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Treating leather boots?

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Odyssey said:
I'll treat my boots and add them to the tripping gear pile, along with some wool socks and work pants.
Click to expand...

That brings up a question. How/with what do folks treat their leather boots?

I expect I am behind the times, because I have invariably treated and waterproofed my leather boots the same way since the 70’s.

Clean out the crevice crude with an old toothbrush. Rub the (warmed) boots with Sno-Seal, using another old toothbrush to get it into the stitching and folds of the tongue and lacing flaps. Wipe off any excess and sit the boots in a warm place for a day or so if time allows. (Old toothbrushes make handy shop tools for a variety of uses).

Well, maybe not invariably. I read about and tried using silicon spray on the stitching before the sno-seal waterproofing coat. I didn’t notice any enhanced waterproofieness, and was not convinced of the advisability of silicon on the thread or leather.

Better products/better method?
 
Same here, Sno-Seal, but I use a hair dryer to warm up the boot and the Sno-Seal it really soaks in!! But before that I usually SeamGrip the stitches where needed( hight wear areas). And toothbrush are great for all kind of things!!
 
Deer tallow for me. Seems to be the most long lasting & waterproof treatment , plus keeps leather supple & increases longevity. Pair off all the back fat slice into small cubes and render it down ,put up in mason jars , refrigerate & it lasts indefinitely.
 
Tooth brushes are incredibly handy little tools! Yeah, I follow the procedures Mike outlines above, except I ran out of Sno-seal, so I used Kiwi Dubbin this summer instead. After the wet trip this summer I found my boots to be worn and dried, but in good shape. A couple evenings I dried them a bit over the fire. Best to be extra careful doing that. They need treating before next year. To be fair, I wore them again the following week in the rain in Temagami. I might start taking along some Sno-seal, and treat them more often than once a year.
 
I don't wear leather boots canoeing, but wear moccasins and leather packs a lot in all weather while practicing living history. I have tried all the commercial and primitive methods and by far the best boot waterproofing and treatment I have found by far is pure mink oil and bees wax melted together app 5 to 1. Heat the boot a hot as you dare, and brush the melted mixture on. The first time it will soak up several coats, but after that twice a year touchup does it.
Turtle
 
Another good reciept but only for dark leather is the old norwegian sailor blend of cod liver oil and pine tar, plus everyone has ingredients around the home.
 
I have deer tallow here also, but only an old pair of combat boots to use it on at present...good project for this weekend.
 
Digging around I found a tin of Kiwi mink oil. Kiwi is the brand name. This product contains mink oil, silicone and lanolin. Here's what I found on the www:
Thanks so much to the poster that said use an oven. I even tried a hair drier which didn't work. I've been using this stuff since I was a kid and never knew how to apply. I did make a couple modifications on the posters instructions and it worked well. This is how I applied the mink oil:

1. I tucked the extra part of the laces into the top of the boot.

2. Rub the mink oil in by hand, use a good amount and rub it well into seams especially.

3. I removed the top over rack and moved the bottom rack to the lowest spot. put aluminum foil on the bottom rack.

4. I heated the oven to 160 degrees F. Once it was heated, I turned the oven OFF and put the boots in. I left the boots in about 18 minutes minutes with the oven off and the door SHUT.

5. After my timer went off after about 18 minutes, I took the boots out and let them cool. Once cool, the leather surface was completely dry and not oily at all. And the boots hardly had any smell either. All the mink oil was absorbed in the leather. Even the aluminum foil wasn't oily, it was all in the boots. And the leather was dry with no visible mink oil. And I used a lot of mink oil, I treated five pairs of boots (including two kids pairs) using the entire the can so I was using a lot and rubbing it in.

Notice I never had the boots in the oven with the oven turned on.

 
Mink oil Dubbin here for leather hiking boots. I like how it smells. Reminds me of my youth.
 
Nikwax

either the wax paste or the water based. I like the latter because you can treat your boots when they are still wet. They even advise wetting dry boots first as it helps the treatment find its way into the areas that are no longer waterproof.
 
4. I heated the oven to 160 degrees F. Once it was heated, I turned the oven OFF and put the boots in. I left the boots in about 18 minutes minutes with the oven off and the door SHUT.
Click to expand...

Some might wonder how using a non-food product would hang around in the oven. I'm curious about the results of baking something in the oven afterwards? How would it taste? Time for a oven clean cycle for sure.
 
Yeah, I was a little amused and skeptical about oven warming leather boots. I won't try it, but I think I understand the principle of warmer leather to absorb the treatment. I just use old fashion hand rubbing, and let room temperature drying do the rest. I'll try the mink oil product.
 
just get them warm first. hot sunny day or heat lamp will work. after treatments a CAREFULL application of a heat gun fully absorbs the stuff. I tried plain mink oil with and without silicone without satisfaction.
Turtle
 
If you use Sno-Seal, you don't have much of a choice to warm the boot up cause that stuff stay super tacky if just rubbed in! I use a hair dryer set on high!
 
From my LL Bean employment I remember on the phone that we advised customers NOT to use Snow Seal. The memory is fuzzy but something about the leather pores getting plugged
I thought leather was dead and no longer needed to breathe
 
I don't know about the reason not to use sno-seal, I've used it for years, stopped using it cause I was using Nikwax, but never been happy with the results, so went back to sno-seal, and since then I'm a happy camper. I basically use my main hunting boots as rubber boots and can be in the water for many hours an inch from the top w/o having wet feet!! The bean boots and the Bama socks is the best combination I found for in and out of the boat. If I have to go deeper, I have a pair of Kokatat dry bibs with integrated socks that I put on and I'm dry to above my waist all day long!

When our Dollar gets a bit better( like over $0.85 in the dollar, I will buy a pair of these http://www.schnees.com/product/schne...nees-Pac-Boots
in the 16 inches with a light insulated liner!!
 
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I'm old school; I still use Dubbin! clean the boot well, with saddle soap and water (I get them from a local harness maker), wipe it all off, let dry overnight, warm slightly with a hair dryer, rub in the dubbin with an old towel, rewarm with the hair dryer and repeat until the leather's shiny, 1 final rewarm and good buffing and you're good to go. My 35 yr old Sorels are still going, although the rubber toe caps are a multitude of colours from replacing missing chunks with whatever silicone I had open at the time.
 
yellowcanoe said:
animal products seem to be the best. Sno seal not so much
http://www.limmerboot.com/care-parent.html
Lots of info here even if you have a different brand boot.
Click to expand...
I definitely second the Limmer approach. I was at the Limmer shop only two days ago this past week.

After a very pleasant hour long chat with Ken and Pete, I ended up buying a pair of leather shoes and two pairs of hiking boots (for me and my wife). There is no more comfortable fit than a Limmer fit. My old Limmers are still working well, but beginning to show their age so I decided to get another updated pair. Limmer grease has kept my old Limmers, and a couple of other leather brand boots, completely waterproof and comfortable for many years. More to come.
 
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