Hi guys, First post on the forum but I've been lurking for years 
About 4 years ago I bought a pair of Western boots, and the toe box is made of Caiman hide. I bought these 75% because the Caiman had this amazing light faded gradient to the color that was really interesting.
At the time I was living in Canada, so my wife and I decided that if I was going to wear these $800 boots more than 2 days a year I should probably protect them from the terrible weather, so we read some stuff online and bought Sno Seal thinking it would be good.
It didn't occur to me that it would completely remove that nice light colored gradient from the Caiman skin and make it a uniform darker brown color. Does it look bad? No I guess not. But, it made me go from "wow I adore these $800 boots" to "I guess one day if I find boots like that I'll just buy another pair again, but at least they're still cool in their own right."
I recently came across a Reddit thread where someone was discussing the removal of Son-Seal from their leather boots. They had gently heated the leather and kept wiping away the melted wax (or whatever it is that Sno Seal is made of) and got a substantial amount of it out of the hide.
He was looking for suggestions on getting the rest out. Some people suggested Acetone (there is no way I will ever touch Acetone to these boots!), and some others told him to forget the Acetone and just use Saphir Renomat.
I was excited to read all this, remembering that heating the leather did make the Sno Seal liquify during application 4 years ago, and thinking that maybe by using the Renomat it would really help at least get SOME of that waxiness out of the leather.
Then I saw on several websites about Renomat: "Not for use on Exotic leathers."
So, extremely long story short: Does anyone have any suggestions on trying to remove the Sno Seal? I know I've come across a few threads on here that said it can't be done... But I've found references elsewhere that suggest that it is possible, and will return at least some/most of the original appearance to the leather.
But the fact that it's Caiman hide makes me wonder what product is equivalent to Renomat, but appropriate for Caiman/Crododile/Alligator type leathers, and if anyone might have a suggestion on how to achieve what I'm looking to do.
Thanks! Hopefully someone has some ideas
[Edited to correct spelling of Cayman to Caiman - Couldn't edit the Post Title, sorry!]
About 4 years ago I bought a pair of Western boots, and the toe box is made of Caiman hide. I bought these 75% because the Caiman had this amazing light faded gradient to the color that was really interesting.
At the time I was living in Canada, so my wife and I decided that if I was going to wear these $800 boots more than 2 days a year I should probably protect them from the terrible weather, so we read some stuff online and bought Sno Seal thinking it would be good.
It didn't occur to me that it would completely remove that nice light colored gradient from the Caiman skin and make it a uniform darker brown color. Does it look bad? No I guess not. But, it made me go from "wow I adore these $800 boots" to "I guess one day if I find boots like that I'll just buy another pair again, but at least they're still cool in their own right."
I recently came across a Reddit thread where someone was discussing the removal of Son-Seal from their leather boots. They had gently heated the leather and kept wiping away the melted wax (or whatever it is that Sno Seal is made of) and got a substantial amount of it out of the hide.
He was looking for suggestions on getting the rest out. Some people suggested Acetone (there is no way I will ever touch Acetone to these boots!), and some others told him to forget the Acetone and just use Saphir Renomat.
I was excited to read all this, remembering that heating the leather did make the Sno Seal liquify during application 4 years ago, and thinking that maybe by using the Renomat it would really help at least get SOME of that waxiness out of the leather.
Then I saw on several websites about Renomat: "Not for use on Exotic leathers."
So, extremely long story short: Does anyone have any suggestions on trying to remove the Sno Seal? I know I've come across a few threads on here that said it can't be done... But I've found references elsewhere that suggest that it is possible, and will return at least some/most of the original appearance to the leather.
But the fact that it's Caiman hide makes me wonder what product is equivalent to Renomat, but appropriate for Caiman/Crododile/Alligator type leathers, and if anyone might have a suggestion on how to achieve what I'm looking to do.
Thanks! Hopefully someone has some ideas
[Edited to correct spelling of Cayman to Caiman - Couldn't edit the Post Title, sorry!]
