Leather boot dressing.

[HaveGun]

Always suffered with crappy $30 Walmart footwear for most of my adult life due to being married and raising kids for 20+ years. When I got divorced in 2012, I finally got back on my feet about a year later and decided to spend some money on decent boots. No "Redhead from Hell" to protest me spending $100+ on decent boots. So I bought some all leather Hi-Tec hiking boots ( Yeah, still too cheap to spend $300+ on Elsolo or Danners...)

So, I wanted to keep my new "fancy" boots looking good and performing well. In the past, I had used Sno-Seal with decent results to waterproof boots. But, I wanted something better.

I don't recall how I found this stuff, but I did, and it is really great stuff.

Invented by a Wildland Fire Fighter from a little town in the Idaho mountains, it is a bit spendy at $12 a 4oz can, but mine has lasted a few years and keeps my boots looking new and waterproof.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B003SKCARK/ref=twister_B00XV614J6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I recently used it on a new holster to get it to stretch and it worked perfectly. It does smell like honey, due to the beeswax, but I kind of like it and no bears have attacked me while hiking, so far.



Anybody else use this stuff?

If not, what have you found that works to preserve and waterproof leather?

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[sobo]

I've been a Sno-Seal kinda guy myself for decades, back when I ran Red Wing Irish Setters and similar boots.
Haven't tried that stuff of yours, but I bought these La Sportiva Makalus 20+ years ago and never treated them with anything but utter disrespect and they still keep on keepin' on after 1,000s of miles and the tippy-tops of dozens of peaks around the world...

 

[The Heretic]

I used to use Mink Oil, but then went to SnoSeal which is better IMO/IME.

When I got some all leather steel toed Keens, I tried Ballistol on them - it worked for a while and was much easier to apply than SnoSeal, but they dried out very quickly. So now I am going back to SnoSeal (and using a hot air drier to melt it in).

 

[MTpockets]

Huberd's History | Leather | Huberd Shoe Grease Company

Learn about the history and current operations of Huberd Shoe Grease Company. Huberds leather care products have vintage appeal and time-tested performance.

www.huberds.com

In the old days I used Huberd's year-round. In the fall & winter months, I also would apply some whale oil paste to the toe, heel, and seams of the boot. I don't remember where the whale goop came from, it was in a small pickling crock and I am sure it was twice as old as me.

In recent time, a little mink oil does the trick after blowing the dust off my boots.

 

[Provincial]

I use Huberd's Shoe Grease. It is beeswax-based, modified to a consistency like thick lubricating grease. I heat the leather with a boot drier before application, which helps it penetrate the leather. It dries out, leaving a beeswax residue.

The company was founded in McMinnville, Oregon, but is now based in Arizona, perhaps after a change in ownership.

 

[bigbearbear]

Interesting, I might try it on my car which has leather seats.

 

[CountryGent]

I've used Huberd's Shoe Grease and Oil for many years, with the latter more these days. No issues with said.

 

[Ramjet12]

I use the regular Obenuaf's. https://www.amazon.com/Obenaufs-Con...256106200001&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_1

 

[HaveGun]

Interesting, I might try it on my car which has leather seats.

Oh no, don't do that! First, it will darken the leather, and not uniformly. Second, it tends to stay "sticky" to the touch for a long, long time. They may make products specifically for car seats, but the boot dressing is not it.

 

[bigbearbear]

Oh no, don't do that! First, it will darken the leather, and not uniformly. Second, it tends to stay "sticky" to the touch for a long, long time. They may make products specifically for car seats, but the boot dressing is not it.

Thanks for the warning, I thought of using it on car seats because the description in Amazon says:

Not just for boots, Obenauf's leather preservative (lp), is widely used to condition leather saddle bags, chaps, tack, holsters, sheathes, baseball gloves, as well as motorcycle and auto leather.

Good thing you mentioned this now or I'll end up regretting it.

 

[Norwestr55]

I used to use Obenaufs on my work boots and it was the best I'd ever tried. The others don't come close to it.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

I reckon that I'll stick with Huberd's.

 

[dplev4]

It's what I use too. On my Crispi's., Lowa's and older Danner (since the newer ones don't last long enough to need a leather dressing). I will normally wash my boots with saddle soap, let e'em dry on a boot dryer and then use Obenauf's. It is a leather dressing and not a waterproofer though like snow seal or mink oil, so it. is not going to waterproof boots that aren't already waterproof. It will keep them a little more water resistant, like any wax will, but mostly it re-moisturizes the leather, keeping it soft and pliable without stretching it, which can happen when using snow seal and mink oil. I do use snow seal on my cross country boots, since I need them not to leak.

I am a huge fan of Obenauf for all of those reasons.

 

[turq]

or...go to a Michaels Craft store and but a brick of beeswax. Warm item and work in by hand / terry cloth rag. Works for sticky doors/runners.
Works well on wood stocks for hunting.