Following on from various threads about boots leaking, stiching not lasting etc, how do you treat you boots - both every day and competition ones (say if you ride in short boots but compete in long)
Yup I clean my boots regularly (that's when I'm riding obviously) and 9 times out of 10 I'll clean them properly as in spit & polish as was taught how to do it properly atleast every 2 weeks.
I was only given the boots I've got on the condition I was to look after them
Yes, I do clean my boots after each time I ride/compete, and I clean my boots again the night before a hunt meet or competition even if I cleaned them earlier that week!
Even though I do have rubber long boots for hunting (I'm getting leather ones soon for Christmas hopefully), I use saddle soap on them, and then spray on that Carr & Day & Martin saddle conditioner, and then wipe it in, and my boots are really clean and shiny afterwards!
I don't clean my everyday boots (hence why they have humungous holes in, both my Mountain Horse jod boots and my prized Ariat Terrains that I vowed to keep clean!), but my show boots get cleaned before every show. I use Belvoir leather cleaner and then Renapur leather balsam on them and they look really good! Also do that to my gaiters (cheap rubbish, don't know if they're really leather or not).
I only use my long boots for shows, so they get cleaned the day before a show. My jodhpur boots seldom get cleaned, but then it doesn't rain much here so they don't get very dirty. Quick wipe over with some saddle soap once in a while
If Im fetching my horse in, I'll hose my boots down after at the wash area where we pick feet out. They're then saddle soaped every night when I do my tack and have leather food put on them twice a week (as advised by saddler after complaining my last boots didnt last long enough!
Very occasionally I blast my ariat terrain boots and the bottoms of my rambo full chaps with the hose but they are forever getting plastered in mud and they're not leather so I generally don't bother.
To ride at home I change into my old ariat boots and gaiters as the yard boots are just too muddy to ride in. The old ariat boots are never cleaned but I literally only wear them to ride, they are so old and full of holes it would almost be a waste of cleaning stuff.
My smart ariats and gaiters are kept at home beautifully clean at all times. I always remove the mud with a damp cloth, lightly saddle soap them, condition them and then polish them when they're completely dry. I do the same minus the polish on the gaiters.
well i wear wellys at they yard, and then change into my boots and gaiters just before i ride, so they dont get dirty.
i compete in a different pair of boots and gaiters and they get saddle soaped just before i get on each time to compete! however i did bring them home on the weekend to clean as my trainer's school throws up loads of black sand when you ride on it so they were covered in it. id clean them properly before i was going hunting too. they sometimes get sprayed with that re-proofing stuff if i remember. ive had them over 4 years now and they are still in perfect condition.
Every day boots get wiped over every day & a polish once a week at least. Cant afford them to die on me!!
Competition/hunting boots;
Wash off with water a soft sponge straight away after taking them off & putting trees in them.
Then spit in polish tin & apply with finger
Then more spitting on boot & bone them (deer shin used over boot)
Then put on another layer of polish
Leave for 24 hrs
Touch up with more polish if need to on any areas.
Then next couple of days buffing with diff cloths!!
But they come up like glass!!
I like to buy the best I can afford and then look after it properly. Every evening I clean whichever boots or chaps I have worn that day. I use the polish or reproofing recommended by each manufacturer. I always put boot trees in.
I put other because i do clean my boots what i call my proper boots every time i use whem which is when i compete which is not very often, then they are packed away in a boot bag.
Just got a pair of saxon equileather boots - which i LOVE and they got well muddy on Sunday and i just wiped them over with a sponge and then a cloth to dry and good as new!!
My every day boots are rubber ones because the yard is so muddy!! And they never get cleaned!!