Squared away uniform tricks...

[Marine1955]

mop & glow was great untill your sgt. or co. would make you bend your shoe and the glow would crack. i know i got no weekend lib. cause of it and had to buy new shoes and have them ready for monday morning inspection

I just replied to another member's post about sleeve rolling and it got me thinking. Who here remembers their old "tricks of the trade" for squaring away your uniform?
My biggest memories are:
1. Mop'n'Glo on your boots to shine them up
2. Cutting off the buttons on your pockets and then sewing them flat.
3. Taking your cover to Mama-san in Oki for the cement-like starch treatment (I got out in 2002 and my woodland cover is still hard as a rock).

Ahh....the memories!

Share yours!

[BigPhil]

Had name tags sew on while stationed on Okinawa, 2/9/3 in 63 everything was spit and polish even then. Went to Marine Barricks Subic Bay in 64 bought a complete new issue
of uniforms, just for inspections. I still have my winter greens and my web gear. Some things just stay with you.

[DIUSMC]

For those of you serving in warm (HOT) climates and want to keep the sweat stains to a minimum. Drill Instructor School students TAKE NOTE! Scotch Guard the insides of your shirts after getting them cleaned. You will no doubt feel like you are in a plastic bag, but you will be SQUARED AWAY! Besides that's much more important !!
Carry on!

[Marine1955]

Had name tags sew on while stationed on Okinawa, 2/9/3 in 63 everything was spit and polish even then. Went to Marine Barricks Subic Bay in 64 bought a complete new issue
of uniforms, just for inspections. I still have my winter greens and my web gear. Some things just stay with you.

did the same ting at quantico va. LOL

[Marine1955]

Don't forget to clean that new web belt with toothpaste. A few cleanings and it looks great and not like a recruit's on his first day.

god i remember doing that untill the day i got out. used closeup toothpaste for a long time on my belts and crest for my teeth . those where the good old days. Sempe Fi

[groundhog 2]

Ya, I'm still showing my age, '60 to '64. We would fill a 5lb coffee can with starch and soak the cover. Could share with about 1/2 the barracks. Roll a coat hanger and let it spring open inside the cover and let it dry. Pull the hanger out and yes, with a full roll of toilet paper iron the top, then get good sharp edges around the octagon.

[Petz]

that must have been before they stiched the edges into it.

the Corps has seen what Marines do, and they make things so we don't ruin our cammies by starching them.... that's why they went the route of no-iron-needed style cammies.

[Brent2651]

- Scotch Guard inside your Charlies
- Lemon Pledge on the patton leather
- Masking tape on the creases inside the polyester trousers to help them stay sharp all day
- Metal collar stays
- Stitching the "blouse" into the lower end of your Creightons, so that you do not have to keep tucking in the slack around your waist
- Washing your cotton barracks cover and allowing it to dry on the frame
- Cutting strips of white cotton belt and placing it around the outer rim of the dress cover frame, to take up the slack as the wet cotton cover dries around it
- Bending the metal EGA attachment tab in the cover frame, so that the front stands taller than the rear
- Old school spit-shined cover brims don't hurt either
- Shirt stays
- Ironing each individual crease of the eight-point cover (before the days when creases were conveniently stitched in, as we were not allowed to do this in the old days)
- Blistex mixed into the spit-shine on the black combat boots
- Spit-shined heals and soles (NOT an easy thing to accomplish)

I've probably repeated a lot that has been stated already...I haven't taken the time to read through yet.

[Brent2651]

For those of you serving in warm (HOT) climates and want to keep the sweat stains to a minimum. Drill Instructor School students TAKE NOTE! Scotch Guard the insides of your shirts after getting them cleaned. You will no doubt feel like you are in a plastic bag, but you will be SQUARED AWAY! Besides that's much more important !!
Carry on!

Really freaks out Parris Island recruits too.

"That mother f**cker is not human! We've been sweatin' like pigs all day and his uniform is still dry!!!"

[Brent2651]

Yes! and favorite number too. lol.

Seriously did they even have anodized brass in your era. I entered bootcamp in the early 90's and we were issued non anodized brass. We had to polish everything until we got to school or the Fleet where we could buy anodized stuff, so I'm guessing you used a lot of Brasso.

Oh, and welcome aboard.

Duraglit was easier to work with and didn't leave all the white crust.

[Brent2651]

Few months back i found a single remnant of Marine issue, the web belt. It's retained a mousy dun color but it lost a good two inches of length settin in pops attic and i'm pretty sure positive it hasn't been washed in some 26 years

The color kept better if we tied them up in white PT socks for washing. This also kept the tips from getting clawed up by blue jean buttons or the washing machine's agitator motions.

[Brent2651]

I think I would have a J.O.B. box put together for all of those labeled items.... why would you wear labeled underwear?! I'd rather just have it as required and leave it alone until needed for some CG inspection.

Lost points beacause of skivvies in a J.O.B. once during a CG inpection back on Okinawa in '87. The inspector was marking down everyone with brand new out-of-the package drawers with fresh name stamps. Those with grayish, din-jee not-quite-new, obviously worn (but clean and servicable undies with less than perfect stamps) were verbally commended and scored higher. The inspector didn't like being "snow balled" with never used showroom goodies. He wanted to see how well we were maintaining daily use items. This was a trend back then. When the IG came around several months later I was ready.

[Petz]

the point of a real JOB is to see if you have the gear... not how it's maintained.

he failed.

[Brent2651]

the point of a real JOB is to see if you have the gear... not how it's maintained.

he failed.

Late 80's...they were highly interested in how well the gear was maintained for a JOB, especially the supply/Marine Corps issued items. The budget was tight...at least for 3d MarDiv on Cp Courtney.

[steelersfaninbp]

Geez where to start:
1. Yep back in the day we used a cover block after we applied the starch to our utility cover. After it was dry pull out the roll of toilet paper, iron out all the wrinkles, get that 1/2 crease in the top of the cover.
2. Black ink bottle and water to press the polish into the pores of the boots before you started on your shine. White skivvie shirts only on the fuzzy side. LMAO.
3. Bic lighter or if you could afford it Zippo. Heat up the polish until it melted got to town on the shine.
4. Lighter fluid to get the crappy polish off the shoes and get an ever surface.
5. "Q" tips to get that little space above the soles and the area on your barracks cover where your cloth wouldn't reach. "Rubbing alcohol" and the "Q" tip to get all the white residue left over from brasso.
6. Edge dressing on the soles and heels.
7. Paperclips in the tip end of the web belt.
8. Turn your buckle upside down, apply brasso, skivvie shirt on the table top and rub for hours until the front of the buckle is nice and flat.
9. 1 american nickel, "1/8" great for getting your measurements right.
10. Always roll up your sleeves before you put on that shirt. Start at the cuff and use that seem for width, roll it 4 x's and viola.

BTW, for those remember it "DuraGlit" is still sold. You just have to look for it.

Probably forget more but alas time takes it's toll on ones brain housing group.

As always, SEMPER FI, and IYAOYAS!!