I appreciate the side by side comparison of different products. But I chuckled thinking about you wearing two different colored boots. Cheers brother! Keep up the good work.
Dude! This video is such a service to the boot community! I think the mink oil for me does the trick most of the time. The sno seal is also a great product for those of us living in harsher climates!
A very helpful tip is when doing the soapy water, have two containers. One for the soapy water and one for rinsing the brush off. This will stop you from reusing the same dirty water.
Loved the video!! This is the only video one would have to ever watch when comes to taking care of their leather boots! It was so detailed, side by side comparisons, all the products, it was fast and concise, made sense, just a great video. Such a service to boot community! 🙏🏼
Great video Carl, I've honestly switched between so many products I can't keep track anymore. Right now my favorite is Bickmore Bick 4 leather conditioner. Cleans, conditions, and leaves a nice subtle shine. Prior to that I tried Red Wing Mink Oil, Huberd's Shoe Grease, Huberd's Shoe Oil, Red Wing Leather Conditioner, Red Wing Boot Oil, and Red Wing Leather Cream. All of them either darkened the leather (Huberd's being the worst) or left a waxy/greasy finish. So far so good.
Excellent video for cleaning and conditions hard worn boots. Great job, Carl. One thing I do is leave shoe trees in the boots while I am cleaning, conditioning, and shining them. That way you get into all the cracks and crevices.
This video was very helpful seeing other cleaners and conditioners to clean boots. I like to use boot trees while cleaning my boots and for storing them when I’m not using them. Red Wings makes a good one. Very pricey but really good.
Great vid! It's like a Kirby Allison shoe shine tutorial, but for boots. I love it. Quality footwear is an investment; one that deserves to be maintained with some TLC. I worked in the trades for years and always considered my footwear one of my most important tools...right next to good quality tool bags. Good gear (clothes, coats, footwear, socks, tool bags) makes a huge difference in how a worker performs. A comfortable worker is a more efficient worker. Oh how I miss building stuff. Now my briefcase is my toolbox lol. BTW...nice watch!
When applying the mink oil, i put in on very heavy then using a hair dryer i melt the oil into the leather so it becomes saturated. Same when using sno seal.
Damn you have some gorgeous boots. Those Allen Edmunds are goooorgeous. I just conditioned my Blundstones on my channel and now I instantly feel like I need to buy 12 other boots
Carl if you have wax laces you can rewax them, and if you have leather laces put some oil on them. This will double the life of your laces. Learned this the hard way.
Wow this is a video I have bin looking /waiting for! Best leather care video yet! I want to lighten my red wing moc toe. I will definitely stay away from the leather oil and probably just go with that conditioner. Great vid!!! Thanks.
This is more realistic and practical. Unlike promoting those expensive products. I mean this are work boots and it would kinda defeat the purpose spending lots of money on care products. From S.A
Just found this. Thanks so much for the comparison. I have a pair of iron rangers with some bad salt stains that I've struggled to get out (I wore them daily for a year before realizing I needed a second pair because of my sweaty feet)... if I'm not able to get the stains out, using the Obenaufs might be the solution to even out the color. Thanks!
Just did it on one boot and it looks great so far. It darkens the copper to almost match my amber harness pairs. I took comparison pictures if anyone else is interested. Thanks again for the video. I’m very happy with the result.
Great video! Thank you for this. I know Red Wing offers a conditioning service that they were trying to sell me on, but watching your video definitely has me wanting to do this myself. Really appreciate your product recommendations
Hi, I just use a polish brush to apply Dubbin as soon as I take my boots out of the box, I re apply monthly after a quick clean of the boots with a cleaning brush and water.
Nice demo, sir! I would add that the makers of Horween Chromexcel recommend neatsfoot oil for that particular leather. Fiebing's make a good product. In addition I also pay attention to leather mid soles on the sides, outsoles on sides and bottom of the boot, and leather heel stacks.
Kinda late to this great video but my .02 cents, I always use Fiebings saddle soap on all my leather boots but after that use only Saphir products, while it might cost more you've got a good investment in your boots! For the life of me cant see why anyone would use Obenaufs products, it must do a good job because i see a bunch of DIY boot cleaners using it but it just ruins the color of your boot leather and there are so many products that will give you the same results without ruining the look of your boot! Anyway another stellar video, please keep the awesome reviews coming!
Great video! I really like that chamberlains leather milk #1, it seems like it’s the most “neutral” product you used here that provides conditioning without changing the color or darkness of the boot’s natural tone. I really like that, I don’t like to over darken stuff and love that natural patina. I’ve been using lexol forever, but just got some new boots for work, might have to try that stuff.
The last 10 pair my favourite colour boots and I have a lighter pair that the shoe guy did not do a good job on but he did a good job on winter soleing the boots
Awesome video !!! This is exactly what I needed in a boot care video. Also I love the music , normally I hate music in a video because it tends to be quite annoying and over powering, but this was well executed. I love that it had a real AC/DC vibe to it and I love AC/DC !! I feel like I landed on the perfect video 👍 thank you !!
I’ve started using Fiebing’s saddle soap and their golden mink oil on my Timberland work boots, works well in preserving and waterproofing even though the leather is darker thanks to the mink oil.
Great video and gives me other options to try, and great idea about the two buckets cause one requires more work on my end, plus with spring here, time to clean up the winter boots and make sure the warmer weather boots/shoes are cleaned and ready to go.
If you really care about the finish of any suede or nubuck leather. Make sure to use the right conditioners and cleaners, anything petroleum based would otherwise ruin the finish of suede of nubuck leather and silicon products should only be used on these.
Cheers for this pal. I have a pair of British made William Lennon trad boots in US Horween Leather. Figuring out which products to use on them . Not sure how happy id be using Saddle soap on em. Rose Anvil says that it is too harsh a soap for boot leathers.
Great video bud. What would you recommend doing to some waxed nubuck hiking boots? Anything much different than your rough-out leather? Would you re wax them after cleaning or should something like the Obenauf’s perform the same function?
I’ve used the Obenaufs LP on suede before and it looks really cool- kind of like the Taft Dragon boot. Remember, nubuck and suede are split leathers, and nubuck is basically suede with a haircut. If you don’t want to alter to look of them you could use a suede waterproofer.
I'd stay away from Fiebings Mink Oil if you live in a humid area or store your boots, it promotes mold. Obenauf's prevents mold, it has the pine product bees use to keep hives clean. May I suggest a vid on house shoe options? Personally I like quiet soles, easy on/off, comfort without frills like fluffy fluff, and durability to make a quick trip to the mail box. Driving shoes with gum type soles work but are hard to find.
when you applied the obenauf on your amber harness, it really resembles my mesa oxblood. i wonder how my oxblood gonna change when i apply mink oil onto it
A trick I learned 40 years ago from an old land surveyor, is to burn in 4 to 5 layers of the mink oil with a hair dryer. They will end up totally waterproof if you take it slow and thorough. cheers
After cleaning the boot and letting it dry, I place the boot in the oven at a low heat to get the leather warm. This lets the added conditioners really soak in.
I'm thinking the Leather Milk for cleaning and prep and then the Armstrong ? with a little Sno Seal on the welt ??! Hmmm, may have to watch this again.
Out of all the ways you clean your boots. What is the best just all purpose way and products that you like for just everyday boots? Thanks love the videos.
Carl thanks I have a pair of western boots where at the end where toes and the beginning of the foot for my tony lamas and they have so much funk from polishing my boots
I like the breakdown of different products and how some will darken leather more than others. Off topic question. Where'd you get your watch? It's beautiful.
@Carl Murawski Okay, maybe you can help me out here. First of all, I love your videos. I'm an old Army guy. The first few years of my service were back in the days of black leather boots and shoe polish. Now, I had a pair of Cochran two field boots. Those things lasted me seven years, all I used was Lincoln Wax shoe polish and shined them good a couple of times a week. I was rough on those boots too. They got wet and I would just air dry them over night, so on so fourth Army stuff yay. I know lots of guys, with multiple types of the old black leather army boots, and they lasted them 20 years. Now, because I lost my original pair, I bought myself some new Cochran twos and I have been doing what I did in the past. That was a really long way to ask.....what am I missing by not useing these soaps and conditioners? I brush and buff my boots every day, and do a good long polish once a week. Is that not good long term? Do I need to do more to care for my boots? Thank you for your time.
Since you're performing routine maintenance, it's less likely you'll need a deep clean. Think about it like if you were to wipe down your car each night, you'd need less car washes overall. A big factor is what you do in your boots, whether you come in contact with oils, chemicals, dirt, etc. Construction work tends to chew boots up quickly because of exposure to all these elements- especially concrete work and welding. So at the end of the day you are simply doing things right by spreading out the maintenance with a little each day.
@@CarlMurawski Thank you for your response. I work at a Transloading Railyard for a trucking company that loads plastic resin and powder. So dirt and mud, plastic residue, and, only in the very rare event of a mechanical malfunction with one of the trucks, oil and diesel fuel. Im aware those rare situations will need special cleaning.
damn, you really have a nice collection of boots just resoled my Iron Rangers @solesurvivorshop in Toronto, love the result and i now bought a pair of red wing 877, love them
Great video as usual: clear messages, good video & sound editing, best of all the amount of information! I stumbled upon your video when I was looking for information about jeans and had subscribed to your channel ever since. Do you have tips to take care for the type of nubuck leather from Timberlands?
I’m working on a second part of this video all about suede and nubuck, so stay tuned! Most of all thank you for your support my friend, that’s what keeps me going.
It really depends on your use, those Nicks I showed first had about a months worth of grime on them. That’s 5 days per week in rough conditions, so they need more frequent upkeep than something with less wear. I’d measure this in miles rather than time. At a minimum though it’s good to condition your leather once per year.
I’m curious how the obenaufs is on the iron ranger, is it still that dark or has it lightened at all? Keep up the good work. I like the edc video you did by the way.
