Basic and Intermediate Boot Care Kits

This is all you’ll need to get going cleaning, conditioning, and polishing your boots yourself.

Basic

Cleaning

• Saddle Soap
• Dauber to apply soap
• Toothbrush – to get soap out of grooves
• Container of water – to mix with soap to get frothy mix on dauber
• Rag, such as an old washcloth, to remove soap after cleaning

Conditioning

• Conditioner, such as Huberd’s. In general, I try to stay with beeswax-based conditioners, and away from Mink Oil which some say blocks leather pores
• Rag (or bare hands) to apply conditioner.
• Cream Polish instead of conditioner. This is more of an Intermediate than a Basic kit item. It can be used in place of conditioner in order to deepen the color of your boots/shoes. It isn’t wax-based so it doesn’t clog pores.

Polishing

• Water bottle to spritz water as needed on rags and/or brush
• Rags to apply polish
• Horsehair brush to buff polish
• Wax polish. A hard wax polish, such as Lincoln, gives a great high shine.

Intermediate

Miscellaneous Items

• Suede brush kit to clean suede and nubuck
• Extra laces
• A “magic” scrub sponge like Mr. Clean MagicEraser. It works great on Chucks and other sneakers.
• Pantyhose. For real. This probably should be in the Basic/Polish kit section. It brings out that last bit of shine.
• Edge dressing to deepen the color of soles and heels