Removing Wax Polish from Boots

Any pics?

If the boots are made of a waxy leather, using wax polish on them can be a bit of a pointless exercise as the finish will end up 'smearing', especially if they've been bulled to a mirror shine - does this sound like what's happening to you?

If you really want to remove the polish to start anew, run them under hot water to loosen the polish and use a little saddle soap to get it off. Give the leather a good feed afterwards as the soap will dry it out.

Are the boots made of Chromexal finished leather to begin with?
Acetone on some terrycloth (applied sparingly. wear ruber gloves-work outdoors) will remove it but it must be done carefully. Too may passes over the leather will strip its finish beyond the wax. Photos are a must.

The leather is quite soft. The "broken in" appearance is intentional and they were comfortable right out of the box.

Shameless bump!

Thank you for providing the photos. Have you not tried the acetone yet? Nail polish remover (also acetone) will work too. Use a terry cloth. Wear rubber gloves. It takes all of 3 minutes. Also, for the future, I would recommend leather lotion once every 2 months or so. Cream polishes such as KIWI, Meltonian or Moneysworth are ok on these but need only be applied when the boots are geting ratty. Scrapes and scars are a part of leather life and add character to the leather so they are to be embraced. Avoid wax polishes altogether on these but if you insist, then restrict the use of wax polishes to the toe caps. Use a horsehair brush on them after each wearing after wiping with a damp cloth. Do not use a brush from your black shoes on these. You should have several brushes, each dedicated to its own colour usage. You really don't need polish on these except for the toe areas and only from time to time.

Hello,

be careful with agressive chemical cleaners! They can ruin the color/dye of the leather. This happened to my nice burgundy shoes. The chemical cleaners, like Saphier "Renovateur", are advertised by Influencers, who are advertisement agents and earn money with it.

Hot water, such that you have to use cleaning gloves one usually uses to clean e.g. the toilet, and a soft sponge or nylon-cloth with gentle rubbing will do the trick to soften and remove even a mirror gloss. Hot water does not really affect the leather or its color/dye, but is more labor intensive.

Also the warm, not hot!, air o a hair dryer is usefull to soften the mirror gloss for one minute, and then with a kitchen cloths to wipe off the soften wax for app. 30 seconds. I have to repeat this process of softening the wax of the mirror gloss with warm air and wiping off the softened wax about 8-10 times until the kitchen cloth is almost clean as the mirror gloss coatings have been removed gently from the captoe of the shoe.

As any form of heat is not ideal for the leather, wipe it off with warm water and a drop of mild liquid dish washer to remove any residual dirt and wax. I immediately rub the leather dry with a clean kitchen cloth or kitchen paper. After the shoe is dry I use a conditioner to norish the leather again, than shoe cream and wax again.

This has to be done maybe once or twice a year when the mirror gloss can no longer be maintained and a new one has to be applied.

Good luck and best regards

Pascal