is the length of the shoe threes that I need? I someone in the community can help me, that will be great. Best regards Luis

Why did you put that black polish on the brown shoe side of the automatics shiner? In military school we had to mirror shine our entire riding boots. The test was to be able to see two fingers, or a lighter or match, waist high, in full sunlight. For Boards, after questioning and inspection, before you left, they asked you to squat and the polish had to shatter off them. We just used melted polish, water and cotton balls, in smaller and smaller circles, for hours a day, for weeks.

I have no idea if this can work, but I've seen videos of people factory shining shoes, and they use this huge buffer thingy machine, with multiple buff attachements. The machine is static, they bring the shoe up to the huge belt fed buffer thingy to shine it. It's like the 2nd tool you used, only... Muuuch bigger.

You can get rid of the lint with rubbing the pad against a painters tape. Same trick painters use on rollers.

From time to time in the army recruits used to try and shine parade boots with a woolen buff on a DA sander. It never worked. There is no substitute for elbow grease.

Dremel is way too high spped,you will not buff, just burn. But off coarse youbuff with tools, its very similar to waxing and buffing a car. It also depends on the hardness of the wax. i would suspect shoe wax is soft, so a slower rpm buff would be recomended, but enamel wax can handle higher speeds, that dremel was way way way toofast a speed, if it was a heavier tool or you pressed harder you would have burned thats wax coat and even possible the leather.

When I was in High school in the 70's, we applied a thin layer of polish (Kiwi) to the tip, then lit it with a match. It looked like making flambe. Finally we used wet cotton balls in a circular motion to buff. Man we were dapper.

Well I learned spit polishing in the Australian army and have maintained the habit … you can’t get a deep pool shine using bare fingers…they have to be covered in a dust cloth as you did in the end … I had no idea there was a machine system…kiwi parade gloss is the only short cut….I agreed wholeheartedly there is nothing like a spit polished pair of shoes. People certainly notice “who” has just walked into the room.

Another great video. Thanks for this, Preston. It just shows there is really no alternative to the hard work and patience you put in and I'm delighted to see it confirmed in this way. Automating the process would also take away the meditative element as well as removing that human touch from the leather care.

When I worked I had one of those shoe shine machines in my office for an afternoon shoe touch-up. The trick seems to be to use the tool until the cloth polisher has absorbed enough wax. The lint will go and you'll get that shine. It's better for keeping up a shine than building one from scratch. Imho

Great channel. 😊 And, be sure to love your family.

I’m really sorry to say this. But I could have told you that. I served in the Australian Army for 21 years when spit polishing was mandatory. The exact reason you said. It’s gets it so far then it gets worse. The speed of the wheel just strips it off or melts it. Got to say though. You can mirror shine like a pro. We used Kiwi Parade gloss. Spread on a thick layer then ignite the flammable polish quickly to melts it, then repeat a few times. I alway found ice water or isopropyl alcohol good as the liquid. Then be patient and just circle away.

I’m a cobbler, and I use a horse hair wheel brush to start, however I almost always finish the shine by hand

Thanks Mike!

Cottonball, water, polish and elbow grease, did that in basic and tech school.

I can't tell you how many hours I've spent shining combat boots/low quarters, just to scuff them next day. I could see using power tools to bring back a good shine, but not for that first time polishing. Maybe some exotic buffing wheels with a good low speed, but that doesn't teach you the attention to detail and patience.

I believe the problem you saw with the small dremel was the rotation speed using a large wheel with the same speed is slower than a small wheel if that makes sense that is most likely why it was ripping it apart.

A masterpiece!

I had just joined the military and I had an extremely difficult time shining my military boots getting it look shiny and mirror shine. I had a friend in the military who’d just watch me shine and shine spending many hours to of no avail. He was in the services 7-8 years longer than me. This was back in the day before youtube or the internet and I could never get it shiny. Anyways till this day when I think about it I get pissed off at my so called friend and he isn’t a friend of mine anymore. There’s more to it than that but he could of given me tips on how to shine my boots. Thanks for the trade secrets I wish I knew about this years ago.

The first thing I thought of when I saw your method of coating was that heating the wax should cause you to destroy the layers unintentionally. I would be interested to know if the electric brush method would work if you cooled each layer after application rather than heating.

Try a Mens nylon sock over the buffing head....it works

12:05 I never thought watching shoes being shined would look so trippy

I suspect one can get a lot farther with machine polishing with some care in tooling selection and technique: (a) A place to look for inspiration is auto body work. Auto detailing people produce a large quantity of mirror shine every day (albeit in a optical material, automotive clear coat, that's quite different from shoe waxes). In particular, I'm interested in how a random orbital polisher with a soft cloth pad would do for you. If I ever get one (there's some paint correction/exterior detailing on my car I've considered tackling myself), I might turn it on my shoes for the sake of science. (b) You put a ton of effort into thermal management with your manual mirror shines - with the ice cubes, the slow pace, etc. All of the examples here dump comparatively huge amounts of heat into the wax. Getting better control over heat would probably improve results significantly. (c) Related: I've found in all kinds of disciplines that tool quality matters a lot to the results. I've noticed that you use top-quality materials (expensive Saphir products) but your power tools tend to be near-cheapest-possible versions from Harbor Freight. A Dremel is almost a toy! Invest in professional-quality tools with good enough speed control reduce the speed dramatically and use brand name polishing wheels. I bet you'll see a qualitative difference.

I like the your old process better

Thanks for investigating for us!

so relax ... as always

The final finish looks wet, well done!

If you wanna get the shine easy, try old wool sock for buffing.

I think a Dremel is the wrong tool for mirror shining a leather shoe. You mentioned that in the factory they were using large rollers to mirror shine shoes. As such I thing a low to mid budget car buffer/polisher would be more suitable than a Dremel.

10:40 "Yeah!" *Proceeds to acquire a lint mustache*

Muy divertido. La técnica es muy humana. Su trabajo fantástico.

Some people are just too obsessed with this mirror shine finish.

I was hopeful! Back to the regular elbow grease.

soft cotton rag, Kiwi paste and spit. still do it to my dress shoes. OOOOOOrah!

The easy way to get a mirror shine on black Park Avenues is to buy a pair of the new Park Avenues in patent leather. Personally, I don't like mirror shines, though I much admire the artistry in achieving one on a calf leather shoe. Being somewhat of an introvert, I prefer more of a satin gloss.

Hello sir I really love your videos. I'm a Los Angeles area shoe guy who would love one day to make a video with you.

I know this is an old video. (And it may have been said) But as soon as you turned on that dremel. I was like Noooo....WAY WAY too fast! You'd need a variable speed dremel running at a much slower speed for it to work that way.

A beautiful family ❤👍🏾

With a lighter, shoe polish and a cotton pad you can mirror shine any shoe in about 10 minutes tops. I’m surprised none of the videos online I’ve seen uses heat

I found that a microfiber cloth works like magic with no water and light to medium pressure

Why don't you use the rotating machine with the EXACT material you used to mirror shine at the end of the video? You used camel hair, but what you actually used to get that fabulous shine was quite different. It was a WHITE material - far from a brush. You could even wrap that white material around your personal dremel, and see if that does the trick. Low setting obviously, and it would have to be wound up VERY tightly. I can't do a mirror shine normally because I have severe shoulder and bicep pain. Let me know if you can do a video with that cotton material you used... or was it a leather shammy?

How about an oscillating tool with sanding head and cotton Shammy instead of the sand paper?

Good video

When I was in the Air Force to get that glass shine on our boots you would light the wax on fire, let it melt, blow out the flame, put the wet wax on your boot. Do that 3 to 4 time, grab cotton balls, dip in water and get to waxing on and waxing off.. Repeat with water and waxing on and off until it looks like glass. . During those times there was a sense of pride in how you kept your boots shined. Not anymore😑😭

You should design and sell a home mirror shine machine. Your audience will buy it immediately.

I'm a jeweler. We get the same lint flying everywhere with new buffs. Take a fork and run the buff over it prior to using. That will eliminate stuff flying all over the shoe.

What is the difference between Shaphir Pate de Luxe and Medaille D'or 1925 and when would i use one or the other?

What do you think about a car polisher!!

we use to mirror shin our flight deck boots and dress shoes by hand daily

I think I made a mistake/excessive with the saphir cream polish. I got black shoes, seen how The Elegant Oxford likes to use blue polish for the deeper/richer black. It was Christmas season so I thought I'd try red, and wanted the color richness and depth through the whole pair, heard wax should only be on the toe and heal, so I used cream, now the one shoe has a red/brown hue all over. I need these black for a wedding in May. Any suggestions?

This was fun to watch! I've always wondered this as well as I have arthritis and can't always handle doing a glaçage by hand. I usually use a microfiber cloth to do my mirror shines- I wonder if there's a way you could macguyver some kind of attachment for your dremel where the head is wrapped in microfiber cloth, whether that might work better? It would certainly mitigate the lint issue and I suspect might also allow you to get closer to an actual mirror shine rather than just a high gloss foundation.