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do you polish your boots? (1 Viewer)

matt green

Norfolkman gone walkabout
evening all, I am about to buy a new pair of boots and considering breaking tradition and going for leather.my previous boots were fabric/nubuck and lasted quite well,every month or so i would drench them in baby oil which seemed to prevent them cracking over the toe line.

I wonder how many members use boot polish on modern leather walking boots or do they just wipe them over with a damp cloth and store them in a cool dry cupbored.i also get the impression that with care leather boots tend to last longer?any thoughts welcomed.

matt
 
matt green said:
evening all, I am about to buy a new pair of boots and considering breaking tradition and going for leather.my previous boots were fabric/nubuck and lasted quite well,every month or so i would drench them in baby oil which seemed to prevent them cracking over the toe line.

I wonder how many members use boot polish on modern leather walking boots or do they just wipe them over with a damp cloth and store them in a cool dry cupbored.i also get the impression that with care leather boots tend to last longer?any thoughts welcomed.

matt

Hiya Matt,

I've had my Hi Tec Sympatex leather boots for just over a year now & am delighted with them having previously owned Nubuck boots. I tend to just wipe them over with a damp cloth as you say & remove the worst of the mud etc. I give them a polish with a decent wax shoe polish about once a month & they are still looking as good as new.

Cheers,

John :t:
 
matt green said:
evening all, I am about to buy a new pair of boots and considering breaking tradition and going for leather.my previous boots were fabric/nubuck and lasted quite well,every month or so i would drench them in baby oil which seemed to prevent them cracking over the toe line.

I wonder how many members use boot polish on modern leather walking boots or do they just wipe them over with a damp cloth and store them in a cool dry cupbored.i also get the impression that with care leather boots tend to last longer?any thoughts welcomed.

matt

I work warm mink oil into them about once a year, then hit 'em with a coat of wax polish. In between, I wipe 'em with a damp cloth. Some boots however are treated at the factory and just need to be brushed down occassionally.

Jaeger near Chicago
 
Hi Matt,

A wipe over wioth a wet cloth to remove the worst mud and then polish with Scarpa boot paste - this is a silicone based product with the consistency of toothpaste. Work well into the leather, allow to soak in overnight (no need to buff or polish off excess).

Provides an excellent waterproof layer and softens new leather too - hoghly recommended product which I have used for many years.
 
Snowseal about 3 times a year on leather - warm up the clean boots with a haidryer or something, then rub on the wax and it will melt and be absorbed by the leather. Mine are good as new after about 7 years!
 
Overdoing it with products like Nikwax aqueous can oversoften leather, best to stick to waxes - unless the leather is very hard and dry.....
 
Yes. Good old fashioned, common or garden, Dubbin. Applied daily and liberally.

Also of benefit for chapped lips and weather beaten hands,a veritable universal salve!
 
Hoolie Doolie, I had forgotten all about polishing boots. Haven't owned a pair of boots that needed polishing for ... oh ... must be 30 years or more. I'd more or less forgotten that there was such a thing. Me, I wear runners or bare feet or sometimes sandals (those velcro-equipped ones that surfers wear). Last time I bought a pair of pairs of runners (i.e., two pairs the same) was in ... er .... June 2000 (I remember the date because it was when the horrible bloody GST came in). Still wearing them. Holes in the toes now, but they should see out the summer. Good for sumer, actually, the holes make them cooler.

Always seems to me that if you have two pairs and wear them in turn, they last heaps longer. Dunno why, you just seem to get much more than double the life.

Mind you, in winter, I don't often wear runners: winter is gum boot season. Keeps the burrs out of your socks too.

Last thing: I'm suddenly reminded of something that cracked me up many years ago, and still maks me chuckle even now. My brother and I were arguing, as teenage brothers do, and getting really stroppy. Lord knows what it was about, nothing of any consequence, I'm sure, but we were up to the push and shove and eyeballing stage. Then, from over the fence, we heard a scrap of conversation: father talking to his young son, who was maybe 4 or 6 years old.

Jason! You don't polish the footpath!

We cracked up. Here was little Jason. He'd sat on the steps and polished his shoes. He'd polished his Dad's shoes. He must have got a little bit on the concrete and tried to polish it off and then got a little carried away, spreading half a can of black boot polish all over the path.

Argument forgotten, we laughed till we cried.
 
It`s worth looking after them I think the best thing to do is go to your local shop that sells outdoor clothing & see what treatment they have to offer/advise.


Steve.
 
My hubby, always wears DR Martins. He hoses the mud off and polishes them once a week with KIWI polish. They lasted him about 10 years before the souls wore out.
 
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