Repairing/cleaning water damaged leather boots?

lou2

Registered User
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I have a pair of tan brown leather boots that I love. However, I got stuck in a downpour and as a result they are ruined. Badly stained and beginning to turn green in places! Would anyone know if these could be cleaned and if so who might do this in the Dublin area? Thanks.
 
If you can get them cleaned lou2, I would treat them with dubbin afterwards to make them water proof. (It also softens leather.) Repeat before going out in the rain in order to keep the leather in good condition. They can then be buffed to a sheen rather than shine.
 
There's a shoe repair shop on Tara St, you could try them to see if they could do something with them?
 
The key to drying leather effectively is air-circulation (not heat as it will cause cracking) so for example the bottom of a wardrobe or under the bed are not a good places. The reason they're turning green is because they didn't dry out properly and are now mouldy. Get saddle-soap (preferably lanolin-enriched) in a good shoe / leather-goods shop and follow the instructions. They'll probably need 2 / 3 treatments with a drying period in between to get rid of the mould. This is a cleaning / feeding process, then use dubbin for water protection.
 
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Great stuff...thanks a million for those suggestions. Will do the DIY option first and if that doesn't work I'll try the shop.