Don't polish your boots

[snaphappy]

Yes that’s what I was told today when I bought new boots,
They're nothing fancy but with a Gore-Tex lining hopefully more waterproof than their predecessor. I was given a voucher as my old boots were beyond repair and still covered by guarantee. While sorting out the voucher I was told not to use normal polish as it buggers up the breathability and renders the Gore-Tex US. Anyone in the know that can validate this or is it just another ploy to sell £10 tubes of foamed shoe cream to unknowing punters

[E.T.]

I bought Altberg boots and they told me not to use wax polish (they tend not to be wax these days but loadsa other chemicals)...Kiwi and the like. They supplied a can of Ledergris instead.

(the Altbergs don't use Goretex per se, but another brand equivilent, so I would assume the rules would be the same)

[scouse]

I use Ledergris on my goretex Santiago boots, have done for a couple of years now with no issues.

Actually we use it on all boots and leather bike stuff that needs proofing

[Alun]

snaphappy wrote:

Yes that’s what I was told today when I bought new boots,
They're nothing fancy but with a Gore-Tex lining hopefully more waterproof than their predecessor. I was given a voucher as my old boots were beyond repair and still covered by guarantee. While sorting out the voucher I was told not to use normal polish as it buggers up the breathability and renders the Gore-Tex US. Anyone in the know that can validate this or is it just another ploy to sell £10 tubes of foamed shoe cream to unknowing punters

What boots? Leather/synthetic or what?

Anything you put on Goretex will hinder the breathability. And just for the record the fabled breathablity only really kicks in when the conditions are hot and steamy on the inside and cold and dry on the outside. So they never really breath in damp or wet weather (oh the irony). But it does work great at the top of Everest or when you're running in a freezer!

[snaphappy]

They are all leather bike boots made under licence for Louis (the biggest motorbike accessory outlet in Germany) and have a Drygate membrane lining.
I've searched through the web and some of seems to make sense as most leather polishes are now synthetic and contain more oil than wax and its the oils that ruin the membrane.....aparently

I have always polished my boots from army boots with Kiwi, my hiking and bike boots with Neetsfoot, minkoil and a vaseline/beeswax mix now I'm unsure

[Alun]

I could be wrong but I don't think the oil destroys the membrane more like it blocks the microscopic pores and hinders the breathability which means returns under the heading of 'my boots are like a swamp and you told me they breath'.

Shall we turn this into a 'show us your boot thread'?

Here's mine - Norweigian winter hiking boots with thermalite insulation, waterproof membrane and a good chunky tread.

boot_small.jpg (38.46 KiB) Viewed 1761 times