Was always taught by my mum that I had to polish my shoes, and don’t get me wrong, seeing the difference between the polished and the unpolished side was satisfying, but I was hit by a sudden sensation of being a relic of a bygone age.
Do any other millennials or younger bother to polish their shoes, or is this a hangover from having a mum who was born during the war?
by Tillskaya
30 comments
I wear smart shoes so damn rarely that I don’t need to polish them, more need to dust them
Absolutely. It’s not just to make them shiny.
It keeps the leather in good condition so they last longer.
I only own maybe one pair of shoes that would require polishing but I only wear those maybe twice or three times a year for work.
All my other shoes are trainers, work boots or utility boots that just can thrash around in until the cows come home and only really need a bit of water treatment every so often.
Yes. But I’m ex-military, so I’ve been brainwashed into polishing anything that moves.
Elder Millennial here. Was taught to polish my shoes in a youth club in my teens.. I love the smell of parade gloss and brasso in the morning!
That does remind me to polish my work shoes this week. Brown polish doesn’t seem the same though.
I used to polish my shoes when I wore black leather ones for school, nowadays most of my shoes are either canvas sneaker types or my boots and things are suede/nubuck so need different care altogether.
When I had to wear formal shoes for work I polished them weekly or every other week. I wear boots outside of work and I polish them when I cba, but I do a good job on them.
I used to polish my shoes to a mirror shine when I had more time on my hands. Spent 3 hours on a pair once.
Yeah – I’m sick of replacing shoes and boot so I know follow a maintenance regime. Clean and polish is a big part of that.
Shoes?! Look at Miss Moneybags here.
Always clean and polish my shoes, and I’m in my 20s. Mostly down to parents who were disciplined by their war-era parents.
Yes. Former military millennial with a taste for Goodyear welted footwear.
I use shoe trees for any leather shoes and cream/conditioner/oil and a polish when needed. No different to any other expensive item, it pays to maintain it properly.
That said I’m probably the only one in the office with polished shoes regardless of age demographic
I find polishing shoes oddly satisfying on a slow evening. It’s quite nice to put the telly on and do something satisfying/mundane.
Protip – Get the Saphir stuff. It’s fantastic.
Absolutely, there’s nothing like a nicely polished shoe to make you feel good about yourself.
A gentle fluffing with a suede brush on anything suedey too..
I always polish my leather boots/shoes, which makes them look nice but also helps preserve the leather.
Yes please take care of your leather shoes! They will last forever if u do
My dad was RN so regular shoe maintenance was drummed into me as a child. When I worked in the office I would clean and polish my shoes on a weekly basis most of the time. These days I indulge less often
I reckon age will have something to do with it.
M29, but yes, I do.
Never use the cheap silicone based polishes, it ruins the leather.
Always the real stuff applied and buffed with a brush.
I’m in my 40s (allegedly millennial) and polish my shoes still. They last longer and improves waterproofing. I don’t do what my grandfather did – every Sunday evening he’d polish his shoes and stink his porch out with his pipe at the same time
I think some juniors in the office just buy a new pair when they get scuffed rather than spending ten minutes with some Kiwi. It’s not hard or especially time consuming
Every once in a while, I’ll go to town on all the footwear in the household, but neither of us wears especially polish needing footwear most of the time.
I wear combat boots on the motorbike and quite a lot of the time off it. I have chunky legs and most motorbike boots don’t fit. At the very least I try to brush off the road grime fairly regularly. It helps them last longer. I gave my trainers a good going over with suede cleaner and waterproofing spray over the weekend.
Late Gen X, and I was in the Air Cadets for 5 years. I can still bull shoes but I prefer wearing ones that don’t need it.
my leather ones yes. best way to keep the shoe in good nick.
I wear leather shoes and I don’t polish them weekly, but they certainly get it when they need it. I love the smell of shoe polish!
Every Sunday for the kids school shoes, I work at home so wear flip flops slides most the week, I used to do my football boots every week polish and dub them .
Those fly shoes are thirsty as well, I used to sell them and would constantly need to top them up in the store so they didn’t get scratched to shit just by looking at them.
My dad used to polish my work boots for me, I never asked him to he just did it, ex army driving instructor so I think it took him back to his military days. Dad passed many years ago but I still think of him doing it when I give my boots a polish, I’m nowhere near as good at getting that parade ground shine though. Always brings back happy memories.
Apparently most people in this sub don’t even iron their clothes, polishing shoes seems a stretch
I do my kids school shoes most mornings. Most other kids have clean (if not fully polished) leather shoes as well.
Yes me, my dad was a marine and taught me to do it. I do the kids school shoes and I wear a lot of leather boots, keeps them nice.
Of course I do, I’m not an animal.
Nah, not well off enough to justify buying real leather.
I’m Gen Z and I polish my shoes! Well, the ones that are leather. I think it’s a good habit because it looks smart – providing a good impression – and encourages looking after your things.