Hang on, let me put on my old Beret one more time........damn, a little tighter than I recall......there we go.
Assuming that we are talking about wax based shoe polish, lets think about this one for just a minute. Why would you apply heat or flame to shoe polish? It would either be in hopes of melting or actually burning it, right? Neither one of these is a very good idea, either in the short term or the long term.
If your plan is to melt it, why would you want to do that? The only way to get that "mile-deep" black shoe shine is to apply VERY small amounts of polish and work them into the leather completely. The shine is a by-product of having leather that is very black and not overly dry to begin with, topped with a micro-thin layer of protective hard wax. If you want to soften the polish so you can scoop up a big glob of it and rub it all over the surface of your shoe, you end up covering the leather with much too thick of a layer of polish. Sure, when it hardens you will be able to get a decent short-term shine out of it, but it won't last. All kinds of dust, lint and dirt will imbed itself in the polish and with repeated application, it will begin to crack and flake. Bad juju.
Of course, you could just set the polish on fire. Also not a great idea. Shoe polish is a compound made up of waxes (mostly carnuba, but some also contain beeswax or other man made waxes such as parafin), pigments, oils to condition the leather and turpentine which keeps the polish from drying out. Whats going to happen when you light this stuff on fire? First, the turpentine will flash off and the polish will begin to dry out. Then some of the waxes will begin to burn (carnuba doesn't burn cleanly so it won't vaporize like parafin, but rather it turns to ash). The by-product of all this combustion will be more heat, which will break down the pigments. You have now turned well-made, chemically balanced shoe polish into a nasty mud, stripped of it moisturizing properties and full of ash and other crud. You wanna rub that on your shoes, you go ahead. Leave mine alone.
All that said, if your polish is too cold, it won't cover well. Don't keep your polish in the freezer. That should keep it warm enough. As for all those other ideas; ice water, vodka, windex, floorwax, whatever...... I've seen them all. Teaching at the Infantry school, you see guys try everything to get that mirror shine in as little time as they can. There are a bunch of ways you can get a quick high gloss finish on your shoes, but if you want to have the shine, and the shoes, last the only secret is elbow grease. Use very little polish on a clean polish cloth, work in small cirlcles and dip you finger in some clean water to keep it moist. Keep working until the haze is gone then start again. After 2-3 coats and about 30 minutes, you should begin to see the effect you are going for.
The only "Militrary Myth" I read in this thread that I will vouch for is the one about pantyhose. I've tried it, and it does work. Brings back the shine and covers any scuffs. No flame or windex required.
Chris
Who can still count his teeth in the reflection off the toes of his shoes after 2 wearings to the office.
