After your car, your house, your partner, your CD collection, the
carpet in the front room, and, er, anyway, your boots are one of the
most important investments you'll ever make. Here's the OUTDOORSmagic
guide to keeping them in top conditions with the minimum of hassle.
After The Walk
First step is to clean off any mud or debris using cold water and
possibly a sponge. Neglect this and minute particles of dirt can
penetrate the leather causing damage and wear, same with the laces,
which you should remove and rinse.
Don't forget the inside of the boot, remove loose dirt and
occasionally rinse them out too. The salt contained in perspiration
can penetrate leather uppers and damage them.
Drying
If your boots are damp then remove the insoles and leave them to
dry at room temperature. Don't stand them by radiators, put them in
the airing cupboard or microwave them, you'll dry out the leather and
damage it, at worst it'll crack and be ruined.
If the inners are damp - and modern lining materials are designed
to suck up water, so check carefully - use the old trick of stuffing
them with newspaper. Leave the paper for five minutes then remove and
repeat until the paper's coming out dry. This will remove excess
water. Never leave the newspaper in the boot while it dries. You need
to get air to the interior.
Proofing
Boots generally come with some form of water repellancy, either a
spray-type treatment or as part of the tanning process, however this
will wear off with use - often after only a few days walking - and
needs to be replaced both to keep your feet dry and protect the
leather from damage.
There are plenty of treatments around, some boot makers recommend
a certain brand, but the two products we'd suggest come from Nikwax
and Grangers. You should make your choice according to the material
of your boots.
With conventional Nikwax or Graingers G-Wax, you need to wait
until the leather's dry before applying the wax. Use your fingers to
warm and melt it, then massage it into the boot uppers. Don't forget
the tongue and the areas around hooks and eyelets, rub well into the
seams.
Nikwax also makes a range of Aqueoous products which can be
applied when the leather is still damp, which means you can do the
whole cleaning and reproofing gig in one, then move onto tea and
cakes - great stuff.
Avoid Dubbin and other oil-based treatments should be avoided as
they can damage stitching and soften the leather.
Conventional Leather
Use one of the wax-based treatments, following the manufacturer's
instructions.
Nubuck/Suede
Nubuck, despite looking like suede. is actually a reversed-type
leather, so the smooth bit is hidden on the inside. You can use
conventional wax, but this will smooth down the nap of the leather
giving it a smooth, waxy appearance. It won't damage the performance,
but if you want to retain the nubuck look, you need to use a
specialist nubuck treatment, either Grangers Nubuck Conditioner or
Nikwax's Nubuck and Suede.
Both these proof and condition the material, but don't alter the
appearance. You can raise the nap using a suede brush.
Fabric
Most fabric boots actually incorporate a fair amount of leather,
usually suede, and a waterproof / breathable lining. Either Nikwax
Fabric and Leather or Graningers G-Sport should see you right with
these. Alternatively, and this is unendorsed by anyone, simply empty
a can of Scotchguard silicone based repellant on the boots and watch
the water roll off next time out.
And When It All Goes Horribly Wrong...
Nikwax produce a liquid conditioner claimed to restore the
suppleness of dried out leather and soften new boots slightly. Does
it work? We don't know having smugly followed the instructions above
to the letter for years...
