How Often Should You Polish Leather Boots?

To polish or not to polish that is the question!

And most importantly how often should you polish your leather boots?

To answer this question, you need to understand few basic things:

Too much polishing will ruin the leather due to excess of moisture and too less will make the leather hard!

The general rule of the thumb is that you should polish your leather boots no more than once a month! If your work environment makes the boots lose their shine and lustre more often, you can polish them twice a month that is every alternate weeks. And if your boots are not used too often, you can even polish them twice a year just as a part of maintenance!

Well, this article will give you a full idea of:

• • • Effects of polishing your leather boots too often
    • Effects of polishing your leather boots too less
    • Table with types of boots and how often to polish them
    • Should you polish your new shoes?
    • Life of boots if polished properly
    • Recommended leather boot polish
    • How to polish leather boots without polish? 

Effects of polishing too often

Too much of nothing is good and the same applies for leather polish.

If you apply too much of leather polish in a short duration of time like say every alternate days or thrice a week, it will do more harm than good to your leather boots.

Let’s check out the effects of polishing leather boots too often:

• • 1. It will never let the leather to dry from the inside
    2. Excess moisture in the leather will ruin the fabric
    3. It may lead to bacterial and fungal growth in the leather
    4. The leather might fall apart from the stitches
    5. Too much polishing might leave behind stubborn stains in the fabric
    6. The leather might rot in the long run
    7. It might deteriorate the natural texture and reviving capacity of the leather
    8. The leather pores will remain clogged and hence your boots will become less breathable 

Effects of polishing too less

Well, there are even negative effects of polishing your leather boots too less:

• • 1. The leather will lose the shine and lustre
    2. The leather boots will look dull and lifeless
    3. Dull and lifeless leather boots will have an impact on your overall look and confidence
    4. Too less polishing will harden the leather
    5. It might develop cracks as well
    6. The shell life of the leather will decrease

Table with type of boots and how often to polish

Life of boots if polished properly

This is absolutely true that proper maintained and polished boots will last you way longer than the boots which are not treated properly.

So, if you polish your boots regular (once a month for leather boots) they would last you around 6 to 10 years without any signs of damage!

That said, the life of boots also depend on the quality of the leather being used in the making of the boots. If the boots are made of 100% leather or full grain leather, it might even last you a lifetime.

Recommended polish for boots

Best instant leather shoe polish:

This KIWI leather boot polish sponge is perhaps the easiest way to polish your leather boots without any hassle. This product is available in 3 colours: black, neutral and brown.

This is perfect for “on the go” purpose to polish your boots when you are in a hurry for the work. It takes care of the leather and shines them in no time and with a single swipe.

Best leather shoe polish kit:

This kit contains 2 tins of polish, 1 dauber, 1 shine brush and 1 cloth that is 45 cm*9.5 cm. This product is ideal for giving your boots a luxury treatment and to retain the shine for a longer period of time.

You can use this kit to treat your boots once every 2 months when you are in your leisure. The shine and lustre that this total kit will provide is unmatched!

Best multipurpose leather shoe polish (polish, nourish, restore colour):

This leather shoe polish by Moneysworth is made o blends of natural oils, waxes, lanolin, and pigments.

This product is neutral in colour and it not only polishes the leather boots and shoes, but also leans, nourishes, and restores the colour of faded leather boots.

You will need a boot polish applicator or a lint free cloth or microfiber cloth to use this polish on your leather boots.

Should I polish new shoes?

There is absolutely no need to polish your brand new boots because they are already polished by the manufacturer before leaving it for sale.

So, polishing your brand new boots can effect negatively like it might clog the pores of the leather and make the boots less breathable. Also, too much polish for the boots might rot the leather in the long run.

But there is another side of the question should you polish your new shoes or not and that is:

What if your shoes have been manufactured years before and have become dull till the time you are going to wear them.

Well, there is a way to find it out:

Check for the manufacturing date of the boots (if so mentioned in the packaging) or you can call the customer care and confirm it through the unique number of your boots.

If you find that the boots are manufactured more than a year ago, you can definitely give them a good polish before you wear them.

Another way and in fact, the easiest one to find out whether the boots are really new or not is to look at the boots and see if they are giving out the shine and lustre that a brand new boot is supposed to have. If not, you know what to do; yes you got it right, polish them!

How to polish leather boots and shine boots without polish:

It might sometimes happen that you find that you have run out of your boot polish when you actually need it urgently before leaving the house. Or, it’s just that you don’t want to invest dollars behind those polishes at the end of the month!

Well, not to worry! 

Here is some home DIYs that you can use instead to polish your leather boots.

It’s time to bid Adieu:

At last, I would like to tell you that polish your boots if you feel your boots really need it!

Do not polish them unnecessarily!

Polish them only when the boots have started to look lifeless and faded!

Hope this article was useful to you!

Take good care of your boots and catch us with our next article soon!

Hope you have a great day ahead!