Boot Maintenance

[prognastat]

Hey, so I decided to switch from buying chucks that cost me about $50 and last for at most a year to leather hiking boots. I actually ended up getting what I believe to be a reasonably good deal on some new Hanwag Grunten at $230.

Before they arrive I was hoping to get some advice on maintenance as I've never had to do this previously and I want to get the most out of them. Hoping to get at least 10 years out of them. The vast majority of the use will be home/office setting.

I'm looking for some recommendations around maintaining leather boots frugally. What kind of products are absolutely necessary for maintenance and how often should I expect to be using them if most of my use is around town rather than where they might get wet/dirty a lot?

[jacob]

Same as with leather shoes: Shoe polish (absolutely necessary), optionally followed by leather grease (nice for water proofing). Make sure to work it into the stitches. Just reapply whenever they look dirty, scuffed, or dry.

[prognastat]

So all that would be necessary is a cloth for wiping down any dirt/grime and just apply shoe polish with a cloth too?

Living in Texas it is pretty dry, is there any sense in adding anything for waterproofing unless I'm expecting them to get wet?

[jacob]

Yes. You can use a brush or a broom or whatever if you want for the dirt. I use an old sock for the polish.

The grease also maintains the leather to some extent. I only apply the grease 1/3 of the time. You can't apply polish until the grease has "worn off" (the surface is no longer greasy).

[prognastat]

Thanks for the info.

Is there a big difference between the following two types of product and if so which would be best?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/KIWI-Polish- ... s/22138811
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cadillac-Boo ... /133893466

[jacob]

Yes, big difference! Get the Kiwi. The other one is not shoe polish.

[prognastat]

Great, thanks. I think with that I should be all set. Now just to wait till the boots arrive as they are being shipped from Germany so the estimate is 6-10 business days.

Then I just need to get some wool socks, the polish and I should be done.

[jacob]

There are three ways to go with the socks:
1) Seamless wool socks + polypropylene liner socks. I find this the most comfortable solution, but I won't bother unless I plan to walk more than 10 miles.
2) Fancy tech hiking socks. I have a couple of those. They suck. Totally not worth it.
3) Standard $1 tennis socks. What I usually wear, because they're easy to wash.

[prognastat]

I was planning on using a cheap light socks for daily wear and get one pair of good hiking wool socks for the few times I'm expecting to do a lot of walking.

Are seamless and flat seam wool socks the same thing or is there a difference?

[jacob]

Same thing for all practical and possibly theoretical purposes as well.

[prognastat]

I appreciate all the advice, definitely helps a lot since I haven't worn any boots since I was a kid and those were cheap boots since I was expected to outgrow them so maintenance was never a concern.

[prognastat]

Well they finally got here. They had to travel all the way from Germany to the US. Glad they arrived though. For anyone interested I got a pretty good deal on them from:
https://www.exxpozed.com/hanwag-m-grunt ... ant=444790

For those in the US though keep in mind the price fluctuates a lot as the Euro to Dollar conversion fluctuates.

I can also say their customer service has been very helpful and accommodating. There were some difficulties with my bank refusing the charges at first as them coming from Europe set of fraud flags causing the order to be cancelled. Afterwards due to the currency changing when I tried to re-order them as at first suggested by customer service they were about $10-15 more, but they actually knocked off enough to make up the difference for the currency difference.

[jacob]

Figured you might enjoy this: http://www.fieldmag.com/quick/gear-revi ... unten-boot

[prognastat]

I love them so far, they look great. My feet will need to adjust a little going from shoes that offer little to no support(chuck's) to something that offers lots of support will require a little time.

[mferson]

I like using Snowseal. It makes leather waterproof longer.