Leather boots belts how to look after?

[ironcross13]

What do you guys use to look after leather i have some boots, belts, Y-straps, shovel case,
I was thinking of using something like dubbin on them to stop them drying out.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cherry-Blos...eywords=Dubbin

I did some searching but some old threads come up and not sure what to do.

[Valter Gorenc]

There's an ongoing debate among conservators and collectors what to do with leather. And IF to do anything. One side advises to use a neutral, high quality shoe polish (I use DocMartens, but that's more or less a matter of choice) - a cream type, NOT those instand-gloss liquids. Some special oils are also available. Other side says it's better to leave leather alone, as it is not yet established the long-term effects of any cream/oil/polish on old, deteriorating leather. They state applying anything can do more harm than good, but other side claims the opposite. There are in-depth articles on this forum, and you can also find lots of useful information googling "preservation of historical leather" and so on. Many papers by museums and similar professional institutions can be found online.

Like this one:
https://www.nps.gov/museum/publicati...gram/09-01.pdf

[ironcross13]

There's an ongoing debate among conservators and collectors what to do with leather. And IF to do anything. One side advises to use a neutral, high quality shoe polish (I use DocMartens, but that's more or less a matter of choice) - a cream type, NOT those instand-gloss liquids. Some special oils are also available. Other side says it's better to leave leather alone, as it is not yet established the long-term effects of any cream/oil/polish on old, deteriorating leather. They state applying anything can do more harm than good, but other side claims the opposite. There are in-depth articles on this forum, and you can also find lots of useful information googling "preservation of historical leather" and so on. Many papers by museums and similar professional institutions can be found online.

Like this one:
https://www.nps.gov/museum/publicati...gram/09-01.pdf

Thats for the infomation, I did read some old threads seems to have conflicting infomation on them some are for and some are not.

I have this Special cream for my Lowa goretex boots. I was thinking of using it on my boots https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lowa-LOWA-A...R2QZR2JW7GKMAD

Its good quality was thinking of giving my items a light coat.

[Valter Gorenc]

About the use of the cream, I'd suggest to use one that is more "old school" type, with as little as possible "modern, high-tech" articficial ingredients. Goretex is completely different thing than leather (obviously) and your aim is not to make your leather collectables waterproof (as is the prime goal of modern shoe creams and ointments) but to gently clean and soften leather, to prevent drying and cracking. The leather should remain "breathable" so your goal is not to seal it completely. That's why I incline towards "classic" shoe polish (neutral color, of course), as this is intended not so much to sealing out water, but nurturing and preserving leather on classical leather shoes, used daily in more-or-less dry weather. The creams for hiking and other utility shoes need to meet diferent requirements, so I assume they can be more agressive and potentially harming to old leather objects.

[ironcross13]

About the use of the cream, I'd suggest to use one that is more "old school" type, with as little as possible "modern, high-tech" articficial ingredients. Goretex is completely different thing than leather (obviously) and your aim is not to make your leather collectables waterproof (as is the prime goal of modern shoe creams and ointments) but to gently clean and soften leather, to prevent drying and cracking. The leather should remain "breathable" so your goal is not to seal it completely. That's why I incline towards "classic" shoe polish (neutral color, of course), as this is intended not so much to sealing out water, but nurturing and preserving leather on classical leather shoes, used daily in more-or-less dry weather. The creams for hiking and other utility shoes need to meet diferent requirements, so I assume they can be more agressive and potentially harming to old leather objects.

Yeah this dose make perfect sense. The Lowa cream is not full waterproof, the lining of the boot is Goretex and the outside is leather.
But old school polish/cream dose sound better for use on old leather. So you use dr Martin polish? I have some Kiwi old school polish. But I think a cream to keep the leather from completely drying out would be better. Which ones do you recommend?