page_title: Shoe polish
section_title: Manufacture
hierarchical_section_title: Shoe polish / Manufacture
caption_attribution_description: English: A picture of a can of Lincoln shoe polish.
context_page_description: Shoe polish is a waxy paste, cream, or liquid used to polish, shine, and waterproof leather shoes or boots to extend the footwear's life and restore, maintain and improve their appearance. Shoe polishes are distinguished by their textures, which range from liquids to hard waxes. Solvent, waxes, and colorants comprise most shoe polishes.
context_section_description: The process for producing shoe polish is straightforward and the required equipment is relatively easy to acquire. The cost of establishing shoe polish manufacturing facilities has been estimated at around $600,000 (as of 2005).
  Shoe polish is manufactured in large, thermostated, stirred reactors. Steps are taken to ensure that volatile solvents do not evaporate. Typically, low-melting paraffin wax is melted, followed by the higher melting waxes, and finally the colorant-stearate mixture.  The molten mass is added to warm solvent before being dispensed. Wax-based shoe polish is traditionally packaged in flat, round, 60-gram (2-ounce) tins, usually with an easy-open facility. The traditional flat, round tins have since become synonymous with shoe polishes.  When dried due to solvent loss or other reasons, the hardened wax pulls away from the walls of the container giving what is known as a "rattler".
caption: A 2-ounce tin of Lincoln Shoe Polish
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