Hot water treatment on boots?

[Mr Badger]

Hey folks, just wondered if the 'hot water treatment' that some folks use to start the softening process on their leather jackets also works on boots... nabbed a lovely pair of heavyweight cap toe boots, with double leather soles and horseshoes on the heels, off Ebay for the princely sum of £15 but they're hella stiff... did slather 'em in leather conditioner then give 'em a good once over with polish, letting it sink in and buffing with a stiff-ish brush but that didn't make much of a diff... would standing in a washing up bowl of hot water with 'em on and then wearing 'til dry do the trick? At least for getting some flex in the soles and the sections between the laces'n'toe caps...

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

I followed the advice from this forum on my redwing engineers and it worked.
I filled them up with warm tapwater, poured it out, and then walked in them around the
block a coupple of times. They got somewhat broken in.

 

[Mr Badger]

Well, I thought "In for a penny..." and tried it! I just filled a plastic washing up bowl with hot water from the tap, put the boots on without socks then went out onto the patio and stuck each foot in until I felt water entering, at which point I pulled it out, then bent my foot so that the sole flexed properly a dozen times or so...

Gotta say that, even without socks, it felt well grotty to be squelching around, but after sweeping the yard, the boots had softened up considerably and the lite manual labour had caused even the insoles to dry out!

As you can see from these pics, snapped with a pal's phone, the boots are looking much better already! The laces are temporary, BTW - the ones that came with the boots are waaay too long, gonna pick up some black cotton flatties this week...

 

[Mr Badger]

Thanks Griff! Guess I was posting while you were!

 

[Metatron]

When I was in the army, we would 'commandeer' a truck and run over our new boots to break them in. :eusa_doh:

Seemed to work though!

 

[Marv]

just on the same note, I wonder if this process would work on say rough outs or boondockers.
sometimes these type of boots come larger that the marked size so was wonding if soaking them in hot water would break/shrink them down a little.
not sure this is has been asked/answered before but was curious on the matter.
anybody come across / down this in the past..........

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

I did not find the boots to shrink, if any, they expand when walking in them wet.
Just wetting and drying wont shrink them noticeably either i think.

However, if you get them really wet you can mold them some, pushing in above the heel
and get a little snugger fit, I did this with my engineers but I don't know if it stayed that way or not
they still slip on the heel.

 

[Edward]

GREAT looking boots. Are they vintage or modern? I love the heel-plate (I'd have to remember to take them off at the front door, though - i can just imagine what they'd do to my wooden floors... ).

I followed the advice from this forum on my redwing engineers and it worked.
I filled them up with warm tapwater, poured it out, and then walked in them around the
block a coupple of times. They got somewhat broken in.

I saw some boys from the Paras doing that on TV years ago - they stuck em in a bucket of water (some of them overnight), then wore them until they dried out.

 

[Mr Vim]

Badger,

oh yeah, hot water works for breaking in boots and for a good shine. In the Army I used to wear my boots a few times in the shower and move around in them just for a break in process. It never failed.

 

[Mr Badger]

Seems like I did the right thing, then! Thanks folks!

Hey Edward, they seem to be modern and came in a vaguely trendy-looking box marked 'Passeport', which I take to be the brand, and 'black men's boots', that's all... I took a flier as the Ebay seller listed them as 'police style' boots and had quite a number of pairs, along with a miscellany of other clothes and footwear, mostly grotty in nature... I did think that they'd either be really crappy leather or, judging by the horseshoes, basically slightly civvied-up ammo boots, but they're pretty heavy duty quality and too elegantly lasted to be mistaken for British army issue - weird, no?

 

[Mr Badger]

Progress report: AAARGH! :eeek:

Wore the boots to work today and, like many things that go horribly wrong in life, thought "what's the worst that could happen?"...

Mistake! I walk to work and back each weekday, a round trip of 3 miles, and I was kinda OK when I got to my desk, just a few nips from the boots, but after that... ohhhhh, serious blisters! Factor in perambulating down to the mail office to pick up a Louis Prima LP (the "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" OST) for my missus during lunch plus a trip to the hairdresser to get shorn by a 71-year-old Sicilian gent named Don, which adds another mile, and my feets look like I gots the plague (in, ahem, spots)...

(I'll spare you any pix)

Have you good people got any more ideas on how I can soften up these lovely, but vicious boots?

 

[too much coffee]

Update: wore the boots walking to work and back yesterday, a round trip of three miles, and my feet got torn up something rotten! :eeek:

(I'll spare you any pics of my feets)

Any idea of more ways I can break in what have turned out to be darned tough boots?

Hey Mr. Badger;

Just a thought........visualize a larger size in your boots. I know you procured these for a song but do you think a larger size might make the break in process less painful?

I've broken in and worn a whole bunch of boots in my 24yr. Army career and untold big game hunting trips and my perception is that a larger size helps ease the pain. With that, I always go one size up so I can wear thicker and more comfortable insoles. Additionally, I always wear expensive merino wool socks with my boots.

A larger size boot, good wool socks, great comfy insoles and then I give my boots the very hot shower regimen(s)

Works a treat every time!

Stay healthy and good luck with the boots................coffee

P.S.: I use multiple thin layers of Obenauf's LP applied over a weeks time. Thin layers on a very warm boot are the key to suppleness and protection.

 

[Mr Badger]

Hey 'coffee! First off, apologies for the duplicate posts, which I've now deleted – every time I tried to post over the last coupla days I got a 'database error' message, did anyone else experience this?

It's not that the boots are tight, in fact they're a perfect fit, rather that they're simply very tough leather! It's one spot in particular that rubbed really badly – the top/side of my inside left foot, where my big pinkie meets the ball – which is where the boot is pinching...

I do think that insoles would help, and I'll do the hot water treatment/leather conditioner thing again today, as well as simply sitting watching a movie (am thinking of a re-viewing of Ida Lupino's masterful The Hitch-Hiker) and manipulating/rolling the leather by hand... I'll let ya know how I get on!

 

[MB5]

If it is just in that one spot can you use a broom handle to enlarge it?

 

[Dav]

Hi Badger, great looking boots you've got there. I've found that a good smear of vasaline on the inside where a boot is pinching/rubbing can help to soften things up somewhat.

 

[Mr Badger]

Thanks for your thoughts, MB5 and Dav, I'll give 'em a try!

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

I just wear band aid on the spots where new shoes hurt my feet. and wait 2 weeks until they are broken in.
works good.

 

[Mr Badger]

UPDATE: spent an hour or so manipulating the leather between the laces and the toecaps last weekend and walked around town in 'em for an hour or so with no probs, so I wore 'em to work again and they tore my feet up in exactly the same spots! AAARGH! I've put insoles in 'em, which made no diff, and am thinking of getting some 'shoe stretching spray', anybody know if it works?

I must say that these boots are the hardest I've ever had to break in!

 

[MikePotts]

I think that 'shoe stretching spray' is usually just denatured alcohol, better than water for stretching as it dries much more quickly. Use that, then 'moleskin' patches where you get pinched or blistered and try again. I admire your determination


MP

 

[scooter]

In the Marines, we soaked our boots in hot water, applied moleskin on any hotspots, and wore them till dry. Thick socks will absorb some of the punishment, but trust me when I tell you, I've covered thousands of miles up and down mountains and every where else imaginable in boots broken in this way.