Occasionally I receive questions via email or other means asking about caring and treating boots. I have written about that before, here. This post is to reaffirm that when it comes to using specialized products like exotic skin conditioner, Bick 4, Hubberds shoe grease, plain old paste wax/shoe polish, or other leather cleaning and care products that…

…more is NOT better. In fact, more is often worse than none at all.

The best way to apply a shine to all-leather boots? A very light application of wax polish and a LOT of buffing.

Note: if you have Dehner boots made with synthetic leather (“Clarino” aka “Dehcord”) or Chippewa “high-shine” patrol boots, you may use a very very thin application of paste wax to bring them to a brilliant shine. But in daily care, a very thin application of good quality furniture polish and buffing it off quickly will maintain the shine quite well.

How to “soften” thick leather such as found on Wesco boots? Answer: you can’t. The leather on Wesco boots is very thick and will not get softer and more pliable with an application of a topical treatment such as Hubberds shoe grease or any leather conditioner. Those boots “are what they are” — very well-made, high-quality boots whose leather is stiff — on purpose. The boots will break in with wear, and treating them with leather conditioner or products to make them more water-resistant is advised.

But be careful not to apply too much of such products to Wesco or any other oil-tanned or chrome-tanned boots. Doing so will likely clog the pores of the boots and make them appear to be more dull in appearance rather than clean and (mildly) shiny. Also, clogged pores of leather makes the boots feel hotter when you wear them. And finally — worst of all — clogged pores in leather actually advances degradation of the leather. It will cause the fibers that compose the leather to break, and eventually cause visible surface cracks in the leather and other obvious damage.

One other thing about “more” products on boots — leather conditioning products are made to wipe on and wipe off rather quickly. The longer a wet product remains in contact with leather, the more chances there are of some areas of the leather becoming permanently stained and discolored. A guy wrote to me a while back about having “patchwork quilt” appearance on a pair of boots that once were solid brown. Then he told me that he had applied liquid leather conditioner and thought that it should stay on the leather to dry (like wax), then be buffed off. No — not the way this product was to be used and he learned a very tough lesson. He told me that he never could get those stains out.

Applying leather conditioner for most boots works great to keep them clean. It is especially important to use good quality conditioner for exotic skin boots, especially snakeskins, so the scales do not dry out as quickly, curl up, and crack or break off. But again — a little goes a long way. Applying more than just a very light coating of conditioner on exotic skin boots can also advance the degradation process and cause more damage than it would prevent harm. Trust me — a little goes a long way. Use it sparingly.

How sparingly? I have some snakeskin boots that I have owned for over 20 years, and they still look nice. I treat them with a very light application of Bick 4 about twice a year. That’s all… no more.

I also have some snakeskin boots that old that have badly curled scales — so much so that I had to dispose of the boots. Turns out upon “forensic investigation” (that is, taking the boot apart before throwing it away) that it turns out that the boot was poorly constructed. Single stitching for the sole, and no welting. If the construction were so poor, then the manufacturer probably also skimped on the quality of the skins used for the vamp (foot). No wonder that no matter what I did, the scales still curled and the boot became a casualty of learning an important lesson: cheap boots are cheap for a reason (or “you get what you pay for.”)

In summary — caring for boots is important and a good idea, but follow the manufacturer’s instructions when it comes to using the product. I know, I know — guys don’t read instructions. But read this: a little goes a long way. Use the products sparingly.

Life is short: care for your boots and they will last a long time.