Taking Care of Rugged Boots for Fall

(This is part two. To read part one on Obenauf's LP and leather protection in general, see this post.)

Just finished polishing off my boots with a hearty helping of Obenauf’s LP. My can arrived over the weekend, and as per the the sites I linked to, I left them wrapped in a plastic bag all day to absorb whatever heat they could (it’s amazing how fast that hot summer went away). I also put the sack in my car trunk for some added insulation. The idea is to warm up the leather to better absorb the leather preservative. Working the stuff in with your hands has the same effect.

Here you can see a before and after shot of my boots. The pair on the right has had an LP treatment, the pair on the left hasn't. The boots have benefited greatly from some liberal application of leather conditioner since last winter, but I'm afraid the effect of the Obenauf's was a bit lackluster at first. That's no knock on Obenauf's though, as these boots have seen years of hard use with little to no protective care. The leather was so dry and cracked initially, I was concerned whether the LP would have any effect. But the boots clearly look better, even if you can't tell in the picture, and at the least the LP will protect them from the elements this winter. I will probably give them another one or two treatments to see if I can't restore these things to their former glory. It's a work in progress.

I also gave my Sperry Topsider loafers an application of LP as well. They were in fair enough condition before treatment, but I figured the LP wouldn't hurt, and again protecting the leather is always a nice benefit. 

I worked on my shoes around 5:30 pm, and by writing this closer to 8:30, both the Sperrys (or is it Sperries?) and the boots have darkened in color. The boots are now a nice rich brown, while the loafers are more of a burnished brown, much like the color of a cigar. The color adds a nice character to both pairs, and I'm excited to see what they look like after a night of drying. All in all, I think this was a good investment, and a nice way to kill 30 minutes before dinner.

Side note - I included this picture to show how little of the LP I actually needed/used. I'm not sure how this compares to other users, but for me it was more than enough for a liberal application to my boots, and a standard application (at least in my mind) to the loafers. This jar of LP should last awhile (so again, a good value).

Thanks for reading,

MD

Taking Care of Rugged Boots for Fall

Back in one of my very first (and admittedly shitty) posts, I included a picture of a pair of “vintage” W.C. Russell Moccasin boots. I say vintage in quotations because I found these at my grandparents house (they were given to me, I didn’t steal them), but they were my grandfather’s, and I have no idea how old they are. I’m guessing they’re old as shit. After getting some compliments on them, I decided to keep them, and actively work towards restoring them. 

When I first got them, the leather was dry and cracked. I’ve been using a cheap leather conditioner I got at a local store (I won’t say which brand), and it’s done a decent job at restoring some of the natural oils and color of these boots. If you don’t know anything about leather care, it’s not hard to Google some quick informational posts (here’s two, #1, #2, though biased in favor of the brand). Suffice it to say, leather is the skin of a formal animal. When that animal was alive, producing oils and vitamins and poop and what-not, that skin protected the animal from the elements. People buy and wear leather for that same protection in garments, but now that the animal is dead, we need to continuously work to re-apply those some oils and nutrients so the leather remains supple and in good condition. 

On Sept. 3, Derek at Put This On had a post on how to take care of rugged boots. This is all still a learning process for me, and I just ordered a can/jar/whatever-the-fuck of Obenauf’s Heavy Duty Leather Preservative (they call it LP, but that’s easily confused with “limited partnership”). In a week or so, it should be here, and I should have a post up on how the stuff worked. Derek’s post did a pretty good job of explaining the process, and the pictures he links to show remarkable improvement. 

This is one of those products (leather protector, not necessarily Obenauf’s) that you can definitely justify buying because you will use it, and it will extend the life and beauty of the things you own. Regardless of whether you’re blowing fat stacks on #menswear accessories, or you’re scrimping like me for the essentials, it’s important to take good care of your stuff. It will extend the life of your property, ultimately saving you money. And a penny saved is a penny earned in my book, although I typically throw pennies away because they're worthless anymore.

See you next week,

MD