How to Care for Leather Boots to Make Them Last Longer

When caring for leather boots, you can not give your pair a buff of polish and call it a day. A proper regimen for leather boots care warrants much more than that.

Dirt, water, and sunshine are the main elements that suck the life out of your leather boots. If left unchecked, these elements may cause dullness, odor, creases, and cracks in your pair.

In this guide, you will find a simple-to-follow yet complete routine for leather boots care. The routine will help you double the lifespan of your leather boots. Here’s a sneak peek:

• Daily: Dry, clean, and polish leather boots once every day.
• Weekly: Remove bad odor from leather boots once every week.
• Monthly: Oil and waterproof leather boots once every month.
• Quarterly: Deep clean leather boots with saddle soap once every quarter.
• Yearly: Remove creases and cracks from leather boots once every year.

Above was a bird’s-eye view of a perfect routine to care for your leather boots. Continue reading below to know each step in detail.

A Simple-To-Follow Routine to Care For Your Leather Boots

This may sound like an exaggeration, but I wrote this guide to help you 2x the lifespan of your leather boots. I am very positive that if you do everything by the guide, you should be able to achieve this. With the positivity high, let’s jump into the actual guide:

Daily: Dry, Clean, and Polish Leather Boots Once Every Day

Dry, clean, and polish your leather boots once every day. You may slack a little bit here and do this every other day.

Dry Your Leather Boots

Drying your leather boots should always be your first step in leather boots care.

If your pair is wet and you try to clean it, you will only spread the mud and get an even dirtier pair.

Similarly, if your pair is wet and you try to polish it, the polish will not be able to seep into the leather and nourish it. 

So, drying your pair is always the step to start with. Do this as the last thing at night.

Here is how to dry your leather boots the right way:

1. Fill your boots with as many newspapers as you can fit inside them.
2. Wrap some more newspapers all around the boots, covering every inch of them.
3. Wait for a while until the papers are fully soaked.
4. Remove the soaked newspapers and repeat the process with some dry newspapers.
5. Doing this a couple of times should be enough to dry a damped pair of leather boots.

If you live in a snowy area or work in a wet environment, you may find that your boots are soaked all the time. In such a case, using the newspaper will not help much. Instead, consider investing in a high-quality boot dryer.

Clean Your Leather Boots

Cleaning your leather boots is a fairly simple task. The purpose is to remove any dirt build-ups on the leather. 

Here is how to clean your leather boots the right way:

1. Lay a piece of newspaper on the ground to avoid staining the floor.
2. Unlace your boots and loosen up the vamp area.
3. Use a soft horsehair brush and give the leather upper a good rub to remove any dirt build-ups.
4. Use a plastic scrubber to clean the outsole and remove mud/debris from the tread.
5. Use a damp rag to clean the laces before putting them back on the boots.

Follow the steps mentioned above, and you will have a clean pair of leather boots. This way, the leather will respond its best to further treatments you apply to it.

Polish Your Leather Boots

Polishing leather boots nourish the pair and give you a gentlemanly appearance. So, do not slack on this activity.

There are three types of polish available in the market- cream, wax, and water-based. You may use either of the first two types of polish but avoid using the water-based ones. They do more harm than good to your leather boots.

Here is how to polish your leather boots the right way:

1. Apply a small amount of polish on the leather. To apply a cream-based polish on boots, use an applicator brush. To apply a wax-based polish on boots, use your index finger but wrap a clean rag around it first.
2. Buff the entire leather upper well with a soft horsehair brush. It will spread the polish evenly all over the surface and bring the shine out of the leather.
3. You may stop the activity here or give the leather one more round of polish for extra shine.

Tip: It is how well you buff the leather and not the quantity of the polish that makes the leather shine. So, use only a small amount of polish and buff the boots for a while.

Weekly: Remove Bad Odor From Leather Boots Once Every Week

It may come to you as a surprise, but humans have about 2,50,000 sweat glands on their feet. These sweat glands produce roughly half a pint of perspiration a day. [source]

Most of this perspiration gets evaporated into the air. But, some of it gets soaked in by the socks and the boots you wear. This creates a damp and warm environment inside the boots. 

The dampness inside your boots facilitates the breeding of bacteria and fungus. Once the bacteria and fungus accumulate, your boots start to stink.

But, you are smart, and you have this leather boots care guide at your disposal. Every week, you will be performing a few steps to kill any trace of odor in your boots. 

Here is how to remove bad odor from your leather boots the right way:

1. Take 2-3 teaspoons of baking soda.
2. Pour the baking soda into a pair of socks.
3. Place the socks inside the boots and leave overnight.
4. In the morning, take the socks out of the boots.
5. You will notice that your leather boots smell fresh now.

Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate has a very interesting property. It binds to the smelly particles and does not allow them to break free after that. Thus, once you remove the baking soda from the boots, you also remove the smelly particles.

Monthly: Oil and Waterproof Leather Boots Once Every Month

Modern leather boots come coated with a layer of conditioning oil. Daily wear of the boots rips the leather off its protective layers. So, it is very important to restore this layer from time to time. Here’s how:

Oil Your Leather Boots

Although dead, leather is skin, but it needs regular nourishment to stay soft & supple. Otherwise, it may soon go dry, get shrunk, and develop cracks. The best way to keep it nourished and avoid damage is to oil it once every month.

For this purpose, you may use any animal-based oil available in your house. Both mink oil and neatsfoot oil work fine on most types of leather. Some vegetable oils work well, but they may leave the leather sticky. So, I do not recommend using them.

Here is how to oil your leather boots the right way:

1. Clean your leather boots thoroughly for any dirt buildup. Even a small amount of dirt can compromise the result.
2. Use an applicator brush or your finger (with a rag wrapped around it) to apply some oil on the leather.
3. Buff the leather well with a soft brush or a clean rag. Spend a good chunk of time buffing the leather and working the oil deep into it.
4. Leave the boots in the shade to get dry for a few hours.
5. You may give your leather boots one more round of oil, but that’s it.

Waterproof Your Leather Boots

Always buy a waterproof pair of boots only and keep reproofing it from time to time.

You need to waterproof your leather boots for two reasons. First, to save the leather from water. Second, to save the leather from the snow.

Snow causes more harm to leather than water does because snow contains some salt as well. This salt reacts with the upper and causes nasty stains and discoloration of the leather. 

So, to avoid the damage, it is wise to restore the waterproofing layer of leather boots once a month at least.

Beeswax is my weapon of choice here. It is an easily available household item and does not cost much. Best of all, it is very effective at doing its job of waterproof leather boots.

Here is how to waterproof your leather boots the right way:

1. Apply a thin layer of melted beeswax all over the leather upper. You may use your finger to do this but make sure the wax is not too hot.
2. Take a clean rag and rub it all over the leather upper in a small circular motion. Rub well and work the beeswax into the leather.
3. Take another clean rag and wipe the excess beeswax off the leather. Be quick and do it while the wax is still melted.
4. Keep cleaning the excess beeswax until only a very thin layer of wax is left on the leather. Do not allow any wax build-up to stay on the leather.
5. Finally, leave the boots in the shade and let them dry naturally.

Quarterly: Deep Clean Leather Boots With Saddle Soap Once Every Quarter

Spare some time every quarter to deep clean your leather boots, insoles, and laces. It will cut the chances of any long-term build-up of dirt, mildew, bacteria, etc. on your boots.

To lift dirt settled deep into the pores of the leather, a buff of brush or washcloth will not help much. You will need a cleaning agent that is harsh on dirt but soft on leather.

Enters saddle soap.

Saddle soap contains properties of both a detergent and a conditioner. It cleans and nourishes the leather at the same time.

Here is how to deep clean your leather boots with saddle soap the right way:

1. Remove laces and insoles from your boots and wash them separately.
2. Give your boots a quick buff with a horsehair brush to remove obvious dirt and debris.
3. Use a damp cloth to take some saddle soap and apply it to the leather boots.
4. Rub the cloth on the leather until there is some rich lather on the surface.
5. Put the boots under a running tap to wash the lather off and clean the boots.
6. Tap a piece of clean & dry cloth on the leather to soak any excess water.
7. Let the boots air dry for a few hours. Do not use any heat source to dry the leather.
8. Once the boots are dry, oil them well to restore their essential PH level.
9. Repeat the process with laces and insoles before putting them back on the boots.

Yearly: Remove Creases and Cracks From Leather Boots Once Every Year

By a year’s mark, your leather boots may develop some imperfections. The most common of all are creases and cracks in the surface. These imperfections occur regardless of how good your leather boots care routine is.

In case you notice creases or cracks occurring to your boots, do not fret. They are very easy to get rid of.

Removing Creases From Leather Boots

Haste while wearing and bending leather may cause some creases in your boots. These creases look unpleasant and may force you to ditch your lovely pair for a new one. But creases in leather boots are easy to remove with a household item- steam iron.

Here is how to remove creases from your leather boots with a steam iron:

1. Remove laces from your boots.
2. Stuff your boots with some paper, cardboard, or rags.
3. Cover the boots with a damp cloth to prevent the leather from getting burned.
4. Set your steam iron to a low temperature and let it heat a little.
5. Iron out the creases in your boots the same way you iron out the wrinkles in your clothes.
6. Remove the damped cloth, and you will notice the creases are almost gone.
7. Leave the boots in the open for a few hours to air dry.

The key here is to keep the temperature setting at a low. Instead of using a high temperature in the first go, repeat the process many times with a low temperature.

Repairing Cracks in Leather Boots

The worst that can happen to your leather boots is the occurrence of cracks in them. This is irreversible damage, but it’s not all gloomy. You can do a few things to repair cracks in leather boots to the extent that they become almost unnoticeable.

Here is how to repair cracks in leather boots:

1. Clean your leather boots well with a brush to lift off any dirt in the cracks.
2. Fill the cracks with a filler compound. Mink oil and neatsfoot oil can act as filler material for fine cracks. You will need to buy a professional leather repairing kit for deep cracks.
3. Once the filler material is settled into the cracks, apply polish to make your boots look even.

Additional Tips to Take Care For Your Leather Boots

Here are a few bonus tips that you may want to add to your leather boots care routine. They contribute a lot to keeping your leather boots in good condition.

• Buy Boots of Right Size: An ill-fit pair of boots leads to the leather fibers’ overstretching. As a result, the fibers start to break apart. Eventually, your boots start to become pulpy and saggy. So, buy boots of the right sizes only. Here’s how to measure your foot for the right shoe size.
• Take Time to Break-in Boots: Once you buy a new pair of leather boots, spend a few days breaking into them. This way the boots will mold around your feet better. Otherwise, forceful wearing may distort the leather. Here’s how to break in leather boots.
• Replace Insoles and Laces: Insoles have a shorter lifespan than boots do. The same is true for the laces as well. So, keep an eye on when the insoles go flat, or laces start to fray out. Replace your insoles and laces as soon as you notice this happening.
• Own Two Pairs of Boots: If you can afford, own two pairs of leather boots for work and wear them rotationally. This alternate wearing of boots will allow each pair to dry fully and become ready for the next outing.
• Store the Leather Boots Well: If you decide to put one of your pairs on rest, make sure you store them the right way. First, always store them in their original box only. Second, stuff the boots with paper or rags to maintain their shape. Last, make sure you do not place other things on top of the box you store your boots in.

What’s Next…

Now that you have a perfect routine to care for leather boots at your disposal, it is time to take action. Use your knowledge to either care for your next pair the right way or revamp an existing one.

If you want to join me on the mission to save the leather boots of the masses, do not forget to give this guide a quick share :). Also, don’t forget to check our homepage for more boots care guides. Thanks!