it is/was standard army practise
dunno whether present day polish burns though, you can put the tin in hot water for the same effect, works on dubbin and the wax for barber jackets too.
(
Enigmatic ™ Voice No More ©,
Thu 8 Jul 2004, 23:47,
archived)
oh it still works.
only i dont polish boots anymore 8D
(
Heffer foiled, once again,
Thu 8 Jul 2004, 23:54,
archived)