How to polish bright orange boots?

September 3, 2012 10:14 AM

I'd like to polish up an old pair of orange Doc Martens. How does this work?

I know how to polish black shoes and brown shoes, but bright orange boots are solidly out of my experience zone. I've looked online for orange shoe polish and only found Kiwi polish for tan boots, which is pretty certainly not the right thing. Am I not looking in the right places? Is polishing orange boots different somehow? What should I buy, and how should I use it? Advice and (especially) links to the right products all appreciated. My google-fu has pretty much failed me here...

posted by pmb to clothing, beauty, & fashion (8 answers total)

This should do the trick, neutral shoe polish, available where most shoe polishes are sold. Of course Amazon.com has it too!
posted by Ralph at 10:24 AM on September 3, 2012

Will that also remove scuffs? The boots have gotten used and dirty, so I may need some sort of cover-up action as well.
posted by pmb at 10:32 AM on September 3, 2012

I am avidly watching this thread for advice on how to pretty up my bluey-purple motorcycle boots.

One thing I can tell you, pmb, is that mink oil is great for waterproofing. You just massage it on with an old sock and rub away the extra.
posted by cmyk at 10:43 AM on September 3, 2012

Woly has a wide range of hard-to-find colors in their line, including orange. Link is to Amazon; not sure where else it's available.
posted by vers at 10:54 AM on September 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

To take care of the leather you need an oil based product, like a dubbin or Meltonian type stuff. Avoid the kiwi products if they contain alcohols as that's bad for the leather (dries it out, increases wear at flex points and generally shortens the leather's life). The neutral she cremes will help with scuffs and tidying up but won't do any cover up.

There's This place based out of the UK which stocks the orange (and purple) shoe cremes for docs. Havent seen the same colors stocked on the US doc site, but perhaps they could point you to a retail store or do a special order or something.

There's also these tarrago shoe cremes/creams which might work for you, available online.
posted by pymsical at 11:01 AM on September 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Thanks everyone! I ordered the Doc Martens brand of orange shoe cream (shoe cream, not polish, was apparently the secret keyword I was missing) from the UK so I could be sure the color matched, but Woly looks like a great option, too.
posted by pmb at 11:55 AM on September 3, 2012

You might want to work them over well with saddle soap before the shoe dressing arrives. It remoisturizes the leather and will make it take the polish/creme/dressing better, minimizing scuffs and cracks.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 1:34 PM on September 3, 2012

Wash them thoroughly; saddle soap or Murphy's oil soap is good, but I just rehabbed cowboy boots with water and a small amount of soap. Let tem dry very thoroughly. Then use the show cream. A week or so later, use the neutral polish for a protective coat; they should look great. The beat-to-death cowboy boots I gott look amazingly good; I should have taken before & after pics.
posted by theora55 at 2:05 PM on September 3, 2012