Caring for your Hiking Boots

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Caring for your Hiking Boots

All hiking boots, especially leather ones, benefit from frequent cleaning and occasional conditioning with special boot treatments. These treatments condition leather and provide additional water protection to keep your feet dry.

Proper boot care and conditioning is important whether you hike in dry, hot climates or wet, temperate areas. Taking a little extra time to care for your hiking boots can add years to their useful lives.

Basic Boot Care

The key to keeping your boots in good shape is to keep them as clean as possible. Dirt particles are very abrasive and over time they can damage just about any boot material. It's hard to keep your hiking boots clean while you're using them, of course, but brushing the dirt and mud off them after every hike will help keep them in good condition.

Drying your Boots

Whenever possible, dry your boots completely after each trip. To dry them, simply store them in a dry, warm area. Don't set your boots near a fire (or other heat source) to dry them more quickly, since high temperatures can damage boot materials and the cements used to hold them together. If you need to speed up the drying process, try stuffing dry newspaper inside your boots to absorb water. Replace the newspaper frequently for best results.

NOTE: If your boots are wet and dirty, it's best to dry them first, then brush the dirt off.

Washing your Boots

Most fabric boots can be washed on the outside with non-detergent soap and water to remove built-up dirt. Leather boots can also be rinsed off, but repeated washing and drying can dry out the leather over time and make it brittle.

Footwear Repair

Repairing outdoor footwear is a complex task. Older boot designs (typically involving stitched welts) and modern footwear (where a wide variety of sophisticated adhesives are used to bond thermoplastic rubber soles to leather uppers) require different repair techniques, and cobblers possessing the expertise to repair both are rare.

A Note on Oil Treatments

Avoid using oil-based treatments like Mink Oil on any leather hiking boots. Oil-based products are intended to soften leathers and make them more supple, which can negatively affect the support of hiking boots. Use wax or silicone-based treatments only.