Do Steel Toe Boots Crease?

The truth is all boots do crease and steel toe boots are no exceptions!

More than the toe box material, it is the boot upper that leads to the creasing!

In fact, boots crease depending on which material they are made with.

Like synthetic material will crease the most and will have a long-term effect, fabric boots will crease the least and you won’t even notice them after a while and leather; though a tough material, will crease after sustaining lots of pressure for a long time, but thankfully the creases are reversible with just some effort.

So, the steel toe boots that are made of leather will definitely crease mostly on the area where the toe box ends. This is for a reason, that the boots mostly bend on that area while walking due to our natural walking posture.

And what happens with steel toe boots is that the toe box area is very hard and then suddenly the leather upper that extends from above the toe box area is naturally soft.

Therefore, while walking when your feet bend at the area where the toes meet the rest of the feet, the leather bends much more and the folds thus created develops into creases.

Thankfully there are ways to prevent the creases as well as to fade away the creases if they have developed by chance. And this article will tell you all about them. Wait, you would also like to know why those creases do develop, right?

I won’t keep you waiting and head straight to the main post…

Why do Steel toe boots crease?

Just like as your skin crease due to dryness, ageing and dehydration, leather boots too crease for the very same reasons.

Well, there are also several other factors that give way to creasing and we will find them in the next 1 to 2 minutes of reading:

1. Steel toe boots crease because creasing is natural to ageing:

Yes, this is true! As your boots get older, they will crease naturally just like the human skin. This is also because they have suffered a lot throughout their life span: the bending of the feet within them, the dryness, the rough weather, the lack of proper maintenance and of course; overuse!

2. Boots crease because the feet continuously bend within them:

This is also inevitable. The feet usually bends where the toes meet the feet that is the metatarsal area. So, when the feet bend, the boots also bend around that area thus allowing free movement to the feet.

3. Boots crease depending on your feet movement:

Yes, feet movement is very crucial to the formation of creases in steel toe boots. If you walk in level grounds, will feet will not bend much and thus, there will be less chances of creases.

But if you traverse uneven floor, climb up stairs, run a lot, etc., your feet will tend to bend more and hence there will be more chances of creases.

4. Steel toe crease if you walk in them while they are wet:

Yes, walking in wet boots will tend to the formation of more creases because wet boots make the leather soft and thus the leather loses its elasticity and toughness while wet.

Therefore, at this situation when the feet bend inside the boots, the leather cannot take in the pressure and succumbs to creasing.

See also: 8 Ways to Dry Wet Boots FAST

5. Boots crease due to extreme dryness:

The loss of natural oils and moisture from the boots develops cracks in the leather and thus when you walk in such boots, it develops creases that are irreparable.

6. Steel toe boots also crease if not stored properly:

The uppers of the boots tend to get thinner with regular wear and therefore, when you keep them as it is after returning home, they tend to bend down in the area where the toe box area ends due to lack of support from within.

Which type of boots crease the most?

Actually, it is not the type of boots that effect creasing, but it is the material that leads to the creasing!

Sports shoes that are made of nylon (mesh lining) will crease the least. Boots and shoes made of synthetic materials will crease the most and once they develop creases, they can’t be repaired.

Dress material or fabric material will crease the least, and even if they crease, it is for a time being and they will straighten naturally after sometime.

Leather will certainly develop creases with certain reasons and they can be repaired with some cool ways about which I am going to mention below…

How to Prevent Creases in Steel toe boots?

On one hand it is true that boots will form creases, but the other truth is that they can be prevented from occurring using some simple hacks which are as follows:

1. Mind the posture of your feet while walking:

You don’t have any control on your boots, but definitely have control on your feet. While walking, make sure that you do not put all the pressure on your toes and bend them unnecessarily. The lesser your feet will flex; the lesser will be the creases formed.

2. Make sure that your boots are not too loose:

The steel toe boots that are too loose will tend to bend the most especially in the toe area. If they are too loose at the sides, they will crease in the ball of the feet area. The only way to stop creasing is by allowing your feet to occupy the entire area inside the boots with ease.

3. Condition your leather boots in order to prevent creasing:

As is mentioned earlier, leather cracks and creases once they have become too dry and have lost its natural replenishing properties. Conditioning the boots will return back the lost moisture and natural oils to the leather, thus retaining the ability of the leather to fight the cracks and creases.

4. Apply leather protectant sprays to the leather boots:

Leather protectant sprays are one of the easiest ways to prevent creasing as they protect the leather from all the damaging factors and acts as a protective barrier for them.

They add moisture to the leather, protects it from the weather and makes leather soft and supple and increase the flexibility of the leather so that no crease is formed from flexing of the feet.

5. You can also make use of the shoe horn to retain the straight texture of the leather:

Shoe horn can be inserted to any boot material, be it leather or fabric or suede or synthetic. The shoe horn is inserted in the toe box area of the boots and shoes in order to retain the original shape of the boots and shoes.

So, if any crease has been formed, the shoe horn corrects it and brings back the smooth and straight texture of the boot uppers.

6. Make sure you are storing the boots and shoes in the right way:

Yes, proper storage of the boots is essential to maintain the right shape of the boots and to avoid creasing. You can store the boots in one of the following ways:

• • • You can use a shoe tree for storing the boots. Shoe tree comes with stands and branches that are made in the shape of the boots and shoes, especially of the toe shape. Storing the boots in them help to maintain the proper shape of the uppers of the boots and thus prevent creasing.
    • You can also stuff the boots with newspaper to maintain the shape of the boots once you wear them off after returning home.

7. Avoid wearing wet shoes and boots:

This is very important because wet shoes and boots tend to crease easily. So, do not wear them to work if they have not dried properly.

That’s the END!

Be it steel toe boots or be it any boot, leather will definitely crease. But if you ensure proper care of the boots and follow the tips mentioned above, you can avoid and control the creases to a great extent!

Hope this article was useful to you. Will be back soon with more exciting and informative articles.

Till then…

Take care and take good care of your boots!