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Home › Footwear › Boots › Boot & Leather Care

Sof Sole Mink Oil Review – It’s Not Actually Mink Oil?

Nick EnglishEditor-in-Chief
Updated Oct 31, 2024

This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission from.

Is mink oil the fountain of youth for your boots?

I decided to pick some up to see if they could work on some four-year-old Thursday boots. Now, these boots have never been conditioned, and a lot of the damage, like deep gashes in the leather, is beyond repair. (They’re not mine; I borrowed them from a buddy who has no respect for fine footwear.)

Sof Sole was founded in 1991 and is better known for their athletic shoe inserts, but somewhere along the line their mink oil wound up the most popular mink oil on Amazon. Let’s try it out.

[Get the lowest price for Sof Sole Mink Oil here!]

Table of Contents

Toggle
  • Sof Sole Mink Oil Ingredients
  • Why Use Mink Oil On Boots?
  • How to Use Sof Sole Mink Oil
  • Sof Sole Mink Oil Results
  • Sof Sole Mink Oil Price
  • Sof Sole Mink Oil Pros & Cons

Sof Sole Mink Oil Ingredients

  • 5 to 15% mink oil
  • 55 to 85% tallow
  • About 10% glycerol

Now like most shoe conditioners, we don’t get an ingredients list with this but I did get a list of the Sof Sole Mink Oil Ingredients from the company that reveals this is actually just 5 to 15 percent mink oil.

mink oil ingredients

That explains the low price; the majority of the product (55 to 85 percent of it) is actually tallow, which is fat from beef or sheep. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could cook eggs in this stuff.

It’s also about 10 percent glycerol, an emollient that belongs to the alcohol family of organic compounds. This might help with cleaning properties.

[Does it matter if there’s petroleum in your boot conditioner?]

Sof Sole Mink Oil before

Why Use Mink Oil On Boots?

Mink oil is rendered from fat removed from the pelts of minks destined for the fur industry. When I first got into boots it seemed ridiculous to put mink on leather, but the reason it’s so popular is that it’s way higher in unsaturated fats than most animal sources: 75 percent of it is unsaturated, so it has better oxidative stability and it’s less likely to go rancid than vegetable oils. It also has a relatively long shelf life and can stay chilling in the pores of your leather for a long time without starting to stink.

Indeed, it penetrates very deeply into the leather, helping to make a water resistant barrier around it that also helps to protect against perspiration stains and salt. So it’s popular for use on hard wearing boots and it’s standard issue in some militaries.

It also has a reputation for darkening leather. A lot.

[See my guide to waterproofing nice boots!]

sof sole mink oil

How to Use Sof Sole Mink Oil

1) Generally, these sorts of products need to be heated up before applying so it sinks into the pores before drying. Some people put mink oil in a coffee cup and microwave it then use a cloth to apply it, but I just heated it up in my hands and rubbed it in.

2) Rub it deeply into the creases and cracks of the leather.

3) Wait a few minutes and wipe away any excess — important because the residue can attract dirt and dust easily.

4) They say, “For best results we recommend applying one coat, letting it dry completely, then applying a second coat.” These boots needed it, so I did.

Sof Sole Mink Oil before after

Sof Sole Mink Oil Results

  • Darkens leather
  • Leather is softer
  • Improves color consistency

As you can see, the leather darkened significantly. A few days later it had lightened up a bit, here’s what it looked like three days later:

Mink Oil 4 days later

[See my review of Thursday Boot Company.]

But the rumors are true: mink oil, or animal fat anyway, does indeed darken leather.

Still, the color consistency did improve and the leather became noticeably softer. The downside is that it’s not great on shiny, dressy leather — while it’s great for water resistance, it makes it a lot harder to get a good shine.

RELATED

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Mink Oil For Boots (Expert Guide) | Pros, Cons, & Alternatives

Need more information about mink oil for boots? We reached out to three leading experts to get the answers. Learn more →

sof sole mink oil consistency

Sof Sole Mink Oil Price

You can pick up 3.5 ounces for $3, so it’s 85 cents an ounce.

[Buy Sof Sole Mink Oil on Amazon here for the cheapest price]

Now that’s very cheap for mink oil, but remember that this isn’t actually mink oil. It’s really hard to compare different mink oil products because few disclose how much mink oil they contain. Red Wing’s Mink Oil, for instance, is $3.33 per ounce but I’m unsure how much of that is mink oil. (It’s also got lanolin and silicone.)

Blue Ribbon sells a mink oil that costs $1.25 per ounce but a lot of people doubt whether that’s real. Normally, pure mink oil products are closer to $20 to $50 per ounce.

Thursday Boots conditioned

Sof Sole Mink Oil Pros & Cons

 Pros

  • Improves water resistance
  • Inexpensive
  • Improves color consistency
  • Softens leather

Cons

  • Darkens
  • Makes it harder to get a shine
  • Just ~10% mink oil

This product is easy to use, super cheap, and it will improve the water resistance of your shoes. The main downside is that it darkens the leather a ton and it’s not great on nicer, dressier leathers. But if you don’t care about maintaining your color and you just want to smooth out blemishes and make your boots more outdoorsy, this is a reasonable pick.

Nick English

Editor-in-Chief

Nick English, the founder and editor of Stridewise, combines a rich background in journalism with well-recognized expertise in welted footwear and casual menswear.

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Stridewise team

About Stridewise

by Nick English

Founded in 2018 to help men buy the best boots, we’ve since expanded our team and purview to review and celebrate casual footwear and menswear that’s as close to “buy it for life” quality as possible. We take great pride in being a trusted source for information while maintaining complete editorial independence. At no extra cost to you, we might earn a commission from a brand when you purchase through our links, which helps us keep our mission alive. Learn More

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  1. lunebluemedia.com

    June 10, 2019 at 9:03 am

    Hi there! We do not recommend using the product on suede. This will cause color fastness and can ruin the material. Mink oil should only be used on leather products.

    Reply
    • Nick

      June 12, 2019 at 7:44 pm

      Yeah I don’t recommend it on suede?

      Reply
  2. S

    December 12, 2019 at 10:28 am

    Nice review. I’ll find some uses for this stuff and find something a bit more pure for my Irish Setters

    Reply
    • Nick

      December 24, 2019 at 6:39 am

      What are you thinking for the Irish Setters?

      Reply
  3. Greg

    January 29, 2020 at 11:06 pm

    Is it safe to use on human skin?

    Reply
    • Nick

      February 3, 2020 at 10:34 pm

      I think so? I don’t know why you would, though!

      Reply
    • ExhibitA

      July 10, 2023 at 8:58 pm

      The f*** kinda question is that haha? some kind of fetish you have?

      Reply

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Founded in 2018 to help men buy the best boots, we’ve since expanded our team and purview to review and celebrate casual footwear and menswear that’s as close to “buy it for life” quality as possible. We take great pride in being a trusted source for information while maintaining complete editorial independence. At no extra cost to you, we might earn a commission from a brand when you purchase through our links, which helps us keep our mission alive. Learn More

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