Whether you drive, ride a motorcycle, or a bicycle to and fro work, your footwear is going to be dirty. The only time you are not going to witness your boots get dirty is if you are flying mid-air. You know this is utter hallucination because, at the end of the day, you are going to alight.
Now, we agree that any footwear gets dirty. So, it is important to know how you can clean your best work boots. One of the products that help in removing stubborn stains from work boots and leaves them nourished is Fiebing’s Saddle Soap, a natural leather conditioner that you don’t want to miss. Just how does Fiebing’s saddle soap works? I’ll talk about this on how to clean the outer part of a work boot below.
People try different ways to clean their work boots. The way you clean your footwear depends on several things, including the kind of work you do, the type of dirt involved, materials and tools available, and the footwear’s material, among others.
No matter the variant, it is a healthy thing to clean your work boots. This guide will explore different yet practical ways to clean different parts of work boots. Even if it does not mention directly, some of the boots we have in mind include tactical boots, boots for farmers and rangers, best boots for standing, walking, and working on concrete all day, and leather work boots for mechanics, among others.
Here is a Step-by-step Guide on How to Clean Work Boots
Any footwear has three main parts, the outside, the inside, which includes the insole and all the inner parts, and of course, the sole. Instead of looking at three parts, this guide will focus on the outside and the inside of the footwear.
Read also: How to Darken Leather Boots With 3 Easy Method
How to Clean Your Work Boots – the Outside
The outer part of any footwear can tell whether the wearer is a clean person or likes threading in the dirt. It may be rainy, muddy, or dusty, but a neat person or a person who likes their shoes to look clean will do anything to make them look decent.
It doesn’t matter the nature of your work. Whether you intend to wear the best pull-on work boots or Vasque hiking boots, it is advisable to clean the outside of your footwear.
To start with, you are going to wipe off whatever dirt that might be on the surface of the boot.
Depending on the level of the dirt or dust, you will increase the time you are going to use to remove the dirt.
In most cases, a dump piece of cloth will do better. However, you can decide to use a wet brush to remove embedded dirt. A welt or old toothbrush does remarkably well on certain parts of the boot that you will not access using either a bigger brush or a piece of cloth.
If the work boot is incredibly dirty, you may need to do more. In some instances, you may be forced to use leather-cleaning products. Nonetheless, before you decide on any commercial cleaning product, you need to ensure you have tried to remove any dirt that you can use the other ways we talked earlier.
If you decide to purchase a cleaning product, I’d suggest saddle soap. This product is mild on leather boots because it has natural ingredients that act as a leather conditioner. Some of the components in the soap that make it the best choice for cleaning leather work boots are lanolin and beeswax.
Before using it, make sure you have tried to do preliminary cleaning. Then, using a circular motion, put a little saddle soap on a dump piece of cloth or a wet brush. After a short while, wipe off the lather that had formed on the surface of the work boot.
PS: A saddle soap rehydrates, moisturizes, and nourishes the leather, leaving it softer than it was before you started cleaning it.
How to Clean Your Work Boots – the Insole and the Inner Side
Your work boots may look clean from the outside, thus impressing the onlooker, but stink from the inside. This is a bad experience, especially if the onlooker who admired your clean boot smells the disgusting odor.
Thankfully, you can make the interior of the leather boot clean and odor-free.
To clean the insoles, you need to remove them from the shoes. Put them inside a washing machine. You can use a detergent of your choice, but if possible, the soap should be mild.
Alternatively, you can hand wash the insoles. If you have to use a shampoo, it should be of a low pH.
In case the insoles are attached to the boots, you need to clean the interior using a dump cloth soaked in soapy water. Adding a detergent ensures no microorganisms will remain after cleaning the insoles and the interior of the boot. After this, put the insoles or the boots to dry in the air but under the shade.
Overexposure of leather boots to the scorching sun will make them warp. The only time leather boots are supposed to get in contact with the sun is when you are wearing them and working or walking in the sun. Otherwise, do not clean boots and dry them in the sun.
If you are in a hurry, you can use a boot dryer to remove excessive numbness from the leather before you wear them.
PS: The process of cleaning and drying insoles and the inside of leather boots also applies to other types of shoes. Some of the shoes on this list include sneakers for arch support, special shoes for those with swollen feet, and shoes to wear after undergoing foot surgery.
Wrap Up
Cleaning work boots is a choice each one of us has to make. Some people decide to use their work boots for a long time before they clean them. Others clean their footwear daily or after a few days.
Whichever schedule you set to clean your work boots, the important thing should be ensuring your work boots are clean outside and the inside and that they do not smell. Use available tools, materials, and products to make your cleaning work easier and stress-free. In the end, you will be a talk of the town for a good reason.
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