Maintenance leather boots and shoes

To improve the longevity of your riding boots or shoes it is vital to clean and maintain them regularly.

Daily maintenance

1. Clean your shoes with a clean, moist cloth every day, or perhaps after every time you've used them. Remove any dirt and filth; pay special attention to edge around the sole as dirt easily gets stuck in there and leather and stitching is easily damaged in these areas.
2. Don't rinse your boots or shoes, they should never get too wet. If they are ather wet from use, dry them at room temperature and add moist absorbing paper on the inside. Should you add paper it is wise to take out the insoles first. Room temperature is the preferred way to dry boots or shoes, never ever put them near a heat source or radiator as this will dehydration of the leather.

Treatment

Additionally, it is important to treat the leather regularly (depending on use about once a week suffices).

1. Make sure the boots are clean and dry before treating them.
   
2. Treat the boots or shoes with a leather conditioner or leather cream or liquid cleaner. To retain the colour of the boots or shoes you can use shoe polish or shoe cream with a colour base.
3. Rub the conditioner with a soft cloth or included sponge. A proper rub works wonders compared to a thick layer of cream. Allow the leather to absorb the condition. Give the boots or shoes another rub before use to remove any excess conditioner.
4. If you want to add a water repellent coating you could use a water repellent spray. By doing so you'll improve your boots' longevity.
5. Special zip spray exist to treat the zippers in your boots or shoes. They'll keep your zippers clean and improve durability.

Tips:

• Try not to wear the same boots or shoes every day. The combination of fluids and bacteria increased wear and tear.
• Don't use saddle soap for your boots and shoes as this can cause a dim colouration which might even result in stitching letting loose (saddles and bridles have different stitching than shoos en boots). There are cleaners designed just for boots and shoes.
• To bring about extra shine you could use shoe polish. Rub the shoe polish with a nylon pantyhose or a special shine brush.
• Use boot shapers to retain the shape of your boots when you don't wear them.
• Store leather boots in a boot bag and store the bag on its side. This will prevent your boots from collapsing.
• Anti-bacterial sprays are available for the inside of your boots and shoes.
• Use riding boots and jodhpurs for riding only. Don't trot around in the mud and dung with them as this can cause serious damage to the leather.
• Treat your boots at least one day before use to allow the conditioner to be absorbed fully.
• Put on your boots using boot pullers and take them off using a boot jack.
• Don't treat artifical leather, leather with a polyester coating or patent leather with a leather conditioner.
• Do you like to sparkle? Clean rhinestones with a moist cloth only. Note: loss or damage to rhinestones does not fall under warranty.

Treatment of nubuck leather

Nubuck is a type of leather which has been sanded or gruffed on the grain side. This gives the leather a velvety look. It looks a little bit like suède but is a lot sturdier, henceforth it is often used for boots and shoes. Nubuck leather has open pores and is thus extra sensitive to grease, dirt and wet conditions. Water and other fluids spilled on the surface should be dapped with a cloth instantly, never rub as this will just make it worse.

1. Use a soft brush or cloth to remove any dirt from nubuck leather, don't rub!
   
2. Use a conditioning spray designed for suède or nubuck to clean nubuck leather and nothing else.