Leather Boot Care

[thompie505]

Bought my first pair of leather hiking/hunting boots. Scarpa Kinesis Pro’s. They’ve got Nubuck Smoothout leather uppers, was hoping for some real world recommendations for leather treatment and conditioner. Nikwax? Sno Seal? Thanks.

[Citori54]

I use Nikwax on my Scarpas

[TARCHER]

Obenaufs all the way

[Frank grimes]

Obenaufs all the way
This or hubbards.

It they are leather inside and out, some people treat the insides aswell.

[Ride Red]

This;

https://www.kenetrek.ca/products/kenetrek-boot-wax

Been using it for many years with great results.

[Everett]

Obenaufs all the way

Best boot wax on the market hands down.

[whitlers]

I use a natural bees wax for mine

[swampthing]

Whatever wax you chose use it often. Before a hunt, after a hunt, before you put them away, when you take them out and especially after they get wet! I feel many boots are wax deprived! I use the kenetrek stuff. My feelings about sno seal is that it isnt adequate.

[ACE]

​No love for Dubbin ?

[sakohunter]

I use cheap bees wax to clean the dirt out of the leather with a heat gun and paper towels. Then many coats of miendl wax to protect them before and after use.

[Jack Russell]

I use meindl wax with a bit of warmth from a hair dryer. Works great! Boots are old but look brand new aside from wear marks on the soles

[Harvest the Land]

Bought my first pair of leather hiking/hunting boots. Scarpa Kinesis Pro’s. They’ve got Nubuck Smoothout leather uppers, was hoping for some real world recommendations for leather treatment and conditioner. Nikwax? Sno Seal? Thanks.

Nice boot! I've got a pair of Scarpa SL's going on year 9 and I love them, they've got many years left in them. Like others have mentioned, its important to keep them good and greased and they will take care of you. My fav wax is rendered bear fat, but after that the tried and true old bees wax works phenomenally well

[tigrr]

What ever you use, don't use something that melts the glue between the leather and the sole. Stick with snow seal and the likes.
$200 teck hiking boots and the sole pealed right off. Silicone sealant with a harsh penetrating solvent.

[Kill-da-wabbit]

I clean mine every day trip or 2, max 3. I use Johnson & Johnson scentless baby soap, horse hair brush and finish with Huberds shoe grease. I have Lowa Tibet GTX's I bought at Wholesale Sports in Kamloops, going on 5yrs and they are still waterproof.

[RackStar]

Obenaufs all the way


I use this on the same boots as you.

Boots are going strong after 3.5 years of abuse

[thompie505]

Thanks for the replies. Anywhere local to lower mainland to get Obenaufs??

[Ride Red]

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/75026/obenaufs-leather-oil-8oz

[alpinedust]

Good suggestions in this thread. I might just add seeing that you're in the lower mainland, I assume you spend a lot of time in damp areas on the coast. In wet conditions you might want something with a bit extra waterproofing. I use nikwax waterproofing paste. Someone at vpo told me to get the leather damp (outside of boot only) and then apply the wax, rub it in and then let them air dry completely (complete coverage of wax but you don't need to put it on thick). When dry rub in/off the excess. I tried this and it works really well for me. Boots bead off water really well. Then as mentioned above, every few trips clean and re-treat. Posted link below.
One thing to note is with the wax type applications the leather doesn't breathe quite as well so your feet will get a bit more sweaty on hot summer days. I use lighter/untreated shoes/boots in the summertime anyways so not as big of a factor for me (unless heavy rain forecasted, etc.).

https://vpo.ca/product/252567/waterproofing-wax-for-leather-34oz-100ml

[Keta1969]

I use the meindl wax. I think the biggest thing is as far as possible clean your boots after each use. Don't let them dry with mud on them.

[Ron.C]

I use this on the same boots as you.

Boots are going strong after 3.5 years of abuse

Another vote here for obenaufs

[wlbc]

From my experience it is difficult to objectively quantify/qualify the best wax/treatment for your leather boots. I think a previous poster on this thread summed it up well when he said, "...whatever you use, use it often...".

Over the years I've used most everything that has been on the market. I found they all more or less worked if applied regularly.

At this point I use pine tar and bees wax, if I am on a fly in, or I do not have a heat gun, or I just want the convenience I'll just use a can of Dubbin or something along those lines.

After over a decade of use I have found the bees wax to be very good for my leather goods.

[Greenthumbed]

I use saddle soap to clean my boots and then SnoSeal to treat. I use a heat gun after I SnoSeal to get it to penetrate into the leather.

[REMINGTON JIM]

This is the GOOD Stuff to use ! jmho RJ https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/76EAAOSwQX9gk75a/s-l1600.jpg

[swampthing]

I forgot to add another great trip I learned years back. Before you put anything on your boots, treat all the seams and stitching with a good seam sealer. I use "seamgrip". This rubberized coating goes a long ways in protecting and waterproofing the seams/stitching on your boots. Once a year I clean them really good and re apply.

[thompie505]

Awesome thanks!!

[Ohwildwon]

I’ve tried them all..
What I find works best is Mink oil in paste form.
I also put the Scarpa sl Active in the oven
for 10 min at 200f before hand...