Hiking Boots: Cleaning, Care and Maintenance for Your Most Important Piece of Hiking Gear
Good quality hiking boots are an investment that can be expected to last a long time, but only if you take care of them. This article will tell you how to properly care for your hiking boots, from conditioning to repair, so you get the most value from your investment.
In this article, I will discuss five main points of proper care and maintenance of your hiking boots:
1. Break them.
2. Waterproofing.
3. Cleaning and general maintenance.
4. Solve.
5. Know when they have had it.
Breaking in your hiking boots
The purpose of breaking in your hiking boots is to break them in so they don’t hurt your feet. They should be flexible exactly where the feet and ankles bend. The best way to do this is to walk on them. The whole point of breaking in your hiking boots is to do it on short hikes, so you don’t find yourself out in the wild with blisters and an unyielding pair of hiking boots.
Walking shoes or day-walking boots may not need any adaptation, but try it out just to be sure. Very heavy hiking boots may not break in, but wearing them will make your feet harder in places where the boots refuse to flex.
In any case, what you want to do is wear your new hiking boots for short periods of time. Wear them around the house, on your morning walk, on the way to and from work (or wear them to work, if your job doesn’t require much walking and dress codes allow). Use them on short walks.
Once the boots are seated properly, they will feel comfortable while walking. Then you are ready to take them on a serious hike.
You may have heard of leaving your new hiking boots out in the open, or soaking them and wearing them while they dry, or other drastic and exotic techniques to get them used. If you think it’s a bad idea, that’s because it is. Break them gently and they will last much longer.
Waterproofing your hiking boots
Most hiking boots are already waterproof when you buy them, but you still need to waterproof them a bit more. Check the manufacturer’s recommendation, either in the documentation that came with the boots or on their website.
Different materials require different types of waterproofing. Leather, whether full-grain or split, requires a wax-based waterproofing compound (which is exactly what shoe polish is). Fabric, especially nylon blends, requires a silicone-based waterproofing spray.
Since most hiking boots are made from a combination of leather and fabric, you’ll need to use both types of waterproofing. And be careful, because silicone-based sprays can damage the glued seams of leather hiking boots. The best approach for this type of bi-material hiking boot is to spray the silicone-based waterproofing on the fabric panels while protecting the leather, and then spray the wax-based waterproofing on the leather panels and seams.
If you have full-grain leather hiking boots, you can use a wax-based waterproofing spray or an old-fashioned shoe polish. Shoe polish works best on seams as you can apply it in an extra thick layer and work it into seams and seams.
Before you wear them for the first time, and after every big hike, give them a thorough cleaning and a thorough waterproofing treatment. Walking shoes, worn infrequently, may need waterproofing treatment only once a year, but use your discretion. If you see new scratches or scuff marks after a hike, reapply the waterproofing.
Cleaning and General Maintenance of your Mountain Boots
Wipe mud and dust off your hiking boots after each day of hiking. Every time you stop for an important break on a hike, check your boots and remove any excess mud or dust. To clean your boots while hiking or camping, simply kick against a rock, bang the boots, or scrape with a stick if necessary.
If you let mud dry on your boots, it will seep through the waterproofing and soak into the boot. This slowly destroys the leather and is also not good for nylon.
Once you get home, or at least every few days on an extended backpacking hike, wipe down your boots with a damp cloth. Be sure to remove all foreign material, so there is nothing to interfere with the waterproofing chemicals, and so you can inspect them for damage.
If a seam is unraveling, cut the dangling threads. If the dangling thread catches on something, the seam will simply unravel much faster. Depending on the extent of the damage and the cost of the boots, you may want to take them to a cobbler for repair, or simply apply more shoe polish to hold the loose ends in place and ensure the seam is waterproof.
If your boots have gotten wet, dry them slowly. Quick drying will cause the leather parts to shrink and separate from the fabric parts and the rubber sole. Pack damp boots with crumpled newspapers and replace the newspapers every few hours until the boots are dry.
Between walks, a pair of lasts will help your boots keep their shape. And this will be very important for your comfort on your next hike.
Fixing your Hiking Boots
If you have a good pair of backpacking boots, you can change the soles when they wear out. This will cost between $40.00 and $80.00.
Walking shoes or walking boots for the day are not worth settling for. In general, the upper will wear out just as quickly as the soles, but even if the upper appears to be in good shape, the cost doesn’t make sense.
Find an experienced shoemaker in your area to fix your boots. There are services on the web that will also do this, but the shipping costs add considerably to the total cost. The main benefit is that all these services guarantee their work. If you don’t know a cobbler you can trust with your prized hiking boots, search the web for “boot resolve.”
After your hiking boots have been worked out, they will be like a new pair. That means you have to train them again.
Know when hiking boots wear out
Inspect your hiking boots for wear and tear and recognize when it’s time to replace them or, if they’re worth it, invest in major repairs.
The most obvious wear point is the tread. Sometimes the tread will be visibly worn so that the cracks between the tread lugs are not deep enough to provide traction. In some hiking boots, you’ll find that there are two layers inside the sole, and after the softer part wears down, you walk on a harder inner part that doesn’t provide good traction on hard rock.
Another common wear point is the inside of the scree collar (the padding around the top that prevents stones from entering without rubbing against the Achilles tendon). If the liner has worn away and the foam padding has been exposed, your hiking boots should be repaired or replaced immediately.
Check the sole lining of your hiking boots. Most often, you will find a hole under your heel or toe. (Removable insoles can prevent this, but be sure to replace insoles regularly.) Such a hole will soon begin to cause blisters.
On some hiking boots, the upper will start to wear down at the seams. Seams can come undone very quickly, as the friction between the panels weakens the fabric, allowing for even more movement and friction.
Hiking shoes and day-hiking boots can fail if the sole separates from the upper. If this happens before the shoes have started to show other serious signs of wear, take it as a lesson: avoid that mark in the future. If it happens along with other failures, well, it’s time for a new pair of hiking boots.
If your hiking boots contain both leather and fabric, the leather may have slowly stretched due to the constant tension of the laces. The fabric will start to wrinkle as the leather moves away from it. Once this begins, seam failure will soon follow.
Another problem with stretching leather is that your hiking boots can get to a point where you can no longer tighten them. I’ve only seen this once, on a pair of split leather hiking boots. (Hated to see them go.)
Properly cared for, full-grain leather is nearly indestructible. If not cared for properly, it will crack. There’s not much you can do other than replace the boots and try to take better care of the next pair.
conclusion
Take care of your hiking boots and they will take care of you. Keep them clean, waterproof them with the manufacturer’s recommended waterproofing compound and they’ll serve you for thousands of miles down the road.