For long days of hiking, there’s nothing like the feel of a top-quality full-grain leather boot. Support, breathability, and the way they mold to your feet…after hours and miles with a heavy pack, you always congratulate yourself for having bought them in the first place.
But, when you bought them, they didn’t feel that way. They were stiff and difficult to work with. Only over time did they become part of you. Boots are one of the few things that we don’t enjoy replacing; no matter how good a new version is, it’s hard to give up that perfect feel of a well-worn pair.
So, how to make them last as long as possible? The reality is that maintaining your boots is a relatively painless process, with a bonus; when you’re done, they not only are going to last longer, they look better. Pride of ownership is a wonderful thing!
Here’s how we do it:
1. Take the laces out. Check them over; if they’re frayed, replace them. It’s easier to do that than have to fix them when they break 10 miles out in the middle of nowhere.
2. Clean the boot fully. If there are gaps between the sole and the leather, use a small screwdriver, a toothpick, whatever fits to scrape out the gunk that’s gotten in there. After that, use a good leather cleaner to make sure the boot is prepared to accept the waterproofing. We use Granger’s G-Max Gel Cleaner; it’s easy, doesn’t make an awful mess or soak the boot through, and is designed specifically for the purpose. For the areas where the rubber and sole have separated, use q-tips and rubbing alcohol to get them ready for re-glueing.
3. Once the boot has fully dried (if you have a boot dryer, like the DryGuy DG-1, use it; that way, when the boot looks dry, you know it’s dry from the inside out, making sure that glue and waterproofing work as well as possible), do any sole repairs. If your boot has a rand, or protective rubber strip, that has separated, glue it back in place. If it has an extended sole like my L.L. Bean Gore-Tex Crestas, don’t try that; they’ll just separate again. Instead, fill the gap with your repair material using a toothpick, then smooth the transition with a popsicle stick. We use McNett Freesole for that type of repair; it’s easy to use, sticks to everything, and is durable and flexible in all conditions. McNett has excellent instructions on their website for this and other types of repairs (they specialize in repair kits for boots, tents, backpacks, etc.). If you need tape to hold the rand in place, there’s a number that you can use, but we like the blue tape used for masking when painting; it sticks remarkably well, but doesn’t leave any gunk behind that would need to be cleaned off later.
4. Once you’ve completed repairs to the rubber and the material has fully cured, it’s time to apply the waterproofing. We’ve tried every one we’ve run across, and Granger’s Paste Wax is the best and easiest to use, as it lasts even after it has worn off the surface and doesn’t seem to affect the breathability of the Gore-Tex membrane. Work it in with a cloth or your fingers; we prefer fingers, as body temperatures melt it and help it soak into the leather. Get it into all of the little crevices around eyelets, etc; any area you miss will be susceptible to leakage and cracking of the leather.
- Transformed from ugly to almost new, these boots will continue to perform in rotten conditions (David Shedd photo)
5. Sit back, look at your lovely, shiny boots, and plan your next hike!
It really is that easy. The only hard part is the timing; plan on up to three days to complete the work, as you need to give the boots time to dry between steps (a boot dryer obviously speeds that process up, but won’t speed up drying of the Freesole, unless you also buy Cotol-240 accelerator). If you need things to happen faster, use the aids, but don’t short-circuit the process; do it right, and you’ll get better short-term results and longer boot life.
Hi David,
Enjoyed your artical on refurbishing a pair of leather hiking boots. The boots you used are the same ones that I have for about 10 years. I am a gear head who loves leather boots and have been caring for them just as you described for the past 40 years. Some of my boots are 30 years old and still going strong due to TLC and resoling. I have currently purchased a pair of old scholl Alico boots with stich down soles just because they are getting harder and harder to find especially in a 13EE. I would like to put a rubber rand (like todays modern boots) on these boots before I wear; do you know if this is possible and if so were I can buy the necessary materials?
Best regards,
Michael Bonardi
Michael, we don’t have an easy answer for you. The stitch-down style of putting a sole on is called a “Goodyear welt”, and we don’t know any easy way to put a rubber rand on that will cover that area and then bend up and over the toe and upper areas without being a total disaster. The best solution we can think of will be UGLY, but will protect the boot better than nothing, and that’s to use Freesole or Shoe Goo and literally paint a “rand” onto the boot. We’ve seen a product at Home Depot that allows you to put a line onto windows, etc., that you can pull back up when you’ve painted over it; you might be able to use that or blue painter’s tape to create a nice line around 1″ up the upper; then, paint on the goo, pull the tape off, and let it dry. That would at least give you a fairly nice, regular line above the protection layer. Anyone else have any better ideas for Michael?
Hi David,
Thanks for that great article.
I have a pair of pre-China Vasque boots that are my old friends. You said it perfectly; I do not want to replace these after excellent service for many years. I put them on and I’m ready for anything. I’m not hardcore. I just enjoy hiking rocky, steep, wooded trails with my dogs by my home in S.C. MA, and anywhere else I take them.
Recently one boot developed a split in the top leather. I am bummed big time. I have scouted for a replacement, and found a couple of possible candidates, but what I really want is my old faithful boots! Can you let me know if you have had any success with a repair to a split in the top leather? My only concern would be rub points. I don’t care a bit about how they look… well, I do polish my boots, but I don’t need perfect looks, just my wonderful, perfect fit.
Thanks in advance, and best regards,
Lisa
Lisa, there’s just not enough information about the damage to your boots for us to try to guess what to do…but, I can tell you what we’d do if it happened to us and we weren’t sure what made the most sense! We’d head for a local cobbler’s shop, ideally one that’s been around for a long time. Those guys have all sorts of unusual ways to fix leather, and generally don’t charge a lot. Give that a try and let us know how it works out!
When I was in the RAF we used Devcon Flexane on our parade shoes to give a super resilient super shine. It might be just the thing to ‘paint on’ a rubber rand. The RAF officially used it to protect nose cones of fighter jets and anything hanging from them but we found a far greater need 🙂 Definitely use masking tape to create a clean line.
http://www.devcon.com/products/products.cfm?brand=Devcon&family=Flexane%C2%AE%20Brushable
I used the shoo goo method. I found some black in color and just like the heavy glue/ epoxy , they looked good and also lasted quite a good long time. My vasque boots I’ve had for a while are older molded soles , my cobbler stated he was able to resole these now due to some really nice products out there , and vibram coming out with some nice replacement soles. Does anyone have any information I should know about ahead of time ?
Thanks, David!
I was out in the garage, looking at my boots, thinking “those need some work.” I came in, did a search, and found this link. I opened it, and the first thing I saw was my Crestas! I will take that as a sign that I should follow your advice to the letter.
Me too–this is a lifesaver, since they don’t make black Crestas any more.
Need new leather for hoots dry leather sprays or something that sprays leather on to boots