The Simple Guide to Leather Boot Care (From Someone Who’s Done It for 40 Years)

You just got your first pair of nice leather boots, they weren’t cheap, and you’re trying to figure out how to make sure you don’t accidentally wreck them.

• When am I supposed to condition a leather boot?
• How do I clean them without damaging the leather?
• My leather boots can get wet, right?
• Wait, what’s a shoe tree, now?

A lot of guys turn basic boot maintenance into a full-time job, but this simple guide is for normal people who don’t want to run a full care routine every time they walk outside.

To make sure you’re only getting the advice you need and nothing you don’t, I interviewed Pat Macri, who has spent the last forty years managing boot care and repair at R.M. Williams.

Note: This guide is about how to care for smooth leather boots. If yours are suede, see our guide to cleaning suede boots.

How to Clean Leather Boots

• Gentle foam leather cleaners will usually do the job and can be used as often as you like
• Even if you like dirty boots, you should clean them before you condition them
• Serious stains can be removed with Saddle Soap

There are a few ways to clean leather boots, depending on how much dirt is caked onto them.

“There’s two things we look out for,” says Pat. “When we see a buildup of dirt or shoe polish, that’s when I bring in the leather cleaner.”

1. Wipe the boots down with a damp cloth.
   
2. If they’re still dirty, spray some leather cleaner on the cloth and wipe again.
   
3. Don’t forget to clean the stitching around the welt; it’ll help keep the thread from degrading.
   
4. You can rub extra hard on extra dirty spots, just pay attention to the rag and make sure you’re not removing any of the leather’s dye.

“There’s no harm in using the leather cleaner all the time,” says Pat.

Good Products for Cleaning Leather Boots

You probably won’t need anything stronger than a basic foam leather cleaner that’s designed for boots.

• Cobbler’s Choice Leather Cleaner is my favorite, mostly because they’re less expensive and more transparent about their ingredients than other brands.
• Red Wing’s Foam Leather Cleaner has the strength of perhaps the most powerful brand in boots behind it.
• R.M. Williams Leather Cleaner works just as well and might be easier for you to purchase, depending on your location.

Should You Use Saddle Soap to Clean Your Boots?

Probably not.

Saddle Soap is an extremely powerful and astringent product that should only be used if your boots are seriously dirty and a foam cleaner isn’t doing the job — it’s a “break glass in case of emergency” kind of product.

It works, but if you aren’t careful it can suck the color and moisture out of your leather. If you really do need to use it, read our guide to using Saddle Soap on boots.

A Guide to Conditioning Leather Boots

• Conditioners replenish oils and waxes that keep leather supple, comfortable, and water resistant
• Some conditioners emphasize different effects, eg. waterproofing, not darkening the color, etc.
• Apply a coin-sized amount to the entire boot, let it dry for at least an hour, and repeat if necessary
• Some guys decide if the leather is properly conditioned by dropping some water on it: if it beads on the surface rather than sinking in, then it’s good.

Leather is skin. Like your face, it dries out over time, especially if it’s been in harsh weather. Conditioning your boots is like moisturizing your face: it restores oils that keep it supple and healthy.

If keeping boots “supple” doesn’t sound that important, there are two other reasons to condition regularly: it improves the leather’s water resistance and it makes it look cool. That image you have in your mind’s eye of really old, really cool looking leather boots? You get that by regularly conditioning them.

“It just brings the natural oils back into the leather,” says Pat, who tends to use the word nourish rather than condition. “The longer you keep the leather supple, the better it’s going to flex while you’re walking.”

How to Condition Leather Boots

Be sure to clean your boots or at least give them a good wipe down with a wet rag before starting the process. Otherwise, you’re pushing dirt into the leather.

1. Put a coin-sized amount of conditioner on the boot.
   “The price point of the boots make some customers worry, so they’ll use so much conditioner that they saturate the leather to the point that it loses its breathing qualities and it’s constantly damp,” says Pat.
   
2. Distribute the conditioner evenly all over the boot with a rag, horsehair brush, or your hands.
   “I like to use my hands to rub it in,” says Pat. “The warmth from your hands will actually help it penetrate the leather.”
   
3. Make sure the conditioner is warm enough to sink into the leather.
   Conditioners usually contain a lot of wax, so they’re more solid when it’s cold. Apply it with plenty of vigorous rubbing or brushing to ensure it’s soft enough to sink into the leather.
   
4. Once you’re finished, vigorously brush with a horsehair brush or a rag to help the conditioner sink into the leather and get evenly distributed.
   It’s not a big deal if you’re only able to use your hands, especially if you paid attention to step 3.
   
5. Leave the boots to dry for a couple of hours or overnight.
   
6. Wipe down any excess conditioner on the boot.
   
7. If the leather’s still dry, repeat the process.

Don’t worry if your leather is now darker than you’d like; it’ll lighten up as you wear it.

Good Products for Conditioning Leather Boots

• Cobbler’s Choice Leather Conditioner is my favorite “all rounder” that balances moisturizing the leather and increasing water resistance without darkening too much.
• Venetian Shoe Cream is the standard go-to, combining several kinds of wax to emphasize softening the leather and making it look beautiful.
• Huberd’s Shoe Grease is the go-to if you want to maximize waterproofness; just remember it will seriously darken and flatten the color of your leather.
• Bickmore’s Bick 4 is what you want if you don’t want to darken your leather. It doesn’t penetrate very deeply, so you may need to use it more often than other products.

How Often Should You Condition Your Boots?

It depends on how hard you wear your boots. If you’re in a very dry climate or, paradoxically, if they’re always getting wet, then you should condition them more often. (When leather gets wet, it dries out as it… dries out.)

“If you’re wearing them more casually or in an office environment, I’d suggest conditioning them every couple of months,” says Pat. “If you’re in a very dry climate, you probably want to increase that, but it’s up to you.”

For what it’s worth, I usually condition my boots twice a year: at the beginning and end of boot season.

What to Do When Your Leather Boots Get Wet

• Resoleable leather boots are very water resistant and can handle any rainy day
• Leather dries out after it gets wet, so the more they get wet, the more they may need conditioning
• There are degrees of wetness: a fully saturated boot won’t dry out as much as a boot that’s seen a light drizzle

“If you stand in a pond for an extended period of time, we would assume that some sort of water will penetrate through the stitching, but you won’t get your feet soaked,” says Pat. “You’d have to be in there for quite some time.”

His point: while not technically waterproof, resoleable leather boots — the kind made with Goodyear welts or the less common stitchdown construction — are waterproof enough for any normal rainy day.

“You can walk through puddles and mud, all fully finished leathers will handle it,” says Pat. “But when you get home, the idea would be to let them dry naturally, get whatever dirt off them, and get some conditioner into them. Don’t dry them in front of a heat source, or even in direct sunlight. Just let them dry naturally in a nice open area where there’s plenty of airflow.”

As a guy who own so many boots that he started a boot blog: I don’t condition my boots whenever they get wet.

But it’s true that when water dries out of your leather, some of the natural moisture dries out along with it. Ironically enough, your boots will be drier after they get wet. The more water your boots experience, the more often you’d want to condition them.

Why You Should Use Cedar Shoe Trees

• A boot’s toes tend to slowly curl upward over time; leaving shoe trees in them stops that from happening
• Shoe trees also help a boot dry out, whether it’s wet from rain or moist from the normal humidity of your feet
• Opt for cedar shoe trees rather than plastic; the wood is antimicrobial and better at managing moisture and odor

“It maintains the shape of the boot,” says Pat. “It absorbs any moisture or perspiration that you put into the boot during the day, and they actually smell quite nice.”

This is one of those “essential” boot care tips that most guys don’t actually follow. But boots that never see shoe trees are prone to losing their shape and curling up at the toe, especially if they often get wet, and especially if they have leather soles.

I got a lot of angry comments about toe curl (or “toe spring”) on an old video about my Wolverine 1000 Mile boots in the picture above. Yes, they had leather soles and I’d been wearing them during a very rainy week in New York. It was just one week!

The take home message: ideally, you’d leave shoe trees in your boots whenever you’re not wearing them. But at the bare minimum, use shoe trees if your boots have gotten wet.

If you don’t own shoe trees and your boots are really saturated, stuff the inside with newspaper instead.

Finally: Don’t Wear The Same Boots Every Day

• It’s best to let your boots rest a day between wears so that they can dry out from your foot’s moisture

“It’s not recommended,” says Pat. “We suggest you alternate every two days to allow the perspiration and moisture to dry out naturally.”

One last piece of advice that shocks a lot of guys: it’s best if you don’t wear your boots every day.

I’m not saying that “if you wear your boots half as much, they’ll last twice as long.”

I’m saying that if your boots never get a day of “rest” then they won’t fully dry out from the moisture that your feet left inside them.

“We’re trying to get the leather to last as long as possible,” says Pat. “If you allow it to breathe and to dry naturally, it won’t absorb your perspiration day after day after day.”

And really, most of the tips on this list circle back to that same point: boots that don’t dry out properly don’t last as long. It hampers the longevity of the leather, the stitching, and the shape.

But long term boot care really doesn’t have to be complicated. It all comes down to using shoe trees when you’re not wearing them and conditioning them a few times a year. Easy!