White's Boots
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What is your advice on treating White`s? I´d guess Obenauf´s LP should be fine but I hear a lot that applying shoe care too often may harm the leather. Is an initial treatment reasonable?
Most people on these forums feel compelled to drown everything in Obenauf's, all the time. Many people do so basically because all they know is what they've read on a forum, i.e. they have no idea what they're doing.
These kind of treatments are useful only for rejuvenating extremely tired, dry or mistreated boots (including oiled leathers). If you are a fire fighter (or something) and actually use you Smoke Jumpers on the job then you might have a good reason to do this relatively often. For the rest of us… let's face it, where're hipsters and you will rarely need to frequently treat leather this way. The bottom line is... use this option very sparingly.
If you use something like Obenauf or mink oil as you would a polish, i.e. frequently, it will definitely not be good for the leather. Often people will then wear the boots immediately resulting in the damp, oil heavy leather being stretched and losing its color and depth.
Have a look at the Wolverine thread over on SF. They are obsessed with a "winter sealing treatment" over there. You can see dozens of photos of 1000 Mile boots that are simply horribly out of shape because they've been oiled almost to death. (If you need to apply that much oil to a boot to seal it for wet or winter conditions... then basically you're wearing the wrong boot. Go buy yourself an actual winter boot).
So yes... don't just treat your boots with Obenauf's because of forum myth! As previous posters have indicated keep the boots brushed, let them dry and rest in between wearing, use shoe trees, and find a more reasonable shoe care regime.
What do I do?
- Brush.
- Leave to dry (if damp or if I've worn them for any length of time).
- Saddle soap if dirty or stained (do this only lightly).
- leave to dry.
- (optional: if leather needs conditioning or if you've used saddle soap) Apply a good rejuvenating cream or conditioner (I use Saphir Renovateur). You could use oil at this stage.
- Use a good shoe creme (you can use a colored creme, but I tend to use neutral). There are many... I use Collonil because its easily available where I am.
- Finish with a shoe wax. Again, I use neutral Saphir or Collonil wax.
If you do decide to oil your boots make sure they are clean and dry (otherwise you lock in dirt, etc. during oiling) and then leave the boots for at least a week before wearing (I often leave my boots up to 2 or 3 weeks before wearing). You can really feel the difference. Boots will stretch if they are heavy with oil. If this happens repeatedly they will end up permanently out of shape (not simply stretched).
There is no reason not to follow a regime like this even for work boots. I do the above on all my boots, including oiled leathers. I only do an oil treatment if the leather is really crying out for it (which is almost never). I repeat... repeatedly soaking boots in Obenauf's is for zombies.
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^I agree with where you're coming from. Most people GROSSLY underestimate the effectiveness of a proper horsehair brushing. Not that I haven't made the same mistakes. But I'm finding the leather comes to you ready to go - doesn't need much more than a cleaning and horsehair brushing for quite some time.
If you google the 'mac method' for caring for shell that pretty much sums up what I've found works great. It focuses on shell but also works for calf.
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Thank you for sharing, bornheim. That surely would be a useful post for the shoe/boot care thread as well: http://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2737.0
Do you recommend any specific saddle soap? What is the specific name of Saphir´s wax?
Thanks!
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Is horsehair good for rough out as well or is there a dif brush i should get for it?
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Thanks for the feed back!
Thank you for sharing, bornheim. That surely would be a useful post for the shoe/boot care thread as well: http://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2737.0
I wasn't aware of that thread but when I get some time I'll re-write my post and add it to the shoe care thread.
Do you recommend any specific saddle soap?
I actually grew up on a ranch, so have I spent much of my life around boots and saddlery. We always used "Joseph Lyddy" saddle soap, but to be honest I'm sure any good saddler will stock a good saddle soap. The brand names tend to be regional so depending on where you live you might have to look beyond the common brand names. But don't worry… there are plenty of good products out there. I currently live in Germany and have been using "Bense & Eicke (B&E) Sattelseife". If I get time, I'll try and research the +/- of different saddle soaps.
What is the specific name of Saphir´s wax?
Again, some products are harder to find in some regions, but I think Avel / Saphir is available in most places. I am currently using the "Saphir Medaille D'Or Cream" (renovator/conditioner) and the "Saphir Medaille D'Or Wax / Pate de Luxe". I also use the "Collonil 1909 Wax Polish". The renovator cream is exceptionally good and can be thinned with a bit of water when using it, as a little goes a long way. Both the waxes are great and I can recommend both. I use neutral color wax in most cases. I also have a few good color creams around for when boots need a touch up. Again, Saphir and Collonil.
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I wasn't aware of that thread but when I get some time I'll re-write my post and add it to the shoe care thread.
No need, I did a quick copy & paste. Feel free to add to the thread, though.
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Is horsehair good for rough out as well or is there a dif brush i should get for it?
Like Seul said, you can use a suede brush, which has stiffer, stronger bristles. That will help dig dirt and dust out of the leather, but it's not really necessary. Honestly, I've used toothbrushes for spot cleaning and even an old plastic floor scrub brush in the past. Rough out is pretty durable stuff.
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K. Thx Seul and Chris!!
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Absolute stunners David.
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Buddy thx, seeing the one off sample for VMC couple of weeks ago made me even more confident going with the production run. Love that leather and the whole look of this two tone puppy. The comfort of this arch system is really good imo, my feet are a bit sensible but putting these guys on give me no trouble.
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That's a nice looking boot, Davito. I need to get a pair of White's one of these days!
Thx my man, fully recommended
dave, i think it's time for a meet up again
Rafa after xmas i will have more time i hope, hit me up when you r around and we'll catch up
