Leather Boot re-waterproofing

Before you try to select waterproofing, you first want to know whether the boot leather was vegetable tanned or chrome tanned.

–B.G.–

Do your boots have a waterproof liner like goretex or are they regular unlined leather?

Has an awesome customer service for boots

I returned a 7 year old pair of merrel boots and they let me have my pick if whatever forested boots were on the market for free

That exact same brand/model is my “go to” for when I use leather boots (mainly for trail work, mud season day hikes and around town in slushy conditions).

Once or twice a year, I’ve treated these boots with Sno-Seal.

Old school, but effective. Seems to keep the leather both supple and water resistant. It is how I treat my leather touring boots at the end of ski season, too.

+1 for Sno Seal.

Significantly increases ability of leather boots to repel water, and easy to apply with a hair dryer. Cheap, too.

Just take care not to inadvertently melt the glue at the sole / upper interface.

I also have had good luck mixing in a little paste shoe dye with the Sno Seal, to restore (or change) the appearance of boots once the original dye fades.

I got a pair of Dexter leather hiking boots in 1980. They are nothing special — heavy vibram lug soles, thick leather, etc. But I still have those boots, 34 years later, having put sno-seal on them most seasons. I wore them daily for a number of Maine winters, and took them on a few field seasons. Waterproof and supple. The leather has finally worn through in the heel, so I guess it's time to toss them. Plus, they are much heavier than boots these days. I just haven't been able to actually throw them out yet. Anyway, I don't have any doubt the sno-sealing made a big difference in the survival of these boots.

Sno-seal, or any WAX based leather waterproofer.

From all the times I've spent in Tahoe to visit the snow, and the 6 winters I was forced to deal with snow in Ohio, I will ONLY use wax based waterproofing for leather boots.

If it comes in a spray can or has "silicone" anywhere on the container, just throw it away. Just trust me on this. I've never had a wax treated boot soak through, but every silicone treated boot I've worn has soaked through no matter how often or how liberally I applied it.

I use Obenauf's Heavy Duty LP on my leather lined Lowa Renegades. I am no expert when it comes to boot/leather care but Obenauf's works for me.

Sno-Seal was certainly the state-of-the-art boot waterproofer thirty years ago. I found that too many users did not apply it correctly, so they lost a good deal of its usefulness.

I would warm up the container, not quite to liquify the wax, but to soften it a lot. Then I would dab the wax with a paper towel and smear it onto the leather surface and rub it in slightly. Once the wax is on, I would hold the boot inverted high over a candle flame so that the warmth hits the wax and melts it, but not so close that the flame will ignite it. If you watch it very closely, you will see some of the wax melt and then soak into the leather. That is exactly correct. Once it has cooled, you can polish it with a cloth, and that simply keeps it from rubbing off so easily.

The critical point is to get that liquid wax to soak into the leather and not just sit on the surface.

–B.G.–

If you're not queasy about getting your fingers covered with wax, you can accomplish the same effect by thoroughly working soft, warm wax into the leather with your fingers and placing the boots next to a furnace register, electrical baseboard, space heater, or other low heat source. If I was planning for a glacier/snow climb, I would repeat the procedure just to be sure. Often, the second time around I would find excess wax on the surface, a sure sign that a second application was not necessary.

A couple years before I got out of the leather boot phase of my mountain career, a highly regarded local cobbler advised me that Obenauf's Heavy Duty Leather Preservative was far superior to either Sno Seal or bees wax. I found him to correct, IME.

Turn on oven and let it heat a little, maybe 120 F or so. Turn off oven

Put newspaper on rack, boots with Sno-Seal on top, let them sit for 30 minutes

Choose a time when "the wife" won't be around

It'll keep the leather from cracking

One can good for 20 years, so far…

Probably some better product

"Choose a time when "the wife" won't be around"

Of paramount importance. Once upon a time I overlooked that possibility and put my newly treated Kastinger mountaineering boots in just such an oven. My wife came in later and turned the oven up to 400 degrees to bake potatoes, without looking inside or noticing that the oven was already on. When I came home from a trip to the corner store I smelled an odor that did not bode well for my boots. I bolted into the kitchen, flung open the over door and realized instantaneously that my Kastingers were history. Crispy critters. That I did not strangle her on the spot bore testament to just how much I love her. Greater love hath no man….. ;0)

"local cobbler advised me that Obenauf's Heavy Duty Leather Preservative was far superior to either Sno Seal or bees wax."

+1
I had the same experience as well with Obenauf's HD with keeping leather supple and conditioned when using leather Zamberlan's while living in the PNW.

Oh Oh. All these make your boots heavier.

Obenauf's Heavy Duty LP is the best way to go. Sno-Seal includes some solvents that soften the concoction but also run the risk of dissolving the glue that keeps the sole in place. In rare cases this can lead to the sole separating. Also, cobblers will generally not re-sole anything that's been Sno-Sealed because their glue won't work on it.

> Sno-Seal includes some solvents that soften the concoction but also run the risk of
> dissolving the glue that keeps the sole in place.

What a fascinating idea.
Not, mind you, that I have ever seen anything like that happen to my XC ski boots. And they have been liberally adorned with Sno-Seal over many years.
Sno-Seal is principally a micro-fine emulsion of bees wax, afaik. Very little solvent.

> cobblers will generally not re-sole anything that's been Sno-Sealed because their
> glue won't work on it.
How you would get the Sno-Seal onto the leather under the sole is not entirely clear to me. Anyhow, I have used PU adhesive on the interior of my ski boots quite successfully.

Cheers

"Sno-Seal includes some solvents that soften the concoction but also run the risk of dissolving the glue that keeps the sole in place."

Citation?

The only thing I found is on this very site:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/25388/index.html

"My hiking buddy was making late night preparations before a winter trip and put his boots in the oven to melt the sno-Seal into the leather. He got distracted and came back to find that the heat had activated the glue holding his sole on. The sole came right off!"

Note it is because the person used too much heat and not because of Sno Seal itself. Which is why a hair dryer, and not an oven, is suggested. :)

Other google searches only brought up your post about the mysterious dissolving properties of sno seal dissolving glue. ;)
http://bit.ly/1jsGEti

Sno Seal is bees wax. Pretty innocuous.

I've treated my leather boots with Sno Seal for nearly 20 years now and my leather ski touring boots for about 10 yrs now with Sno Seal. No issues.

re: Cobblers not resoling boots

For non-welt boots, that is correct in some cases. For traditional Norwegian style welt boots (such as ski touring boots), that is not an issue it seems.

http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/sno-seal-beeswax-on-gore-tex-t60951.html

Personally, the one time I had my boots re-soled "way back when" via re-gluing, the results were not satisfactory.