Leather Boot Care

[Mike Goetzke]

I have some natural tan leather work boots. What kind of treatment (cleaner/conditioner) would you suggest? (I see too many options online)

Thanks

 

[Mini Me]

Clean and polish every day, nothing else needed.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Clean and polish every day, nothing else needed.

Thanks - what polish do you recommend?

 

[rmwarren]

Neatsfoot oil works great.

RMW

 

[rvieceli]

Nestsfoot oil does work great but can darken lighter leathers. Might want to test some place hidden to see if you like.

Ron

 

[Packard]

Neatsfoot oil will also soften leather.  If you don’t want that to happen, choose another option.

And saddle soap is a soap, and that can be harsh on leather.

There are a lot of commercial preparations out there.  I stick with Lexol.  It has been around for a long time and I have had good experience with it

 

[twistsol1]

I grew up near Red Wing Minnesota, close to the Red Wing boot factory. I've been using their all natural boot oil on my work and riding boots for 50- years and have never had cause to look at anything else. I used to reapply every couple of weeks when I wore work boots every day, but now that I'm an office dweller, far less often ... probably every three months or so.

 

[bobtskutter]

I use Grangers G-Wax on my walking boots and Nikwax spray on suede type boots.

Regards
Bob

 

[WillAdams]

One other thing to consider is to buy two matching pairs --- if you alternate their wearing, this will far more than double the longevity of a pair alone because the increased time between wearings will allow them to dry completely.

Any decent clear or tan/brown polish will do, and at need, clean w/ saddlesoap.

 

[Packard]

I used to use saddle soap, and it has been around for a couple hundred years.  But a while back, I read it was an actual soap, with a PH of about 10, so quite alkaline.

The article explains it (though it reads a bit like a Lexol advertisement). But other online literature backs it up, and this one does a good job in explaining.
https://www.mannapro.com/equine/busting-the-saddle-soap-myth

pH. It’s important to understand the importance of pH in the leather cleaning equation. pH measures the acidity or alkalinity of a substance on a scale of 1 (highly acidic) to 14 (highly alkaline), with 7 as the neutral center point (pure water is a 7). The scale is logarithmic, meaning that a substance with a pH of 6 is 10x more acidic than water, and a pH of 5 means that the substance is 100x more acidic than water. Leather is acidic, with a pH typically between 4.5 and 5.0. Saddle soaps are typically highly alkaline, with a pH of 9–10. When you bring an acidic and an alkaline substance into contact with one another, a chemical reaction occurs as the two try to neutralize each other and come into balance. The occurrence of this reaction due to the regular use of saddle soap will cause your leather to harden and darken, and can weaken both the hide and the stitching of your saddle.

 

[Mini Me]

Clean and polish every day, nothing else needed.

Thanks - what polish do you recommend?

I don't live in the US so I can't help with a recommendation. My experience is from my time in the army and it works. 

 

[Packard]

My old climbing boots got waterproofed before each outing—about 6 months apart.  I rubbed in something that resembled really thick Vaseline especially formulated for waterproofing boots.

Wet feet can doom a climb once the temperatures drop below freezing. It could mean farewell to your toes too. 

I had a new back pack once that was pinching my shoulders and I lost the very tips of two fingers to frostbite. The straps impeded the blood flow to my arms.  Only the fleshy tips of the fingers were lost.  They first turned black, then hard, then fell off.  They still hurt in the cold and that happened 45 years ago.