WESCO-MRLOU-BLK - Wesco® - 10" Horsehide Pull-On "Mister Lou" Engineer Boot - Black

[Oaktavia]

@Ross thank you for the excellent response my man. I will need to bookmark this or even print it out to stash it somewhere when I inevitably forget this and need to read it again. I appreciate you taking the time to wind and ramble it all out, so to speak!

I am happy you are for the Obenauf's, as I happen to have a decent sized amount at home with one of those wire/cotton ball applicator doohickies. I will take photos before and after (and post them here this weekend) as my Lous look even dryer in person than they do in the photos. I think my trip to Iceland and England did a number on them, plus wearing them with no care subsequently and lately.

I will also look into some kiwi boot polish and see how to apply that afterwards....that would be a first for me. At this point the boots are nearing 1000 days old from when they arrived so it would make sense more now than ever.

Thanks again and I hope you have a good day today and weekend.

[goosehd]

@Oaktavia Pro tip: since your boots are very dry, apply one coat and allow it to sink in and dry completely, then apply another coat. Most likely this will take a course of a few days.

Only when the boots look wet and can wipe away excess conditioner, should you think about applying the shoe polish.

This may take you 4-5 days depending on just how dry they are.

[Ross]

@goosehd you beat me to it, was about to say exactly this.

If you need advice re: polishing just give me a nudge and i'll walk you through my technique for it

[goosehd]

@Ross …I always put on some good tunes and have a glass of something when doing so. Great advice and you definitely know your stuff!!

Cheers

[NickD]

FWIW, I'd use cream rather than polish. Coloured if you want to get the boots back to black, non coloured if you want to keep the patina. I swear by Saphir. it will condition them too,

[goosehd]

As to kiwi boot polish, look for a neutral if you want the boots to show the patina of wear and tear. Black if you want to re darken them, or parade black for a mirror finish.

Just so you know that the mirror finish is a ton of work with multiple thin layers applied and buffed. The down side is that the leather doesn’t breathe as well.

[Ross]

@goosehd i've only done the parade ground shine one time, never again!

[Oaktavia]

I definitely want to keep the faded to brown and patina look with these, that took a lot of walking around to achieve. I will go for neutral finish or might use the Saphir cream again, which I used last time. I'll focus on the conditioning this weekend and go from there. @Ross I will nudge you when the boots are ready for the next step. Tomorrow is boot day.

[Tago Mago]

@Ross love the comprehensive answer. Excellent!

[Tago Mago]

@Ross the mirror shine is reserved for my „business“ shoes, i.e. a nice pair of oxfords or balmoral boots. I‘ve had good results with Saphir, but whatever is used it will be a pain

[goosehd]

@Tago-Mago The best thing for me ever, was when I was able to afford Cordovan Leather as it makes the mirror shine so much easier. Starting out with good leather is so much nicer than my military issued boots.

[Oaktavia]

Before photos above. I have brushed them with vigor and applied the Obenauf's leather oil. They immediately became supple and soft which I did not expect. Drying out now and will see tomorrow or later today if they need another round.

Edit: after photos below. The first photo is of one boot done next to one yet to be oiled. The rest are both oiled and supple.

Still some character showing though but I do already miss what was once there. I had a lot going on with these boots. But I know it's all still there and once the oil evaporates, I'll see it again.

Edit 2: Now that the boots have sat under skylights in the sun, they feel amazing. Buttery soft and smooth, much different than how rigid they once were. I didn't think they could get this soft so I am blown away. Supple is the word for how the leather feels. I can still see the brown shining through too where the black coating has worn off.

[seawolf]

@Oaktavia Epic.

[Davids_denim]

@Oaktavia beautiful work with these.

[pechelman]

Don't neglect that leather sole either. If you have some of the hd obenaufs hit that with a bit too.

Everytime I use obenaufs I find the boots breathe less good for a week and then seem to improve as the leather lightens back to its previous color and get some of its shine back.

Looking good though!

[Oaktavia]

Thanks guys, now I'm onto my brown CXL pair.

@pechelman I don't have any of that stuff at the moment but I see what you mean.

[pechelman]

The regular oil will do the trick too or really anything

[Oaktavia]

@pechelman yes afterwards I went ahead and did, figuring it would do the trick.

[seawolf]

@Oaktavia How did it go with your boots?

[Oaktavia]

@seawolf I ended up oiling both pairs again but only the bottom parts of them. They both drank up the oil quite a bit and ended up looking nearly the same as they did before treatment. Especially the black pair. I coated them again yesterday and wore the black ones today.