#stanley and sons

Polished: The Crockett & Jones “Belgrave”

I hate the clear/neutral wax polish. I find it to be much more stubborn to get a shine out of than the colored waxes, yet I feel like I have to use the neutral to get a proper luster, or “bulling” effect. In fact, I’m now trying to use it even more since I once saw Ethan Desu post that he often uses 4 layers clear, then 2 layers color, and his work obviously speaks for itself.

It’s still a learning process for me and the clear, however. I always have to convince myself “less wax, less wax,” and every time I turn out to be right. It’s amazing how much of the shine is effort and elbow grease, rather than actual polish. Unfortunately (and like most things) I learned this the hard way after too many attempts ended in dull, matte, and waxy toe-caps of too much polish. I now go with 3-4 very light, tiny rotations to pick up some wax, and from there it’s just water and about 15 minutes of work for each layer (per shoe) to really work out all the dull spots and get a shine out. The best shine usually doesn’t show til the layers of color come on, but I’m getting better with the clear…

Polished: The Crockett & Jones “Belgraves”

Last night, seen this morning. Not pictured - Miles Davis “Birth of the Cool” & Bon Iver “For Emma, Forever Ago”