Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Beeswax on boots

After the great thread “waterproofing boots”, I decided to try pure beeswax.
I treated my full leather Kennetrek boots with it by using a small pot on a single burner and applied it to the boot with a toothbrush. Then used a heat gun set on low to help melt it in. It was very messy getting it from pot to boot.

I recently treated a different pair of boots but tried a different method.

I stood my heat gun on my bench pointing up in the air and set it on low. Then grab the block of beeswax and hold the edge of it for a couple seconds in the hot air. Only takes a couple seconds to just soften the wax enough that I could rub the boot with the block and get a stiff waxy layer rubbed all over the boot with no dripping or mess. Then use the heat gun to help melt it into the boot. I kept repeating the process going back and forth on each boot until the leather seemed to be saturated. There was no mess and the boots didn’t seem to get as hot doing it this way.

Good way to ruin the leather. Ask me how I know.

I guess it depends on the tanning method used, but Sno-Seal was the gold standard for a long time. Haven't seen or used it in years, but I think it was high % beeswax.

Why is beeswax bad? Just want to know when i replace my current boots, which are about played out.

Dutch

Lot of this depends if your footwear has a liner or unlined or uninsulated. I wear tin cloth quite an bit of the year and make my own wax for my canvas. Mostly I've used Hubbard's or obendorfs boot conditioner for my boots in woods and my leather miner boots.

Use SNO-SEAL on all leather field items, tanned or suede.

Boots/slings/holsters...

Butter it up, bag it in a dark plastic bag, and put it on a hot dashboard for a few hours.

Repeat - until it quits takin' it in.

Then wipe off any excess with a paper towel.

You can also follow that up with a little household silicone spray.




GR

How do you know sir?

This

Do you mean because of the beeswax or application method?
I don’t see any issues so far with my Kennetreks, but I haven’t had them in any really wet conditions yet to test how well the beeswax works compared to other treatments.

mod7rem;
Good afternoon to you sir, I hope your part of BC isn't too, too smoky today, that you're cooler than us and that your weekend is going well.

Thanks for sharing that method, I'm going to try it next time I do my boots with a coat of beeswax.

Like a yellow perch filleting video I watched a couple years back, I'm always amazed at how I seem to be capable of doing things the most difficult way humanly possible for decades. Then when presented with a better way, I must confess I'm a little ashamed I didn't think of it myself....

As you might or might not know, I've been running straight beeswax on my boots for years now, maybe 15?

I switched from Sno-Seal and believe the straight beeswax to both provide more water resistance as well as somewhat of a "slipperier" surface on the toes especially which help them last longer. I really noticed that in the steel toed work boots which I lived in back then.

Thanks much for the tip, I'll absolutely give that method a go.

All the best.

Dwayne

I hope you are referring to the heat application and not the beeswax itself. If you are knocking beeswax on leather...you are knocking a thousand years of saddle and harness making tradition and flying in the face of generations of Pacific coast loggers that maintain their cork boots in a hundred inches of rain a year.

Hi Dwayne.
We’ve got nice warm weather here, but unfortunately the smoke is thick and harsh. Don’t have to be outside long before I really start feeling the affects in my sinuses and lungs. I’ve had to switch to my treadmill inside to help get ready for sheep hunting next month, so that kind of sucks.

Yes I know from the other thread that you and others prefer beeswax for your boots so that’s why I’ve been trying it. The new pair I just treated are actually a lightweight synthetic and leather mixed boot with a leather rand around the bottom. I thought if I saturate that leather with the beeswax, maybe it will stand up better to cuts and abrasion like you and others have said. Thanks Dwayne.

Trever

In general, I consider Sno Seal a slight downgrade from nothing. Obenaufs is decent, that's what I use on everything except boots. Beeswax will stiffen leather considerably, but you will not wear out the leather, unless you are walking on obsidian or something, and it stays waterproof for a long time. It also retreats easily. Generally I lose stitching, and that's what kills the boots.

I like your application method OP. I damn near burned the house down on my first attempt. I use a similar method for gloves, but gloves are a lot easier given that you just put your hands in them, heat them a bit and smear. Keep the heat low or use a hair dryer, as too much heat will make it easy to ruin leather.

Used Sno Seal and heat for years with great success.

I've used wax toilet rings with a heat gun on my work boots and hunting boots for years. No issues whatsoever and works well.

Melt the wax in a coffee can and brush it on with a toothbrush and then give the boot a light blast with the heat gun. It's amazing how much wax leather will absorb.

Ive been using SnoSeal since the early '70s. Works great. No need for anything else.

I heat the boots with a blow dryer, and paint on melted wax.i alternate till the leather won't absorb anymore. I wipe off excess while boots are hot, and once more when they cool.

Reading through this, it occurs to me we haven’t had a good “boot waterproofing” thread here in a long time. Used to be as common as chainsaw threads (and just as contentious.)

I like Obenaufs and Montana pitchblend, have used both with good results.

One caution for those who would use silicone sprays: don’t overdo it in the seam between the sole and the upper or you will soon have problems. Personally, I wouldn’t use silicone on leather at all. It’s not quite the miracle juice for outdoor gear it was considered to be sixty years ago.

Done this before, works well

I imagine you know, hanco?

Toilet ring used to be beeswax, but have been some sort of polyurethane “wax” for years now?

From the Snoseal SDS, it’s only 10%-20% various waxes.

Yes but it seems to work ok, they were free.