How to Waterproof Hiking Boots
Last Updated on August 30, 2020
You need to keep your feet dry during hiking time. Having dry feet on adventuring time helps you to prevent blister. When you are hiking all day long, dry feet keeps you happy and healthy. That’s why you need to keep your hiking boots waterproof. There is another reason to keep your boot waterproof to extend your boot life.
A waterproof boot for hunting or hiking will be long-lasting and more comfortable to wear. It is not necessary to purchase a pair of hiking boots every year if you keep your boots out of dirt and extend the lifetime by cleaning, waterproofing and drying. Do you know you can easily waterproof your boots at home without any specialized training?
Some simple tools and materials can help you to transform your shoes into the waterproofing version. The cost of waterproofing is minimal, and everyone can complete the task easily. So let’s follow the steps below to transform your hiking boots in the water-repelling version.
Deep clean your boots
You need to remove boot laces before cleaning your boots. This will serve your two crucial purposes. You can easily access the area under laces by removing the laces, and it will prevent the boot laces from harmful waterproofing materials.
Now you need to clean them with warm water and a wire brush. You can use boot cleaning gel for removing hard dirt. Before applying the waterproofing materials, you have to dry them. But you can leave your boots a little damp to maximize your penetration period.
By using a hairdryer on low heat, you can speed up the dry process. Low heat will help the wax or oil to form a deep water-repellent layer that you are using in penetrating time.
Waterproofing full-grain leather boots
The lather is a naturally waterproof material, but it may lose its property without applying the waterproof treatment. There are some options here with the waterproof materials you get. For example, you can use Grangers G-Wax for your full-grain leather product which provides all-rounder waterproofing and immense breathability.
Since leather is made of animal skin, over time, it starts to dry and crack by losing its natural oil and moisture. It is a better solution to use wax for the situation. It also helps to make your boots shiny and acting as a conditioner.
Now you need to take a little amount of wax in a dry towel or cloth and rub it the whole surface of your boots sparingly. You should not use too much wax because it may cause the boots to harden. Then you might start rubbing in a very modest amount.
If the wax is too solid to be rubbed, you can warm it up with a hairdryer and then wipe on your every boot. You should make sure to cover the entire boot perfectly with wax.
After rubbing each boot, leave those to dry naturally at least 30-60 minutes. If you try to speed up the process by applying external heat, it may cause to crack your boots permanently. Finally, you need to buff the wax off with a dry towel.
Waterproofing suede boots
It requires deferent treatment from leather boots to waterproof suede boots. You need to use waterproofing spray to reproofing your suede boots. You should never use dubbing wax on it. Purchase an appropriate suede waterproofing spray, which is certified as suitable for your suede boots.
You should make sure the entire pair of boots evenly coated; spray from 3 inches away. Let the boots to dry naturally. You should never use a hairdryer or any external source to speed up the drying process. It may damage your boots. You can use a suede brush for restoring your boots.
Waterproofing fabric boots
It is generally more challenging to proof fabric boots for the nature of the materials. Fabric is less durable than leather, so the boots have a shorter lifetime. By reproofing those, you may be significantly benefited. We recommended you use an aerosol spray of conditioning oil. There are various numbers of sprays in the market. You need to use a perfect one that is certified to use on your fabric boots.
You need to dry and clean your boots before applying waterproofing spray. You can also reproof the boots while they are either wet. But we recommend drying those. After using waterproofing spray, leave them to dry overnight. This process is too, but it will enable waterproofing ability.
Again, reproofing on wet boots will most likely lead to the waterproofing substance fixing in better and enduring longer. Despite the boots moisture level after the process, you ought to enable them to dry until the boots are totally moisture-free before you next wear them.
Final Words
When you’re set, your boots will look more beneficial and more youthful and your feet ought to appreciate watertight conditions for no less than a little while of hard use. After the waterproofing process, you’re back in real adventuring or hiking life.
In a couple of simple advances, you’ve reestablished waterproofing to your boots while keeping up their breathability. Getting the well-deserved trail dirt off and applying a crisp treatment will lead a lot progressively cheerful miles and memories also.
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Hi, I am John Campbell, an outdoor enthusiast. Just like you, I value the habitat, heritage and tradition of great outdoors. I do my best to make sure the correct research, writing, and photo are shown on Tacticalgearslab.com. Indeed, I am committed to preserving a great online experience for you.