Boot/ Shoe Care (Products, Methods, and Suggestions)
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Yeah, I don't think there's really a divergence of opinion on this one. Just wear them, and if they get really filth encrusted, then brush them off.
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See I hear everything from no care to exactly the same care as for smoothout… Hence my confusion. I have never conditioned suede personally, but I've always babied my suede shoes. These I won't be babying.
Nick's Boots, for example, was recommending the latter. During 80-100 hours of break-in, spray with 50/50 isopropyl/water and rub that in by hand, then obenauf's LP and oil as needed. This makes sense to me since it's still leather, just the flesh side of it, but I'd like to understand why this is or isn't wrong. As for aesthetics, I like the look of roughout oiled and scrubbed or left alone, so that's not a huge factor for me.
http://www.nicksboots.com/faq.asp#care
I also hear tell elsewhere of using silicone-based water repellent on sueded/roughout surfaces (openauf again has an example product).
Mine will be liberally exposed to snow and ice. I'll try to keep them it of the mud but I spend a lot of time in the woods and some at farms, and I'm pretty rough on boots. I have Red Wings for that but you never know. I'd like to know how to clean them and keep the leather well-conditioned.
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Rough-Out care is a pretty interesting topic. Is there a special brush for rough-outs? RW do offer one:
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Ah seems to be a strong accord while I was typing that last.
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RW had care instructions pimping the use of their LP for roughout, but otherwise sounded like most of the responses on this thread, certainly different than Nick's. I did ask viberg's opinion on the matter when I sent in my trace too.
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Bring life back to those worn soles. All it takes is water and some canvas. Dip your index finger in water and rub it along a small portion - about two to three inches at a time. Let the water set for at least twenty seconds. Using the canvas, quickly rub it back and forth over the treated area. The friction will cause the area to darken back up and gives it a nice shine.
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I just use a heavy grade canvas from the local fabric shop (Joann's in SoCal).
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You know, Simon I'm with you on the oil, I do it, I don't drown them it, just a light rub. I heard someone whining somewhere that his boots were like drunks, they sucked up everything he threw at them and then they got hard and crispy after a while and died, I dunno, then some other dude reckons that the oil rots the stitching. In short, I think oil on rag, wipe, admire.
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Just ordered Obenauf's water-based silicon spray to weatherproof my roughout Smokejumpers. I'll share my experience here.
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As alluded to over on the Trickers thread, these beautiful old shoes seemed to have a dried out (?) sole and heal. Hopefully you can see in the picture how the layers in the heal unit have started to come away from each other.
Has anyone else experienced this before? I'm familiar with reconditioning the leather of a shoes upper, but is this possible with the sole and heal?
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Once leather has dried to the point where it's started to crack, there's not much that can be done, other than replace it. I'd recommend going to a reputable repair shop (you mentioned the Shoe Healer in your other post, and he is quite reputable) and seeing if the shoes can be resoled.
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