Goretex boot care products.

[maty j 6]

after my chameaus going so soon ive just ordered some combats. was planning to wait till i had my refund but cant be doing with wet feet and brambled anckles from walking in trainers. sooooo i want to get the most out of the boots whats best to keep the leather in good condition, waterproof with the goretex?? anyone tried the lowa products? active cream, water stop etc??

TIA,

maty.

Edited August 10, 2007 by maty j

[mad al 146]

Dubbin and Saddle Soap for the leather Dubbin should waterproof them and the Saddle Soap used before to clean and get the skin to "breathe". Cheap as chips if you get to a horse sale or something similar..........Al

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

I'm genuinely curious as to why anyone would still choose to wear leather boots at all, in this modern age of lighter, more flexable and '100%' waterproof Gortex lined etc. footwear Just seems a lot, to me, like going for rolling logs instead of wheels. Anyway .....

 

I had a pair of Berghausse made, Gortex lined boots. Cost me seventy five quid and it took me years to get used to the fact that I could stand in a stream in them and yet water simply did not penetrate them. I'd never experianced Gortex before and that f*cked with my head no end. Soft, spongey, light material, yet inpermeable to water? Just didn't equate.

 

Anyway, I destroyed their soles last year by thrusting my feet too far into the fire grate and so wrote those beautiful boots off in a night.

 

Recently, I bought what I was told was a fresh pair of 'water proof' boots. Pretty much the same as my Berghausse ones. Only, the first day it rained, the rain pissed off my leggins and soaked through my new boots in seconds! FFS!

 

Those 100% CRAP boots, incidentally, were branded " Groundwork ". Stay the f*ck away from That name!

 

So, I got out a spray can of stuff I'd been given some years back. Grangers Footwear Proofer See below. So's ye'll know it:

 

 

Grangers

 

 

I did what it said to do, on the can. Religiously. I later went out for a nights mouching, last sunday. By close of play, my feet were sloshing around inside my damn boots. Those boots are right now - following friday - sat there, air drying! I'm back in the market for another pair of decent, comfortable, rugged, long lasting, waterproof boots, and shall probably just buy another pair of my beloved Berghausse ones.

 

It's ironic to note that Grangers stuff is endorsed by Gortex. But perhaps they expect ye to have at least a half reasonable set of feet to try it on, eh? In my own, miserable, wretched, night half ruined and deeply pissed off experiance? That GRANGERS stuff Does Not do what it says on the f*cking can!

 

One to avoid then.

[maty j 6]

thanks Al. ive got a big block of saddle soap here but i found it softens the leather a bit so ill have to see. did you find dubbin rotted the stiching when you used it?? just something ive heard many a time and wondering if it is true.

 

cheers ditch. with regards leather ditch what are the alternatives? canvas? suade? on another pair of boots i had they were mostly leather with canvas side pannels. the leather bit was lovely and waterproof but once the water got onto the side pannels for a few minutes it would soak through and you could feel it coming it. plus the strength and support leather gives you. usrely if the alternatives were that good the bigger manufactures or even everybody would be switching over to them??

i did notice on the lowa site that grangers were recomended and another brand i cant quite remember. sure ive even got some G-Wax that is by grangers here somewere amoungst the shit, from what you say though think ill just give the lowa products a try. according to there site on how to clean and look after them you need a decent cleaner, then a waterproofer then an impregnator to seal the membrane on the leather or something.

 

* Lowa Active Cream is a high quality shoe cream developed specifically for footwear that incorporates TEX materials.

* It provides routine care and impregnation whilst retaining the breathability of the membrane.

* The leather gets a new shine and upgraded water repellency without clogging the pores of the leather.

* Apply as per instructions.

 

Lowa Leather Water Stop Spray 200ml

 

Lowa Leather Water Stop is an environmentally friendly pump action impregnation spray suitable for all types of leather (suede, smooth leather, velour leather and artificial leather) and textile combinations.

 

Lowa Leather Water Stop keeps the material waterproof, supple and dirt resistant whilst retaining its breathability.

 

doesnt seem bad stuff, just the price is a bit

[bill88 6]

This is the best range of footwear protector i've used (and i've tried a few) this is the one i use on my leather/goretex walking boots,and theres a whole host of other products in the range for different shoe's/boots.

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Maty; Bill's use of the exact term " leather / gortex walking boots " there just dropped the penny for me. Are we not missing something glaringly obvious here? You like ye leather, for the reasons ye stated. Personally, I'm happy with a good pair of Gortex lined boots ..... Hold up! See? Surely they must do Gortex Lined Leather boots??? I mean, putting gortex panals in leather boots just seems a bit pants to me. The whole idea behind Gortex is that is's used to form an all enveloping inner membrane. If they can get that into a jacket or a pair of fabric based boots, surely they can do it with leather ones?

 

Have ye had a look for such? Wouldn't that resolve ye problems?

[Hob&Jill 258]

Ditch, Gortex is good stuff, very waterproof. Dosent have much breathability though, I cant wear them in summer anyway, feet sweat buckets.

[maty j 6]

got to agree there ditch, however the chameaus were goretex, fully lined as far as im aware but the glue went a bit between the rubber upper and leather. a small hole and i would of thought with the goretex lining it would of still been waterproof yet water still got in

 

these lowas have Cambrelle®, giving a tough wear resistant lining, coupled with a Gore-Tex® backing for outstanding comfort and waterproofness amoungst everything else. im hoping that these boots will do just that, form an all enveloping inner membrane and being leather will have all the benefits. cant say what the other boots were if it was just goretex pannels or the hole boot but the water deffo got through were the canvas pannels were. they were head boots or something from memory aswell. dont know if thats a good or bad make. anyway, with a bit of look these boots will be here soon and i can see what there like and start getting them out and testing them. of course the real test will be 12-24 month down the line so we'll see.

cheers,

maty.

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Gortex lined and still leaked?! Christ, that's harsh, mate! I wonder if the cause of the original whole caused a rupture in the 'lining' then? Or it a seam somehow parted? Either way; No f*cking good, is it?

 

Any idea what the differance is in " Lined " and " Backed "? Only, obviously, I'll be in the market for some decent new boots myself asap now. I too have my eye on Cabelas and the US kit. Only, I don't mind paying bloody good money for a pair of boots ~ but I would expect bloody good boots for it!

 

Quite honestly, I wouldn't at all mind another pair like the ones I managed to ruin. Only, given the choice, those in a little bit higher would be sweet. One of these days, when I get my shit back together again, I'll have a look round and see what's available. Mheanwhile, I'm trudging round in steel toe capped gum boots!

 

" Head " ? Designer label crap, mate

[maty j 6]

terrible ditch, especially after the length of time i had them plus the price! your guess is as good as mine regarding the lined and backed issue, try stabs. he seems to knows a thing or two about boots. i was looking at some elk tackers after they came highly recomended. over here there set out at around 110 quid were as importing them would only cost me and he would even gift wrap them. patsboot barn on ebay if your interested. they look quite good, goretex and leather. i was going to order them but would of had to wait what, a couple of weeks at the least. plus if there knocking them out for less than 50 quid in the states they carnt be that good surely??

aswell as after reading H&J topic in this section about them i opted for the lowas. to top it all off deako hasnt received my chameaus yet so it'll be even later till i get my refund!

 

i would rather pay out a fair bit as you say ditch and get some quality boots for it, but obviosly some expensive boots arnt capable of much.