How to properly take care of leather boots

I bought these Greb Combat boots at the local surplus. They are almost new, they have never been polished and are not broken in and I paid them only $45. But they are dirty and that's the reason for the low price. They have probably been worn during a bootcamp or something. I removed most of the dirt on the soles with water, a bit of Palmolive and a plastic brush.

Now for the leather, what is the proper way to wash them, and then condition and wax them to protect against salty slush, oil and water?

I've read that using regular soap is bad for the leather because it's alkaline. What is the best strategy for taking care of them boots? I was thinking to use Lexol-pH cleaner then Lexol conditioner and then somewhat waterproofing them with wax (less breathable result) or silicone (more breathable) or something but it's not clear...

Any advice welcome

Thanks
Frankie

My most humble opinion: The boots already have a layer of protectant on them just by the fact (assumed) they have been worn. I would just use a good ol' horse hair brush with just good ol' water and brush until they are clean. After that put on the protectant of choice. When I was in the military I knew guys that could make a pair of boots last seemingly forever using just good ol' Kiwi(TM) shoe polish. They had to get them resoled long before the leather even looked "worn".

I am not a representative either paid or otherwise for KIWI products.

I second MoBob's statement.

I only used water (via a garden hose) to get the mud off/out of the soles. Using good ole fashioned shoe polish is the best thing for the leather boots, after I would dry brush the dirt off.

If I would be on base, I'd use pantyhose to shine my boots up after applying the polish.

If I were going into the field, I'd apply the polish on thickly and leave the boots like that.

Polish is great. When cleaning, saddle soap is pretty good too. If the boots get really wet (and what used boots don't get wet?), don't put them near a heat source to dry them, that will ruin the leather. Let them dry naturally. You can stuff them with newspaper to speed things up a bit...

Putting almost anything on them is better than doing nothing. I have had great results with SnoSeal and light amounts of Kiwi polish on a pair of Vasque Sundowners. They were worn a lot in damp grass and brush. The lighter boots, typically fabric and light leather, I protect with NikWax. Haven't really used this stuff long enough to say for sure, but it seems to work pretty well so far. The main thing is regular cleaning and treatment.

I would probaly foolw the crowd on this, but because this is ETS ....

A shoeshine guy of some 5 decades of experience hates KIwi and other easy to get polish because he claims the formaldehyde in them eats leather. Truth or?

I use Fluid Film on all my leather.

The main ingredient is wool wax...which is Lanolin...which is the main ingredient of Oil of Olay...which has been keeping leather soft and protected for decades.

I hose off my boots, let them dry outside for a few days. Kiwi shoe polish. Currently, I have a pair of Wolverine boots that I bought in '96 and resoled once, going strong with no cracks in the leather. A pair of Chippewa's, the inside is falling apart but otherwise OK (from '98). All of cheap surplus Jungle boots I tossed when I wore out the insoles, not the leather.

So, Kiwi is great in my book.

I have had boots eaten by jungle rot, ice plants, all kinds of stuff, but never by Kiwi. Been using it since the early '60's (or maybe late '50's) without it ever eating a shoe/boot...

I use saddle soap followed by Kiwi for regular boots and a leather balm for oil-tanned.

I know a couple of guys who have these boots. Both love them -- best boots we've ever had, they say.

One of them got them on the Queen's Shilling. According to him, standard practice (20 years ago) was to impregnate them with liquid silicone, over and over and over. This was a guy who would stomp heedlessly through rivers and laugh at us prissy hikers with our ankle boots and our sandals for wading. Sheesh.

(One time, while he was in his cups -- overproof rum -- I more-or-less duct-taped him on top of a rock the size of a house, and invited the ravens to come pluck out his eyeballs. Alas, the ravens didn't want him. I remember those camping trips fondly.)

Anyway, back to the point: in years past, I would have said spray them with ScotchGuard, over and over and over, when the stuff was more effective and less green (not sure now). I'd had it with beeswax preparations that didn't actually penetrate the stitching (which is where boots leak first).

For the past seven+ years I've been using Biwell from MEC, which is the best stuff ever invented. It's cheap, it goes on smoothly, it penetrates deep past the surface of the leather and stitching, and you can even put on a parade gloss shine over top.

Apparently it's too good: MEC has just stopped carrying it (if the website is accurate). I need to snap up old stock while I can.

You should do the same. Enjoy the boots.

Like Hacksaw wrote , lanolin was supposed to be the real thing for keeping leather sound - for hundreds of years - according to the shoeshine guy.

Ok thanks everyone, so far my strategy is to just use water and sponge/terrycloth/horse hair brush to clean and that maybe if I had a Porsche with luxurious leather seats I would bother cleaning and conditioning with an alkaline free cleaner and a lanolin based conditioner like Lexol. And I'll use plain old Kiwi shoe polish to protect (and polish)... or should I just use Kiwi Protector!? (I don't need a parade shine...)

But theoretically there's four steps and maybe it's better to use a dedicated product for each step:

1. clean (with alkaline free but with stuff containing glycerin)
2. condition (lanolin based, apply when boot is dry)
3. polish (cream based)
4. protect (wax or silicone... apply when slightly damp since it's water-based most of the time)

Our local stores seem to sell products from the Canadian manufacturer Moneysworth & Best. Anybody can recommend it? It contains lanolin which is good... They claim it helps clean condition and polish all at the same time?! I'm skeptical cause I know there's no magic in life:
http://www.sears.ca/gp/product/B000W21OKG?searsBrand=core

In short my question is, if I limit myself to cleaning with water and polishing with Kiwi Shoe Polish, will the shoe polish also help protect? I guess it will but since I live in a dirty environment I should enphasize on protection.

Ok, I went out there and found out that Moneysworth & Best is actually a mall chain of shoe repair. I went to Canadian Tire and they don't have Lexol but do have 2 in 1 or 3 in 1 leather care products. Should I trust these cleaner and conditioner in one step products or should I keep looking for Lexol? And can I use instead a pH balanced shampoo? And I learned that I also should wash also inside the boots to eliminate salty sweat that can be even more destructive to the boots.

Frankie, my fellow forum friend..... They're cowhide leather. Wash them with saddle soap, rinse well, let dry, put some Kiwi on them, and strap them on your feet........

I hate to see that the industry always try to capitalize on laziness of people by selling 2 in 1 or 3 in 1 step stuff. Like convenience stores which actually are capitalizing on laziness of people 99% of the time because people don't want to go to the grocery store that's a couple of streets farther rather than helping out when you're in trouble (Dépanneur in french).

I guess you're right, they are probably what we call "full grain leather".

Now, there is another step you can take if water-proofing (or rather, water-resisting) is your goal. It's time consuming, but worth it. Spit shine them. Now I'm talking (after they're clean) old-school spit-shine. Military and some law enforcement guys will know about this. Using a worn, soft, cotton handkerchief, wrapped tightly around one or two fingers so the end is nice and smooth, you rub a little in your Kiwi can, then onto the boot in small, tight circles. Over and over, over and over, all around the boot. It's like french polishing to woodworkers. The buildup is slow but sure, and when it starts to shine you know you're getting there. What's happening is the polish is being forced down into the pores of the leather, in tiny increments, and is building up to where the surface is smooth and level, not pebble-grained.

I always kept the Kiwi lid with a little water in it, so I could dip the handkerchief tip into it every so often, helping the wax glide and settle into the pores. Another trick was to light the wax on fire with a match (Zippo for military guys), let it burn for 3 or 4 seconds, then snuff it out. After the wax cools for a few moments, it's nice and soft. This is good when you first start, so you can get more polish on quickly.

I'm not suggesting shiny boots. After you've built up your spit shine, then you can buff out some of the shine with a stiff brush. Wearing them out in the boonies will help scuff and dull them even more. Every so often, when you think they need more protection, apply the Kiwi with a small, round brush, then buff it out as you normally would with a shoe brush. The boots stay protect because of the underlying spit-shine.

Ah, the dreaded spit shine. Been there, done that. A lot. For water, use cold water. I used to put an ice cube in my water (in the lid of the Kiwi can of course) to keep it cool. As for "burning in" the polish, I had better luck with heating, but not setting on fire, the polish. Used my trusty Zippo (back when I smoked). But years later I finally discovered that the burning in polishing seemed to dry the leather more than not burning in, ruining the boot before its time. Must be the flame to the leather thing. Best cloth ever is a well used cloth diaper. Kinda hard to find in a barracks. Next best is a well washed high quality tee shirt cloth. Cotton balls are OK too, but you have to replace them often. Given the current rough-out boots and plastic shoes the military, even the USMC, is going to, spitshinning may be a dieing art...

Thanks Stretch. But is it all right to apply Nikwax waterproofing over the Kiwi polish layer or is it overkill and doesn't make sense and in really damp and slushy conditions use rubber overboots instead?

OldBaldGuy: You're right. Spit-shining is pretty much long gone. And I too noticed that there was a difference after using wax that had been melted and then allowed to cool. I used to do it though, on new boots and low-quarter shoes, to get the first few coats on there.

Frankie: I really think it might be overkill but I don;t think it would hurt. Not right after you loaded leather with wax, but as an occasional "water-proofer", the Nikwax would work. I think, for me, Id just go with one or the other. One thing I might do is use snoseal or nikwax along the sewn seams, especially where the uppers are sewn to the sole.

As far as overboots that's the way to go if you know you'll be sloshing through ankle-deep water. No matter what you put on leather, water will still get into the pores and get the interior damp. I mean, if you were to somehow seal leather completely, I think it would, like wood, just expand, crack, and you'd be back to square one. Waxes, preservants, softeners, balms, "water-proofers", I think the best they can do is help make them water "resistant".

Kiwi do a wetpruf polish too.
The Sock

For field use, I gently warm up my boots and coat them in dubbin, as the dubbin melts it soaks into the leather, do that a few times until the leather wont take any more and your feet are dry and toasty for ages. Upkeep is easy, brush off any mud and reproof. A layer of polish makes them nice and black and keeps the grown ups off my back.

For general use, Kiwi black all the way. On, off and finished with a soft duster.

Parades, two or three days work spit shining or bulling. Starting off with burning the old polish off, melting beeswax into the leather and smoothing it with a hot spoon. Followed by the calming actions of little circles with polish and water on a sylvit cloth. I never use spit, god knows what may fly out of my mouth and scratch the finish. All finished off with a cotton wool session under a running tap.

Treated leather is far more waterproof and resistant to wear and rot. During the rainy season I have seen new boots left untreated fail at the junction of sole to upper because of rot in two months.

Kiwi wax is okay for smooth leather. For a time I used Snow Seal. It is okay for smooth leather and cold weather use. A hair drier to warm the leather and it melts right in. The down side is that soaked in the leather becomes pretty much impermeable. Waterproof but it doesn't breath much and it has to be reapplied regularly.

Then I moved south and the ability of the boot to breath became more important.

More recently I have shifted to silicone. I got a quart of the stuff and apply it with a foam brush. When boots are new I lay on a heavy coat and recoat every few weeks for a while. Don't put too much on all at once as it can weaken glues. It will also make blond rubber darker amber and a bit harder. Seems to make the rubber less adhesive but wear longer. An acceptable trade-off in my book. After a few times the leather becomes pretty much waterproof and won't rot. After that point I might add more once a year or so.