How to clean/maintain tall leather boots?

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DonskiWA

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I have just bought my first ever pair of tall boots - Mark Todd long leather competition boots.
How best to clean them? Can I just use black shoe polish and buff and shine them or do they need some sort of oiling?
Thanks, I'm so chuffed and want to keep them immaculate
 
I find nugget and shoe polish in general makes the leather hard. So I treat my boots the same way I treat my saddle - damp rag after every use to get rid of the sweat and dust and leather conditioner every so often.
 
I use shoe polish, I use a brush to put it on and a softer brush to buff up with.
I also occasionally use leather balm for a quick wipe over but I find that putting polish on gives them a deeper shine.
I find Ariat polish good.
 
Saddle soap and a damp cloth and then a quick buff with a dry mircofibre cloth, boot stretchers in to keep them standing tall and well shaped, back in the boot bag and collecting dust at the back of the tack box again before you know it :)
 
how do people get mud off? mine were coated yesterday and there were screams of horror when I stuck them under the tap ( I did saddlesoap them later)
 
We use Robinsons spray boot cleaner to get the scurf & grease off from the horse & then use Kiwi Parade gloss black polish to polish them up. Also keep boot trees in the boots to keep them upright.
 
Vodkagirly said:
how do people get mud off? mine were coated yesterday and there were screams of horror when I stuck them under the tap ( I did saddlesoap them later)
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I quickly rinse mine off if they are really muddy, then boot trees in, allow to dry naturally then polish/leather balm them.
I'm sure someone will say we shouldn't, but my logic is that they are already wet from the mud so better wet and clean than wet and muddy!
 
I have Ariat H2O Bromonts which are waxed leather. They get a wipe off with a damp sponge after most rides and then taken home regularly to be washed off and conditioned with Ariat's waxed leather conditioner, then polished with their black boot polish. I much prefer Ariat's polish to standard shop bought stuff, it seems much thicker and richer so brings the boots up much better than, say, Kiwi.
 
FireFly29 said:
I quickly rinse mine off if they are really muddy, then boot trees in, allow to dry naturally then polish/leather balm them.
I'm sure someone will say we shouldn't, but my logic is that they are already wet from the mud so better wet and clean than wet and muddy!
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I use water on mine all the time; I broke them in by standing in the water trough before riding, on the recommendation of the person I brought them from (who I trust implicitly on such matters but I did think she was mental at first, these were brand new cavallo pirouettes that I was terrified of wrecking).

Water really shouldn't damage them if they are of good quality and allowed to dry properly with trees - water to clean (hose if really bad), then polish as normal, a couple of times a week when I rode all the time, now just after each use.

I use kiwi parade gloss, if heated it brings them up with an amazing shine.
 
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We wash the mud off when we get back to the trailer, after washing the horses off -much easier when the mud is wet!
Let them dry naturally (not by a radiator) with trees in, then polish with brushes and elbow grease, then wipe over with a dry duster.

The more often you polish them, , the longer they will last as it conditions the leather.

If you get a build up of sweat/on the inside, use saddle soap and a damp sponge to remove it.

If you put the polish on the inside and work it in correctly, it won't make your boots slippery -it'll actually give you better grip -just make sure there isn't any polish left on the top edges, or it'll coat your breeches and numnah!
 
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