Don't put a lighter flame on your boots. Use a hair dryer or a heat gun on a low setting. A direct flame can burn the threads in the seams and the boots will fall apart. You don't need to heat the bar of wax, friction is generally enough to heat it and get a thin layer in something. Then use heat to soak it into fabric or leather. Really you can use a rag and quick movement, the heat from friction is enough usually.
Finally a useful video! I want Thursday boots and I intend to buy ones that will last but I didn’t know if I should get the rugged and resilient or the regular because I don’t know which one would last the best and one that I could keep looking the best. The problem I have noticed that the rugged and resilient tends to fade in color especially in there Arizona adebo where it ends up looking like a lighter brown rather a darkish burgundy. This is a great video thanks.
Great info for my new Thursday Captains. Mine are in Arizona Adobe. Interesting though is that the company sent me a new pair since the first had a major QC flaw in the sole. Wonderful company.
Lots of good helpful information, but you forgot to protect them! What about a waterproofing spray like Saphir Super Invulner or Tarrago High Tech Nano Protector?
Love watching this Bill... You do a great job... By the way, a little brown polish on the tips of your sole area that has lost their color works great...GG...IN
Thank you so much on the burnishing info. I had my explorers and cavaliers restored but the colors was not as dark. I was wondering how to do it and alas i found your video. Thank you. I will burnish my boots.
I've had good success just using a horsehair brush along with Bick 1 and 4 to clean and condition my black matte Captains. I don't treat them like they're suede.
So fun fact. Its possible to bring them back to the original color after massacring the poor things. I never had boots and was taught to polish dress shoes by my father… i got the Tobacco rugged and resilient line then proceeded to put brown kiwi polish on them. You can imagine how bad that turned out. I kept adding coats until it looked mildly shiny and okay. Although they did have a gray tinge and was a muted shine. Fast forward to now I tried heat, alcohol and conditioner method to remove all these coats and finished with dawn dish soap. Dry them out. Condition. Coat in weather protectant. They look better than new. I love the patina look and they are super clean and broken in. I hope to eventually get into saphire products since there are so many videos on it. But thats a story for how bad you can screw these boots and still make them wearable. Awesome video, this helped me take a lot of pointers in taking care of my boots ever since Ive gotten more.
Charles: I have just put brown shoe dye on my Thursday Captain boots , Burnt Copper. I have tried to scrub it off with a stiff shoe brush and that helped a bit. They look more like the Thursday Captain boots in Brandy. Can you explain the process you used to remove the shoe polish. My boots are brown and they look okay but they have lost the original casual look. Thanks Roger
@@rogercurrie Put on a bunch of clothes u don't care about, take the boots and just layer them with dawn dish soap and water. Scrub and scrub. This'll also remove the oils in the leather too... Be aware of that so they don't crack. Rinse out the dawn dish soap throughly and air dry the boots. Use a good leather conditioner and spray waterproofer. Should look brand new. At least mine looked that way again. Up to you, the boots won't really keep that same color as they age and you beat on them and recondition them. So if they look good to you now I'd keep it. I only did this to mine because the texture of the leather with a waxy polish was awful. Now I can care for mine with a suede brush and eraser kit rather than polishing them every time before I go out.
@@rogercurrie You'll hate it I feel. It'll look like a half assed waxy polish look. I buffed and polished and everything for hours just for the polish to turn gray instead of shiny after 30 minutes of wearing. The original leather texture is just wrong for the kind of kiwi polish I used. It would be another story if the shoe came with a polished leather originally. Good luck with the decision, they look great as they age, just don't buy the Casa mottos.... Absolute trash quality.
@@charles-griffin Thanks Charles. I think I am just going to leave them the brown and chalk it up to experience. Maybe later I will just buy another pair of the Burnt Copper Captains and not butcher them . Thanks Again.
I think suede shampoo is one of these products that are very simple but are much more expensive because it is packaged for a particular purpose. I would use any relatively pure liquid soap instead. That could be pure laundry soap used for things like down jackets or a colour free hair shampoo. There are lots of brands out there that produce PH neutral soaps and shampoos and I doubt your suede shoes are any more delicate than your scalp and the shoes will get much more abuse.
Thanks for this info William. I put Bick 4 on my Tobacco Thursday Cadets about 2 weeks ago. It definitely darkened them. I ordered the Saphir suede shampoo you mentioned. I hope that will strip out the Bick 4!
The thing is, the leather is probably healthier now with the bic 4. Leather is skin like any other organic material it needs to be moisturized. Oiled leather will always have a saturated look. If you want natural colored leather look for natural or "crust" Cordovan. Cordovan is not a leather, its the membrane layer below it underneath the saddle and rump of the horse, its non porous so doesnt absord oils the same. Even that turns golden with age. If you want to keep stripping your leather of oils to preserve a light dry look it will eventually crack where it creases at the toe cap, probably won't happen with hot stuffed leather in a lifetime of use however. Unless youre adding pigment youre not really coloring the leather, you are saturating it. When it dries the color returns however by that time you may have developed a patina
What if I just use regular boot polish or conditioner on the rugged and resilient leather? I know everyone recommends against it, but what would actually happen?
Here's a question for you: Is the regular Captain more comfortable than the rugged and Resilient? I noticed they don't mention the EVA comfort strip on the Rugged and Resilient boots. I bought the Matte Black pair and I'm pretty confused why everyone says they're comfortable. These ones definitely aren't comfortable after 3 months of wear!
Really more or less unrelated to the topic of the video but I’m about to buy my first pair of boots that aren’t some cemented sole faux leather garbage from some fashion brand. With a budget of $500, preferably less, would you say Thursday would be plenty fine as an entry point or should I use more of that budget to grab something like the Allen Edmonds Higgins Mill?
Nope, I love when my boots get scuffed up and scratched. Makes them look like I’ve actually gone on adventures with them. Same feeling as seeing a dirty truck vs a pristine one
Don’t use mink oil on those leathers. It’ll darken a bunch. You don’t need to condition them for the first few months and by that time, I have the perfect product coming for you
Same question here. I’m looking around to see if I can find results on this boot when other conditioners are used. I don’t mind shining them up a bit, but don’t want it to look crappy.
I'm concerned about my suede Captain's (midnight) picking up salt (used to melt ice) stains. Do you have any experience either a) if salt stains them or, b) getting them out?
@@Vultain I have a leather cleaner with me and will this be better as cleaning the boots with water or it's something to use after getting the boot cleaned with water and cloth?
@@exxie1 Depends on the type of Chrome tanned leather and the cleaner in question. Can you tell me what kind of cleaner it is? Do you use Chrome Excel, Oil Tanned Leathers, or polishable leather? What colors is it lastly? Chrome leather is a rather broad category because you have vegetable tanned leather and shell cordovan as the only seperators. It can also depend on how dirty your boots are but just even at work on concreted floors my boots get shockingly dirty. I always brush before or after wearing them though. I'd need more info before giving you my recommendation.
@@Vultain I have the Cobbler's Choice leather cleaner which I also got from Thursday when I got my Captains. Captains are chrome excel I believe, Thursday chrome, I think it's the same stuff. I can say my boots are just dusty. I brush them once a week. Pretty well rested because I have other boots to wear
@@exxie1 Cobbler's choice isn't bad due keep in mind it won't provide much of a shine and will darken them. What you have is really good for a pair of work boots. Their ingredient list is pretty wholesome. If it were me I'd probably use Saphir's Medaille D'or Oiled Leather Cream since it was built from the ground up for Chrome Excel. I have used Venetian Cream and Balm too. The Balm works a little better for a shine. For Cleaning Saphir's Medaille D'or Cleanser is good if you like a patina. Otherwise it depends if you are comfortable using a soap. Avel's shoe soap assuming you aren't clogged with mud is your next best bet. I would avoid waxes because you don't want to change the leather texture.
Do you think it would be crazy to treat this type of leather with wax, dubbin or even mink oil? I'm thinking about what is done with nubuck or waxed rough out... A finish designed for winter and rain.
Great tips, my question is that I just received my Legends in Matte Black here in Canada they use loads of salt in the winters I’m worried about salt stains Any thoughts? Thanks
Someone spilled hot chocolate on my new-ish Arizona Adobe Diplomats. Would you still go with the Saphir suede cleaner or know of anything else more appropriate for the 'deep' cleanening this will require to get clean?
I have questions. I have 10 inch foot not wide. Planning to get duke and captain storm king. Does it have the same shoe size? Should I get size 10 US for both shoes? Thanks in advance for those who can answer.
Do you treat their "terracotta" leather more like suede or rugged? I bought these thinking they would develop a nice patina but I'm a little worried I should be acting more like they are suede.
Here's one they don't tell you........ the fact they have stains for their dress boots that can't be replicated 🤷♂️🙃 So if you get ANY imperfections at ALL.... don't expect to casually just get it fixed. (Specifically when using their own products assuming it can fix it. I also wore the boots twice thinking I could get the issue fixed via a cobbler) The most disappointing aspect of my thursday purchases was knowing THAT.... AND the fact I can't get them fixed by them. Which is sad given I only wore the shoes twice thinking no big deal, realized they were more an issue than realized...... asked for them at a cobbler to be restained...... was denied and told a special color type and that they couldn't....... I message thursday to see if they would fix them after that exchange with the cobbler. In a nice and professional way they just told me I'm screwed and the fairly blatant stain that was rubbed away was my problem they can't fix. So...... note..... if you get their stained boots..... make sure EVERYTHING is fine and DO NOT rub the stain with THEIR OWN cleaner and cloth. I own 6 of their boots.... so.... 🤷♂️ I support them. Just felt that was extremely sh*tty they couldn't fix them in anyway. I even offered to pay for shipping. I wore the boots twice at most and the issues are so bad in natural lighting that I can't justify wearing the boots unless they are restained. Disapointing 🤷♂️
Bummer. Get some acetone and a dye that is a darker color than the orginal color and re -dye the boots. Understand that colors mix, like if the boots were red and you get blue dye and only do a single/light coat you will get a darker purple color. After stripping and then dyeing the shoe condition the crap out of them.
@@rachelb2464 They were the drak oak broque boots. I should've just returned them after I saw the initial QC issues.... I just decided that it may be something I could clean. I tried a cleaner and then it rubbed the stain off. So I THEN (check story above). I'll just retake them to a cobbler and ask them. They are the only boots I own that are either a suede of some sort or an actual leather that's not difficult to restain. Thanks for the advice though.
@@jarret45 No. I've had no issues past this. If you are to order from them..... just be aware of ANY imperfections and assume you can't get it fixed lol. If you don't like ANYTHING.... send it back free of charge. (Which I've done with zero issues) I should've done it I guess when I noticed what I noticed. They don't mention ANYTHING about the stain being a "unique" or "specific" dye a cobbler can't replicate. That's stupid not to mention tbh. I pretty much told them that when asked. Otherwise..... I'm a fan. Their boots are best value boot far none for MOST people who want boots that are street boots/casual work/causal hike. Nothing extreme use case. Just.... nice quality for the price.