I've been doing some spring cleaning around my house and I ran across an old set of jungle boots I had when I was active duty. The last time I remember seeing them was over 15 years ago, and they're at least 35 years old. When I had put them away, I put shoe trees in them, and gave them a spit shine before placing them in the back corner of a closet. When I found them, the shine was still there, under a thin layer of dust, but the leather has dried considerably, leaving them stiff and cracking in places. I've decided that I'm going to recondition them and wear them to a PT session.
I've already acquired a bottle of leather conditioner and have been applying the conditioner in thin layers for the last couple of days. The leather has been soaking up the conditioner like dry, cracked dirt soaks up a gentle summer rain, and I'm happy to report that the leather is regaining its suppleness and flexibility. Before starting with the leather conditioner, I washed the entire boots with a strong solution of murphy oil soap, which I already had on hand, and was something widely suggested by my internet research. Following a good rinse to remove the soap, I left the shoe trees in the boots, and let them dry naturally in the sunlight.
With the leather being so dry, a lot of the polish flaked off, leaving bare leather that was ashen. The leather conditioner has returned the healthy color tone. I'm thinking another day or two of conditioning and then it'll be time move to the next step, which will be lightly sanding the leather to get rid of the shallow cracks, and then using a leather repair kit to fill the deeper cracks, followed by another round of sanding to blend in the repair work.
Once that's done, I'm going to apply some gun bluing to the metal eyelets to restore the black color where the bare metal is showing through, and then I will apply several layers of shoe polish and return them to their spit shined original glory.
In the end, this is nothing more than something to occupy my time, and a chance to learn a new skill. I've never reconditioned leather before. If I can't fully restore the boots, or if things really go sideways and I ruin them (highly unlikely,) I won't be upset. But as it stands now, I'm reasonably confident that I can restore them to their former glory. Wish me luck.
1 comment:
OMG- you lucky devil!!! When I was in England I had several pair of leather boots, a leather handbag and a vintage leather Doctors Bag. I bought a leather kit and it became a once a month routine to clean them all- but in the case of the vintage leather doctors bag, I had to restore it first. It was in terrible condition!!!! You are following the correct steps- I pray you can restore them to their full glory!!
That cleaning ritual on a monthly was perfect for clearing my head and strategizing a plan of action for whatever crisis was stressing me out at the time.
Good Luck Buddy- I, for one, would love to see the results!!!!
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