Hair dryer on low setting is more than enough heat, pre heat the boots and apply the wax to the warm leather. Keep heating the boots as you apply. You can rub the solid wax block on the leather it will melt and soak in that way you aren't wasting as much wax. Heat guns are quicker, but a hair dryer is enough. Same method can be used applying mink oil/conditioning oil, and it also works for waxing/oiling canvas.
Before I deployed to Bosnia in the mid 90s, we used a similar method and used duct tape to protect the edges also preheat the leather with a hair dryer then apply the wax.
I have used bees wax on a pair of boots and it turned out ok. I used a block of wax and a heat gun, similar to the example shown in the craft and lore video from a few months back.
Hello! Wanted to say, your previous video inspired me to wax all my shoe wear! Results are beyond my expectations. The heat gun method also works with the stuff that comes in black and gold jars, my preference. Also, low heat. Aim around or away from metal grommets as those heat up much faster. If you have one of those fancy digital heat guns, I would dial the temperature to 150-200F. I swear by this method now, thanks for putting it out there!
how does your boots look now? after wear did it look like it used to before you waxed them? I got a pair of loggers that could use wax but don't want to make them look goofy
I’ve never tried straight beeswax….. but I have been putting my boots in the oven to pre-heat then to soak in the grease… Sno seal or Obenaufs…. Worked great for 35 years. Just don’t do it when the oven master is home😱🤷♂️🤣😎👍 love the videos, keep ‘em coming.
I have had very good luck applying hot mink oil on my boots for Minnesota winters. Clean and condition the boots first, heat up mink oil till it turns into a liquid, wipe on evenly and brush into the seams, let dry overnight, brush with a horse hair brush. Beautiful and ultra supple waterproof finish. Just another method folks might find useful. Cheers
My favorite method if you're going to do this: Preheat your oven for the lowest it will preheat to, about 125 degrees f. Then SHUT IT OFF. Put your boots on a cookie sheet you will never use again for food, slather them in Huberds, Snoseal, Obenaufs, or whatever you use. Put them in the EXTINGUSHED oven. Check and wait to see how much of the coating has been absorbed. Keep coating them until the leather won't hold any more of your favorite goop. You might have to encourage the wax with a hairdryer (set on low) near the end. Keep lots of clean rags around to get rid of excess liquid goop. A toothbrush is good for the welt. Make sure they are very clean. Dirt mixed with wax will grind at the fibers of your leather and your stitching, and nobody wants that. If you can find a good hot day, like 90+ degrees F, you can usually just sit in the sun and smear goop to your hearts content if you prefer that to the oven.
Warming the leather before you apply the wax helps… especially if the leather is below 75 degrees. I’ve mostly done waxed Cotten coats (Filson, Orvis) with this process but have found it works good on boots too. I also generally do this maintenance in the summer when the ambient temperature is 80+… it’s much easier than in the winter when the indoor temperature is in the mid 60s.
I definitely commend them for posting it. Because he had no idea how the roller was going to work yet played it off in the beginning like it was his go to. People would have taken it as a tried to true method if he didn’t post the after saying he never used it.
I have always used Snow Seal (which is a beeswax preparation) and a hair dryer for major work, else Obenaufs. Several coats of the Snow Seal which are very thin melted in with the hair dryer--the hair dryer is designed for not burning hair (protein) so should not be capable of damaging leather if you are not insane about overheating.. It may take several days to get it right, a little bit every day. An old toothbrush for cleaning is a bit more thorough than the bigger brush you used.
First you can buy clear white beeswax. Mask off with blue painters tape the sole. Personally a cheap boot tray works for catching the excess wax dripping down and won't collect near as much on the soles. You can also melt the wax down there and wipe as much possible off with the blue shop towel too. You want to use a horse hair paint brush for the melted wax. Work in sections and as you melt it in take a blue shop towel and wipe the excess off. For the nooks and crannies while it is still soft you can take q-tips to get it out. I did a friend's 875 Red Wing's for him and there is absolutely no residual. After that I take a dedicated horsehair brush and get the excess out off. Melt the boot one last time. Use a shop towel off and install shoe or boot trees and buff it as much as possible. Is it more work? Yes but absolutely worth it. Overall for his 875 each boot with buffing took 45 minutes, I did two coats of beeswax. Two years later and the wax is just now wearing off but they still don't really need done just yet. Definitely the lazy man's way to boot care.
I make my own "wax" using 2 parts beeswax, 3 parts coconut oil, and 1 part olive oil. Apply with a microfiber towel. Still need to use a hair dryer to melt it into the leather and pre-heat both the leather and the wax but it does a pretty good job and doesn't destroy the look of the boot. *Disclaimer: use at your own risk but it's cheap and worked well for me.
Huh. Mine went much better than that just by using a heat gun on a long wax bar. Controled exactly how much wax and where, then heat gun again to melt it all in. Probably helps that my Builder Pros are black rough out, but still, that worked great for me.
I’ve been doing this for the last thirty years. A couple of tricks I found is to put the boots on a cookie sheet and into the oven. Put the oven on warm, no higher. Warming the boots prior to waxing helps the wax seep into the leather while brushing. After the waxing is complete, put the boots back into the oven. The oven will allow the wax to evenly seep into the leather without burning the boots. I developed this trick when I use to apply a product called Sno-seal to my leather mountaineering boots. The Sno-seal had an unpleasant odor, where the bees wax doesn’t.
@@danielvezza Turn the oven on, ant set the oven to “Warm”, let it come up to temp. Once it is up to temp, put your boots in for 20 to 30 minutes. Pull the boots out and coat with melted wax. Once you have both boots coated, place them back in the oven. Be sure to put the boots on a sheet pan, to collect any wax that drips off. The wax should seep into the leather, in about 15 minutes. Use a clean cloth to wipe the boots.
You know normally with videos like this people in the comments will either be like yeah this is absolutely what you do or warn people that it's just trolling but I can't find that this time and it scares me
"at this point you can see that most of the wax has absorbed into the leather" as I'm staring at the mound of wax beneath the boot and on the rubber sole
Nick's: We'll show you why you should do anything other than consuming our products and services, by grabbing someone to act like the most incompetent person we could find to show you how much contempt we have for the average customer
Apply Sno-Seal at room temperature by hand and then melt it into the boots with a hair dryer. While still warm, rub it into the leather by hand. Next day, boots can be buffed to a shine. Very waterproof results.
@@michaelhess4825 I see no need of an oven. Try applying Sno-Seal at room temperature and then melting it with a hair dryer. Better to heat the article and the Sno-Seal at the same time. No concern about the article cooling off too much to absorb like the oven method.
@@stevenroche9874 I still use a hair dryer usually, but the oven is 100% consistent, so the stitch lines and hard to get crevasses will get equal heating, then wipe off extra.
As a retired firefighter: PLEASE, Please- be incredibly careful with a pot of wax around fire! Whether it’s a gas stove,Sterno,or a camp stove the wax can easily ignite and cause a severe fire AND never ever pour water on burning wax ( now you’ve created a small bomb). Electric stoves are a better alternative. A good clean,condition and “Snow Seal” worked in-is a great way we handled our daily work boot.
They say a watched pot never boils. When it's a wax pot, that's a good thing. Use baking soda or a metal pot to snuff the flames - if it is safe to do so.
I have a beard that’s like 3 months older than my Nicks boots. You said in a video about the boot grease. “It’s great for your beard” I figured what the hell and tried it. It IS great for the beard. You say that about this, I think I’ll pass. 😂
I'm really surprised he didn't use the same method shown in the video he did with the owner of craft and lore. I just did my Frank's type 1 commanders with heat gun and a solid block of pure beeswax. They look great, very little mess and are keeping the water out.
What a mess! I have the BWF and I just rub a little wax into it with my thumb. Once a week or so just to rub out scuffs or cuts and maintains the original look and finish.
Actually using low heat is very important lol. I use sno-seal rather than pure wax on my boots it's much easier to apply just using a rag. Then I just use light heat and additional coats until the leather can't pull in any more.
Sno seal on suede works great. The fibers of the suede allow a lot more of the wax to hold. It really changes the look and feel as well if you aren’t big on suede like me.
I definitely agree if you want to preserve the look of your boots, Smith’s leather balm is the way to go. Otherwise Obenaufs Heavy duty LP is super good stuff. Will darken the leather significantly and it can feel a bit sticky.
I have found an old time recipe old timers used on leather, metal and wood, 1 part Beeswax, 1/2 Part Linseed Oil & 1 Part Turpentine, heat on non flammable hot plate and apply, the turpentine cuts the wax and makes it easy to apply, been using this for some time now on my boots and love the results, after some applications leaves a really nice protective glaze on the boots and does not let the leather dry out, was worried about the turpentine with the leather and or stitching with deteriorating stitching or damaging the leather, but after some time of use I have not seen any issues with the turpentine so far, just a suggestion. I work in Ash and Lime which can destroy boots in a hurry and coworkers are impressed by the protection and time this adds to the boots being in these conditions.
When I fought wildfires for the forest service, I found the best way was to just clean the boots, coat it in obenaufs, and put in the oven at its lowest possible setting till the wax was all in. The wax lasted the longest and it ended up the most even that way
I think they look pretty cool with all that wax before the melting process haha I’d imagine a European high fashion brand would sell those for double the price 😂
Holy cow. This was a train wreck. To apply beeswax to leather you first have to make a cream with the wax, by mixing it with castor oil and sweet almond oil in equal parts by volume. You also should use a double boiler and never put wax directly on open flame.
Back in the day, we would melt wax toilet rings in a pot, brush it on with a paint brush and then rub/brush it out. Not necessarily pretty but keeps your feet pretty dry.
My Nick’s are the most comfortable footwear I’ve ever owned hands down. If it weren’t for tracking dirt and mud into the house, I’d wear them even after I got home from work. I wore them on a weekend trip to Texas and had them on for about 17 hours with no complaints.
What if you put the boots in the oven at like 200 for a little bit? Maybe if they weren't so cold then the wax wouldn't instantly cool and solidify? Just spitballing
I really love how you aren't hiding anything that went wrong, and just being brutally honest. Love your boots! I have one pair of Overlanders and am looking at other pairs to order in the future!
I did this exact process and then put it in a Chefman food dehydrator whoch i now use as a leather hot-box (160°F). The boots soaked up ALL of the wax (except the rubber). Another example was a pair of gloves i waxed and left in the hot box at 160° for 6 hours in which the wax mostly disappeared. It drank it all up. I would only recommend an hour or two in a 160° oven or box. Hope that helps someone
That is WAY TOO MUCH WAX! Like, an insane amount. The pores of the leather are now packed with wax, it won't breathe which means feet damp with sweat. Worse, when the temps rise? It may sweat wax. Worse, wax is flammable so if your feet get to close to a fire it may sweat wax and catch fire. When I was in the Navy, I work leather flight deck boots and working small boy flight decks meant at the start we used hot wax to provide some water proofing and prevent leather rot. A 1 inch wide cheap paint brush, don't load it up, light brush on the field of leather, go ahead and coat the seams well. That would last about 6 months of working 20 hour days, some days with the boots awash in salt water most of the day. Had to reapply wax to the seams about the half way mark, or 3 months.
I am not so sure if I were Nick's if I would have released this vid. Doesnt really show the right way to apply. Doesn't make the boots look good. Shows someone flying by the seat of their pants. Then it is announce the purpose is to sell boot care products. No thanks
Pro tip use a silicone basting brush and pre heat the boots. Makes for a more even application especially when doing multiple coats. This is better than trying to do it with just a solid stick of wax imo.
I had no idea that you actually dunk a boot in water. I'd never intentionally dunk a leather boot in water, just brushing or wipe with a very slightly damp cloth for the most part.
get your boot hot, use a brush and apply thin layers I'd wax. let sit over night or 24hr and heat the leather up again to soak up the wax again, then buff. if you put so much wax on at the same time, you get none in the leather since you clogged the pores vs letting the wax soak in.
If I had seen you walking down the street with them like that I would of probably said, " well damn atleast the women know your a sure thing there boy, by God wrap a tube sock atleast around that thing!"
Thanks for posting this disaster. Cool process but it reminds me of the time I dropped a loaded nacho on my boot and the time I had cleaning it off. Serious question though can you use oil?
