To polish your shoes properly, you will need the following items:

• Kiwi Shoe Polish (Black). You may also want to buy Kiwi Parade Gloss
• A duster, soft rag or cotton wool
• Warm water – in a bowl or cup

Once you have these items you are ready to polish. Be warned, Polishing will take hours at the beginning, a good pair of shoes is not something that can be achieved in 20 minutes. It will take you hours to get your shoes up to a high standard, and yes, it is quite hard, but follow this guide and you can't go wrong.

To begin with, you must make sure your whole shoe is free of mud and dust. Pick up your duster and wrap it around your index finger so that the cloth on the top of your finger is smooth and has no creases. If you are using cotton wool pads, fold it in half, and in half again, polishing with the straight part.

Next we need to wet the cloth. Dip your index finger into the bowl of water, so the top part of your finger is wet. Squeeze of any excess water. If you are using a cotton wool pad, dip that in too.

Now we need to get some polish onto the shoe. Gently rub the cloth or piece of cotton wool along the shiny surface of the polish.

Now we are ready to start. Gently rub the polish into the toe cap of your shoe in circular motions, covering the complete toecap, including the sides. Keep repeating these circular motions until all the polish has disappeared and does not smear when you rub over it. If the surface of the shoe becomes dry, wet the duster or cotton wool again. When you first start polishing, you will feel that the surface is rough. You will need to repeat the process above until the surface of the shoe is smooth, and remember to use plenty of water.

The circular motion is a vital part of the process. The motion works the polish into the shoe and allows the polish to settle onto the surface of the shoe. By now, you should have a smooth surface. Compare your polished shoe to your unpolished shoe. You should be able to tell between which has been polished, and the polished shoe should be much darker than the unpolished shoe.

Now it is time to finish your toecap. It is basically the same process as above, but with a few small changes. This time we will use only a small amount of polish and a little more water. These “small” layers should only take about 30 seconds to apply, and you will need to apply only a few of these layers to attain a shine.

People with good, polished shoes will not stop at the toecap. Polish the complete shoe, even the underneath. Put one small layer of polish onto the rest of the shoe, including the rims of the shoe. The polishing method is exactly the same, but do not use lots of polish, use only one layer, otherwise there will be no distinction between the toecap.

Now you should have a decent polished shoe. Repeat the process for the other shoe and make sure you spend the same amount of time on each shoe.

But it does not end there. You will need to maintain your shoes. If you do not maintain them they will loose their shine. To maintain them, simply put a few small layers of polish on your shoes before and after you wear them. If you do not do this, you will have to spend hours polishing your shoes in the future. It is easier and simpler to keep them in a high standard all the time.