When I was a child, my dad was in the army. I remember when he was home on leave, I'd sit on the bed watching him polishing up his boots, buffing them to a high shine . As I got a little older, and started school, I would try and polish my own shoes, usually getting more polish all over myself than on the shoes, and generally making a mess .

Thats changed now, I'm a lot less messy. Now, I polish up my daughter shoes for school . The one thing that hasn't changed much in all these years is the brand - my dad used Kiwi, and I use it today .

The tin, which looks pretty much as above, costs about £1.50 - £2.00 depending on where you purchase it, and is pretty widely available in most supermarkets, and in many army surplus stores.The tin itself is a bit of a pain in the bum to open - theoretically, you twist a little bit of metal on the side and it pops the lid up, but in reality, I usually find it involves a lot of attempting to prise it open with fingernails, before resorting to forcing a blunt knife under the rim. On the plus side, I suppose this does stop children getting hold of it and having a munch, but it does make it harder for me to get hold of it too!

This polish itself is a solid set cream, black in colour, which buffs up to a high shine. I tend to apply a quite generous amount to brushed clean shoes with a cloth, before buffing off with another cloth. I don't go for military shine on my daughters shoes, but I do find that a good few minutes of buffing does produce lovely clean, shiny looking shoes, as well as covering up any minor scratches .

The polish itself does stain towels and cloths, so I recommend putting an old towel onto your lap, or polishing on newspaper to avoid staining your clothes. I also find that an ordinary yellow household duster seems to give the best results when buffing.

Overall, I would say that this is a high quality traditional shoe polish that delivers good results at a reasonable price. It's a brand my family and I have trusted for many years, and certainly one I recommend.