Keep in mind at the outset that every brand of leather boot wears and breaks in differently. Tips for Breaking In Your Boots the Right Way The primary problem with heat is that you just don’t know how your particular leather boot will react to it, or at what point the heat becomes too much and starts causing damage (which isn’t always apparent fibers can start to dry and crack before it’s visible to the eye).Īvoid this route too. While you’ll find plenty of sources out there that say a hair dryer on low heat is okay, the vast majority of manufacturers recommend avoiding exposure to any direct heat source like that. It can also warp the material and change the leather’s color. Prolonged or extreme heat exposure will dry the leather and make it crack. It can, but the risks to your leather aren’t worth it. Heat also makes leather more pliable, so putting a hair dryer on them or putting them next to a fire should help, right? Again, from a purely logical perspective, this idea isn’t too bad. The other primary line of thinking I saw in terms of break-in hacks was heat exposure. While your boots should be fine when worn out on a rainy day, that’s not quite the same as giving them a prolonged soaking in a bucket of water. Plus, while not a guarantee, it’s sure a possibility that the water could warp or otherwise damage not only the leather, but the soles as well, especially in more modern-style boots that have a cushioned insole vs. The problem is that water immersion can actually shrink your boots, doing the opposite of what you intended. It’s hard to find any that do anymore, though. Thus manufacturers themselves sometimes used to in fact recommend breaking in their boots with the water exposure method. Leather boots have a blue collar heritage, that typically isn’t just a matter of aesthetics: you generally should be able to wear them in wet and messy conditions, and have them hold up just fine. Water immersion does make leather more pliable, and in fact many leather projects rely on the material being soaked for the sake of molding it into some shape ( like a knife sheath ). The logic of this line of reasoning isn’t all that crazy. I saw tips out there ranging from submerging the boots in a tub full of water, to wearing wet socks in an attempt to get the leather to mold more to your feet. Thankfully, I didn’t trust the internet, and called up a local Red Wing shoe store to get the dope on these shortcuts rather than trying them out firsthand and possibly ruining a nice pair of boots. Right? That’s how the thinking goes at least. Leather is obviously an incredibly resistant material, so while prolonged exposure to these elements isn’t good for it, an initial blast to soften things up won’t hurt. Most of what I found revolved around subjecting the leather to extremes in terms of water and heat. In doing some initial internet research, I was presented with almost exactly what I expected to find: a few apparently quick and painless hacks that would instantly break in a pair of leather boots. When you’re spending $200 or more on your shoes (which is about as cheap as you can get a high-quality pair of boots), you don’t want them wrecked before you’ve gotten a chance to enjoy them for a few decades.īelow you’ll find out why some of the tricks you see online shouldn’t be utilized, as well as a few tips for easing the discomfort of the breaking-in process. There are a few things you can do to ease the discomfort, but in general, any hacks or quick tips you see out there pose too much of a risk to the leather to be worth trying. Aren’t there any hacks or tricks to breaking them in a little quicker and without as much discomfort? How do you do that though? The tried and true method is to just wear them and deal with the discomfort - sometimes including blisters - until the leather becomes softer and more comfortable. Leather boots thus need to be broken in before they’re comfortable for regular and prolonged use. That’s just part of the reality of owning a pair of boots made from leather: it’s a hard, tough material (which is why it’s so dang durable!). You’re excited to lace ‘em up and wear your boots to work or out on a date, but they’re stiff and a little hard to put on, and when you walk around, they feel a little uncomfortable after a while. Say you got a nice shiny pair of Red Wing boots for Christmas or your birthday, or you just wanted to splurge with your end-of-year bonus. A good pair of leather boots is an essential part of every man’s wardrobe, particularly in the fall and winter.
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