Boot care and cleaning

[doublemazaa]

I've got some harness boots which I've had for a few years. I wear them a few times a month and don't do much for them in terms of specific care or maintenance.

The other day I was wearing them, and a road-grimey auto part tipped over and landed on my toe. My foot's fine (thanks boots!) but they sustained a big black smear.

Any tips on getting this off? The boots are oiled leather, so it's not a super fine finish.

Here are the boots, mine have black soles, FWIW.

and the stain:

Also, can you suggest general care and maintenance for the boots? Should I condition them periodically?

Thanks.

 

[jet]

sweet jesus

 

[doublemazaa]

 

[shanker]

used oil is gonna be next to impossible to remove even if you completely strip the finish from the boot. i think they are trashed.

but...

not being a smart ass - consider getting some more of that grimey oil to even out the color on the other boot. think artifical patina. play around with random application and clean like you did the original stain to keep colors and "fading" fairly even.

might end up looking OK to really good.

 

[brad-t]

they look cooler this way

 

[Dewey]

obenauf's lp -- smear that stuff all into your oil leather boot. use the hairdryer to get it absorbed in the cracks. it will darken up the boot (and is good for oil leather boots). stain will be much less noticeable.

 

[KitAkira]

light them on fire.

 

[Uker]

I had a similar accident with a pair of my boots earlier this month. Honestly, I threw mine away. Nothing I did could get the oil stain out (German oil too. Damn VW's.) Anyway, either live with it or find a new pair of boots because that oil is not coming out of that leather.

 

[jet]

You threw away a pair of boots because they showed signs of use?

 

[madstaxbro]

If they're 12E I'd buy them off you.

 

[Edicron]

Try scraping as much of the oil off with something somewhat soft (e.g. plastic not metal) and then use an old coarse toothbrush to get some more off and then Obenaufs. You could even use some soap/water but you'd definitely have to use the Obenaufs afterwards.

 

[cb_32]

they are biker boots, bikers are rugged.

 

[robbie]

give them to me, fixing a pair of boots that isn't broken is my specialty.

 

[doublemazaa]

I don't think it'll make much of a difference, but it's not oil on the boot so much as just road dirt. (it was a old muffler pipe that had been riding along under a car for a hundred thousand miles. Thick road grit rather than an oily substance.

All in all, it's not a big deal. I was asking more if there was something simple I could give a shot to get some of the grit off I would, but I'm not going to stop wearing them or anything because of it. The picture above is about as 'bad' as the stain can look. In most light it just looks like a darker spot in the patina.

 

[SLeiber32]

Originally Posted by Uncontrol

they look cooler this way

+1