Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Beeswax for boots?

How long does bees wax last? What is the best way to keep it?

One of the main ingredients in Sno Seal is bee's wax, but I'm told that this is not a recommended treatment for boots with gore tex membranes as it'll render them inoperable.

As far as I know bee's wax will last indefinately.

efw, agreed, IIRC beeswax and the like are for leather footwear.

This is what I use and it works great:

Obenauf's

One pair of boots is on its third soles. 35 years and nothing but Sno Seal.

Plus one. That stuff is most excellent.

It's also a wonderful neck lube for resizing .308 brass to .358 in one pass!

I thought pure beeswax was better. What is IIRC beeswax?

IIRC is short hand for "If I Remember Correctly" The writer was stating that " If I Remember Correctly " beeswax and....

Straight beeswax is much better than snowseal. I'd previously used snowseal for many decades, but never got a truely waterproof seal, beeswas is truly waterproof.

As far as how long beeswax lasts, it depends on the terrain you hike in. On the first pair of boots I used beeswax on, they needed a re-application after 3-4 years, and now the boots are basically worn out. The newer pair of boots are still being broken in, and the beeswax looks fine.

Another vote for Obenauf's.

+ 1 more on obenauf's. This is the only thing I have found that keeps leather waterproof and plyable in the coal mines.

Obenauf's is not even close to beeswax for waterproofness or for longevity... not within an order of magnitude.

Beeswax make leather waterproof and that eliminates any breathability however. Keeping your feet dry with antiperspirant and fresh socks beats gore-tex every time.

Waxed leather lasts far longer than any other treatment plan, also. Sno-Seal absolutely sucks compared to Obenauf's, also... Which gives a relative picture of how it compares to beeswax.

I have destroyed brand new leather boots on single sheep hunt in sharp shale. I have boots that have spent months in the same stuff and are still doing just fine.
art

What's the method of application for bees wax?


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Melt into leather, either hair dryer or heat gun is best but near a hot stove also works.

I favor straight beeswax way over any other boot waterproofing, but I have a problem: how do you renew beeswax treatment on long trips in the field? Art, do you have any suggestions?

My leather boots needed a fresh dose of beeswax part way through a 10 day moose hunt, in brush with lots of rain. Without stove or electricity, I didn't have a good way to apply beeswax again. It can be done over a campfire or small stove but is a pain in the neck. I usually use a hair dryer to apply beeswax, and prefer to do it on sun warmed boots.

I fess up that I used Nikwax liquid on my boots in the field. That milky liquid applies easily, works well and lasts longer than I would have expected.

Field application of beeswax?

If your feet sweat alot, it might be best to stay away from a beeswax product, or use anti-perspirant on your feet.

One of the leather treatments I have used that keeps leather waterproof a LONG time, and also is a great treatment, is Montana Pitch-Blend, a combination of beeswax, mink oil and pine pitch.

Just my opinion - but I have been using Sno Seal for the past 20 years or more.

I had thrown away a pair of boots that had been my grandfathers 10 years before I got them - and the soles wore out before the leather uppers on a pair of felt pac boots - and they were not expensive boots.

I have used Camp Dry and other products and they do not work anywhere even near the Sno Seal.

If a person has a hot air forced furnace or coal furnace - they can put the boots over the register over night and the Bee's Wax will soak in.

I haven't ever seen anyone use a hair drier, and I see no reason for it. But I do not think that if you traveled in deep snow in cold temperatures that the Bee's Wax will last more then a couple of days per one application.

The problem is - getting the boots to dry between hunts - especially when you hunt every day like I do.
I usually manage to have several pairs of boots that I can wear that are water proof - that I can rotate - since my home is heated by hot water - baseboard heat and not by forced air.

I never really thought about what it does to Gor Tex - but that was a very good point - that it does not allow it to breathe, but if the leather was water proof to begin with - then you probably don't need to water proof it anyways.

I can remember being interviewed by Howe Leather Products - Curwensville PA back in the 90's and even back then they had a process for impregnating leather with silicone which would make it water proof for life.
Their biggest customer at that time was General Motors - they supplied the leather for the seats in new automobiles at that time.

So it stands to make me believe that when I buy a new pair of Rocky Boots or Carolina boots or Redwing boots - that it could be possible that the leather in those boots were also treated with some type of silicone and that adding water proofing before they started to leak might void the warranty or damage the water proofing already applied.

The one down side to applying the Sno Seal is that it makes my Lacross Ice King boots look Moldy when I take them out of the box - after they have been sitting in the box for a entire year.
But after putting a new coat of Sno Seal on the boots - they shine right up and look like new again.

I use Huberd's Shoe Grease, primary ingredients are Pine Tar and Beeswax. I heat it up on the woodstove, put it on hot, let it soak in and dry, then rub off the excess with a rag, then repeat. Works great.

I would bet the boots had been treated with something else previously... Beeswax on new leather is far better than on any treated by another method. The solvents mess with the wax, I believe.

I have had trips far longer than 10 days with continuous rain and stepping into water to get out of the boat, etc. and I have not had issues with treated boots losing it in just 10 days... Or far longer. When long trips are planned I work some wax into the boots before going.

I do not have a good suggestion for field application...
art