WESCO-MRLOU-BLK - Wesco® - 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black
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. Is it a personal preference to choose to condition or is it an inevitable necessity to prolong the age of the boots? If the latter, what brand would y'all recommend?
For longevity I would always condition the leather. For the looks, it depends, you just don’t want cracks in the leather.
If the leather is really dry, I would condition. I use several different oils and cremes, from Obenauf to beeswax to Minkoil from all kinds of brands.
If I really love the boots, they get treated with Saphir renovateur 🥰 -
Conditioning leather shoes is a little like washing your denim. You'll want to do it when they need it.
I would guess at this point they might benefit from conditioning.I prefer milder conditioners as opposed to some of the more oily or greasy treatments. I like Bick 4 for gentle, routine conditioning that will have little to no effect on color or sheen/shine. Venetian Shoe Cream is also a great choice. It's a little more intensive in the level of conditioning it provides and will produce more shine than Bick 4. I would also strongly recommend a horse hair brush if you don't have one. Brushing them now and then as well as after applying conditioner will help them look their best.
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Conditioning leather shoes is a little like washing your denim. You'll want to do it when they need it.
I would guess at this point they might benefit from conditioning.I prefer milder conditioners as opposed to some of the more oily or greasy treatments. I like Bick 4 for gentle, routine conditioning that will have little to no effect on color or sheen/shine. Venetian Shoe Cream is also a great choice. It's a little more intensive in the level of conditioning it provides and will produce more shine than Bick 4. I would also strongly recommend a horse hair brush if you don't have one. Brushing them now and then as well as after applying conditioner will help them look their best.
Thanks for the detailed response. I suppose I should have been more specific and asked for the recommended conditioner for this particular leather. I've used mink oil on pairs of RW in the past but wasn't sure if that would work for these…I'm new to horsehide. I have a horse hair brush that I use but it's packed away in a moving box somewhere...I've brushed both these and my brown CXL pair a few times here and there.
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I have a pair of White's in brown horse hide that I've used Bick and VSC on. Mink oil wouldn't be my first choice, but that's just my preference for non oily conditioners. I've never personally used it on horse hide. Whatever you decide, please let us know how it works out!
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@Oaktavia I use Saphir Renovateur to condition all of my horsebutt and horsehide boots. I purchase it from The Hanger Project at kirbyallison.com
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@John:
@Oaktavia I use Saphir Renovateur to condition all of my horsebutt and horsehide boots. I purchase it from The Hanger Project at kirbyallison.com
Cool I looked up this product and it seems like a great choice. Thanks!
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I became a Bick 4 convert on the advice of the stitchdown discord.
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There is a special care from Saphir for horse hide and cordovan
Saphir Medaille d`Or Cordovan
From my experiences the renovateur is definitely a great product, specially for older leather that was neglected.
But the renovateur darkens pretty much, you should keep that in mind when using.
For CXL Horween I use the Saphir Medaille d´Or Oiled Leather, good for Red Wing boots too. -
Cool, cool gents thanks for the advice. I still have a bit of time before I make my decision on what product to use. Price is negligible seeing as the boots were 850. I don't have any cracking or anything crazy yet. I'll post before and after photos when I do but it'll be a little while.
Also with mink oil darkening I've noticed that yes, it does darken leather (at least on my RW 8111) but it always seemed to lighten back up after some time.
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Bick 4 won't change colour and conditions well.
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good choice
saphir products are awesome! -
Does anyone know if this boot will be restocked anytime soon?
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Saphir Renovatuer for conditioner is an excellent choice, in my opinion. It takes a little bit of the black off each time I condition them, now. So my tea core should start popping soon!
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@Ghost-Cut Nice! I’ve been using Lexol and Pecard’s. Gonna try the Saphir Renovatuer next.
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@Ghost-Cut
your boots are well looked after
Saphir is a great choice for sure ! -
I use Saphir almost excusively–it's a really great product
I will go for Saphir…assuming that's good to use with this particular type of horsehide leather?
