Help! What's The Best Waterproofer For Leather Boots?

[ThomWV]

I oiled these new boots with Neatsfoot oil as soon as I got them but they are wet today. I was out walking in snow most of the afternoon, just a couple of inches deep. Just enough to keep the toes in snow.

What is the best product to use to waterproof boots? These are uninsulated work boots and so while I certainly won't be walking in water they will just as certainly get wet, be it mud or snow or whatever.

Any suggestions? Favorite products or just generic suggestions? I know there must be lots of 'home remedy' sorts of water protection I'd like to hear about.

[politicat]

1. Beeswax is what we use in DH's leather duster....

He lays it flay on the dining room table and uses the Polisher attachment on the Scum buster to work it in about 2x a year.

Shoes, though, I don't know.

[LynzM]

2. I've been using Sno-Seal recently....

Made by Penguin. It's mostly beeswax, and seems to do a pretty good job. You rub a lot of it in, let it sit and get warm for a while to soak in, then rub any excess off... Good luck!

[oneighty]

3. Saddle soap

There is a water proofing paste that comes in a can similar to some brands of shoe polish.

If you have access to a shoe repair shop they can help.

180

[jmowreader]

4. Waterproof your boots the Logger Way!

First, don't buy shit boots. Get something like White's, Nick's Custom Boots, Danner, something like that. Red Wings have always been bad.

Next, go to http://www.peetshoedryer.com and buy a Peet shoe dryer. The Peet shoe dryer (most of us called it a boot dryer because that's what it was invented for, drying logging boots) will thoroughly dry a completely-waterlogged pair of 12-inch logging boots in six hours without damaging the boots. (On edit: the Peet shoe dryer is American made from US-sourced parts. He even makes his own power cords.)

Now you really want a pound of bear grease. If you can't get one, go to a Hispanic grocer and buy some leaf lard. Hispanic grocers sell it without salt or preservatives, and this is what you want. Weigh out your bear grease and add an equal amount of beeswax.

Put your boots on the boot dryer and plug it in. In a few hours the boots will be warm to the touch. At this time, melt the bear grease and beeswax together and apply it to your boots with a paintbrush. Let them remain on the dryer for an hour to get the waterproofer to soak in, then apply another coat of grease. Keep doing this for nine or ten applications.

Once the tenth application is done, leave the boots on the dryer overnight to cure. If you don't allow them to cure on the dryer, your cat will eat them. (When I was a kid, one of my cats ate one of my dad's $185/pair Nick's custom calked boots because dad didn't properly cure the waterproofer. That cat lived the rest of his days outside. I think he was going that way anyway--his favorite thing to eat was leather boot laces. Fortunately, Nick's will make you one boot--he's got records on every boot he's ever made, so you just call him up, tell him who you are and he'll crank you out one.)

When your boots have cured, you need to remember to put them on the boot dryer after you walk in the wet, and you need to apply another coat once per month.