Author Topic: Boot care (Read 7373 times)

Antibubba · « **on:** January 24, 2009, 03:57:40 PM »

I recent found a pair of jump boots that had been sitting in the back of my closet--Corcorans. They're a bit beat up but amazing comfortable (I wore them to my first Appleseed). I want them to last another 30 years, and need advice on how best to care for them.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #1 on:** January 24, 2009, 04:26:39 PM »

Neatsfoot oil, or similar. There are a lot of products out there. What you want is some oily stuff that you apply with a brush, not shoe polish.

bedlamite · « **Reply #2 on:** January 24, 2009, 05:44:36 PM »

Pure Neatsfoot oil, not the Prime stuff that has silicone in it. Many commercial mink oils also have silicone in them, that will dry out the leather and ruin it. I use Fiebings

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #3 on:** January 24, 2009, 06:22:49 PM »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neatsfoot_oil

Quote

Neatsfoot oil is a yellow oil rendered and purified from the feet (but not the hooves) and shin bones of cattle. It remains liquid down to a low temperature, and is used as a conditioning, softening and preservative agent for leather.

The bottle I am using now is Cobblestone brand. I have used a lot of brands, but can't recall the names. You should be able to find some at Wal-Mart, at a farm/feed store, or at a sporting goods store like Cabela's or whatever you might have in your area.

RevDisk · « **Reply #4 on:** January 24, 2009, 08:19:49 PM »

Quote from: Antibubba on January 24, 2009, 03:57:40 PM

I recent found a pair of jump boots that had been sitting in the back of my closet--Corcorans. They're a bit beat up but amazing comfortable (I wore them to my first Appleseed). I want them to last another 30 years, and need advice on how best to care for them.

I just use regular Kiwi and re-sole the boots as needed. There are also boot sealers you can use to fill in the crack between the leather and the rubber bottom. Just don't use anything with silicone in it.

Trick: If you want the parade gloss, buy a brand new pair of boots. Rub off factory coat with something extremely fine grain, do about 30 light coats of kiwi (no heat, lots of water), buff it perfect with fine cotton or silk, then put on about ten coats of clear coat, buff lightly with a fresh piece of fine cotton or silk. Rap in fine cotton, store in plastic baggies between use. Looks like your boots are under glass, very nifty.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #5 on:** January 24, 2009, 08:42:48 PM »

Kiwi is great if you want them to look pretty. But I don't think that's the best option, if you want them to last for long-term use. I could be wrong, but I thought Kiwi was actually not very good for leather.

RevDisk · « **Reply #6 on:** January 24, 2009, 08:54:57 PM »

Quote from: Mr. Tactical pants on January 24, 2009, 08:42:48 PM

Kiwi is great if you want them to look pretty. But I don't think that's the best option, if you want them to last for long-term use. I could be wrong, but I thought Kiwi was actually not very good for leather.

Not sure myself. I still have my first pair of recruit boots, issued to me in 1999. Worse the heck out of them. Before I got hip to resoling them every couple years, I wore them damn near flat. Never used anything but kiwi, and they look basically the same as the day they were issued. Not sure what kiwi would do to them over the next couple of decades, but over the course of a decade... not much.

Manedwolf · « **Reply #7 on:** January 24, 2009, 09:22:37 PM »

I revived a pair of WWII boots with neatsfoot oil, then conditioner.

Depends on the sort of leather. My Docs just get misted with a liquid saddle soap that's rubbed in with a rag, takes off the dirt and keeps them soft.

Here, you need to get winter salt off boots, it'll kill the leather quick.

Finally, if you go to a store like Agway, Tractor Supply or such, you will pay 1/4th the price in the saddle area for stuff as you will at places like Cabela's. Usually a giant container for the same price as a tiny tin!

(It was a major blow to migratory ma__holes when they canceled a Starbucks down the street and built a Tractor Supply Co....I was overjoyed. Gun safes and leather goods and tools. That's what NH needed more of, for real!) :)

Bogie · « **Reply #8 on:** January 24, 2009, 10:37:41 PM »

Hmmm... We always melted the kiwi on... Melt, buff, melt, buff, and then start hitting it with a dry cloth. Then a couple of coats of spitshine, and we had a happy topkick...

Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas · « **Reply #9 on:** January 24, 2009, 10:51:01 PM »

Quote from: Bogie on January 24, 2009, 10:37:41 PM

Hmmm... We always melted the kiwi on... Melt, buff, melt, buff, and then start hitting it with a dry cloth. Then a couple of coats of spitshine, and we had a happy topkick...

How'd you melt it?

vaskidmark · « **Reply #10 on:** January 24, 2009, 10:52:58 PM »

Kiwi is for the Army and others that do not know how to pour piss out without reading the instructions printed on the heel.

Real folks use Lincoln Shoe Polish. www.lincolnshoepolish.com

The can I was issued in Boot Camp in 1967 was purchased by the USMC in 1947, and it worked wonders. I emptied it and got a new can in 1970, which lasted until 1999. Being retired now, I do not wear anything that needs to be shined, so my current can (still about 1/3-full) will probably be buried with me.

stay safe.

skidmark

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #11 on:** January 24, 2009, 11:19:46 PM »

When I started doing work for Allen Edmonds, the marketing director gave me the tour of the factory, and showed me each step in the assembly process. He taught me all sorts of things about leather and shoes, including the obscure terms for various parts of shoes and boots.

Anywho, he told me that shoe polishes like Kiwi were bad for leather because they contained alcohol and dried out the leather.

Was he full of it? Don't know, but I use cream polishes now.

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #12 on:** January 24, 2009, 11:22:41 PM »

+1 on Lincoln Stain Wax, more pigment and a harder wax.
If you are less worried about a spit shine than longevity of the boot Try Lexol conditioner and Sno-Seal under the black shoe polish.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #13 on:** January 25, 2009, 12:50:04 AM »

I also use Lincoln, when I can find it.

Quote from: Fistful Savalas on January 24, 2009, 10:51:01 PM

How'd you melt it?

I've seen it done by simply applying a match to the polish, while still in the can, then putting out the flames, and using the now-liquid polish.

While I haven't tried that myself, I did once melt some broken-up bits of shoe-polish back together by heating it on the range. Made it easier to work with.

Bogie · « **Reply #14 on:** January 25, 2009, 01:45:18 AM »

We'd hit it with a bic lighter, and then put it out by capping it... We'd have a dozen or more guys doing boots at the same time, and a few times we got an assembly line going...

Uncle Bubba · « **Reply #15 on:** January 25, 2009, 01:49:55 AM »

If KIWI or any other brand of shoe polish was bad for your shoes then it wouldn't be on the market. Shoe polish is a preservative that waterproofs and conditions leather, hence it prolongs the life of the shoe.

Despite the chest-thumping typical of unrepentant jarheads, the only difference between Lincoln Stain Wax and KIWI (aside from minor proprietary chemical mixture differences) is revealed by the name of the former. Lincoln contains more color dye, so if you scuff the leather you don't have to use a separate dye before polishing.

If you want your leather shoes to last, clean, apply polish, and buff them on a regular basis, either matching the color or just using clear polish. Use an applicator brush or old toothbrush to get the polish in the creases. Depending on use it may be necessary to do it every day, but do it no less than once a week and your shoes will last long and look good all the while.

roo_ster · « **Reply #16 on:** January 25, 2009, 10:26:47 PM »

What revdisk wrote.

If you go swamp-wading on a regular basis, however, leather boots will give out. Doesn't matter waht you use, you can only delay the inevitable leather deterioration.

I have a pair of jungle boots that lasted me a good three years in the service, including a resole. By the end of the three years, they had severe cracks in the leather.

Then I got broke and medically-discharged. FF to today and the leather deterioration has stopped butt-cold because I only rarely in the last 10 years went wading/swamping in them.

41magsnub · « **Reply #17 on:** January 25, 2009, 10:32:46 PM »

Quote from: Bogie on January 25, 2009, 12:50:04 AM

We'd hit it with a bic lighter, and then put it out by capping it... We'd have a dozen or more guys doing boots at the same time, and a few times we got an assembly line going...

I still have a scorched Kiwi stain on top of one of my speakers from doing that to my first set of Corcorans back in the Army. When I went to put it out it tipped over. Worked good on the boots though!

Those boots became crap field boots after my squad leader got a bug up his ass and made us go full MOPP 4 with no warning in garrison on a day I decided to dress up a little (mirrored nice boots and starched BDUs). My over shoes destroyed the toe cap.

Antibubba · « **Reply #18 on:** January 26, 2009, 01:07:28 AM »

Quote

I revived a pair of WWII boots with neatsfoot oil, then conditioner.

What do you mean by conditioner? Is that a fancy name for shoe polish?

KD5NRH · « **Reply #19 on:** January 26, 2009, 02:19:27 AM »

Quote from: Antibubba on January 24, 2009, 03:57:40 PM

I want them to last another 30 years, and need advice on how best to care for them.

Are you anywhere that there are tack and saddle shops? People who sell handmade saddles that cost more than your car know how to take care of leather.

As a bonus, the local one sells Lexol leather cleaner at just over half the price I could find it for online.

HankB · « **Reply #20 on:** January 26, 2009, 09:14:53 AM »

In days of yore, in addition to neatsfoot oil, other substances like goose grease and mink oil had their adherents; anything that wasn't soluble in water that would fill the pores of the leather.

I've found that 3M's "Scotchgard" leather protector works quite well to waterproof and condition leather. (Or at least the original formula did - I'm not as familiar with the new stuff, but it seems to work well.)

Uncle Bubba · « **Reply #21 on:** January 26, 2009, 09:20:39 AM »

Quote from: Antibubba on January 26, 2009, 01:07:28 AM

What do you mean by conditioner? Is that a fancy name for shoe polish?

Shoe polish acts as a conditioner because the waxes in it permeate the leather, keeping it supple and repelling water, while its main purpose is to make the shoe look good. There are purpose-made conditioners that do only that. LEXOL makes a conditioner as well as the cleaner mentioned by KD5NRH just below your question. The leatherworkers I've known use and highly recommend both products. Follow KD's advice on where to get it.

TMM · « **Reply #22 on:** January 26, 2009, 10:58:43 AM »

i use obenauf's products for my boots. it won't shine up or anything, but my impression is that antibubba wants the boots to last, not look shiny...

i generally use Obenauf's leather oil, which i liberally swab on, let soak in and dry, and then i do a quick rub with a rag the next morning to get any excess film off. they also have the "heavy duty LP", which is a grease that you melt and rub in.

both are good, but i have only been using it for a couple of years so i can't really compare anything to it...

tmm

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #23 on:** January 26, 2009, 01:36:14 PM »

WARNING: And question:

I once had a pair of logger boots, which received frequent and heavy coatings of neatsfoot oil. One day, an eyelet fell out (the little metal ring that goes around the hole for the shoe lace). I got it replaced. Then another one fell out. My boot doctor thought the neatsfoot oil was making the leather too soft, around the eyelets. So, I don't put any oil on that part of my boots, anymore.

What think ye? Could this diagnosis have been correct?

Uncle Bubba · « **Reply #24 on:** January 26, 2009, 05:19:17 PM »

Quote from: Mr. Tactical pants on January 26, 2009, 01:36:14 PM

WARNING: And question:

I once had a pair of logger boots, which received frequent and heavy coatings of neatsfoot oil. One day, an eyelet fell out (the little metal ring that goes around the hole for the shoe lace). I got it replaced. Then another one fell out. My boot doctor thought the neatsfoot oil was making the leather too soft, around the eyelets. So, I don't put any oil on that part of my boots, anymore.

What think ye? Could this diagnosis have been correct?

Yes.

News:

Author Topic: Boot care (Read 7373 times)