Red Wing boots

[Buck268]

I have a pair of older Red Wing work boots with some type of not smooth leather; not really sure if its rough out, suede, nubuck, whatever... Anyways, searching the two numbers on the tongue and neither turn up any results. Any thoughts on the best way to care for this leather? It was very dirty and lightly stained so I cleaned it in my usual way which worked fine. Leather still feels like its in good shape, nice and soft and pliable... just dry and almost hydroscopic.

I would appear the recommended product could be "Naturseal" from Red Wing. I have been favoring Obenauf's with other leather products and was curious if anybody knows enough to comment on using the Obenauf's Leather Oil instead? Obenauf's LP would be even better, but I know at the very least it would result in a matted down pasty finish and might not offer much benefit for these boots.

Otherwise, I might just take them up to the RW store and see what they have to say. Just would like to be able to handle this at home with quality products I've already invested in!

 

[Druk]

If you take them in to the store, they will likely oil them for you at no charge, at least my local store does. Personally, I just use mink oil on my boots every couple of months and have been happy with it, I have tried other Obenaufs products and preferred good old mink oil.

Edit: Now that I reread your OP, mink oil is not the best for nubuck/suede.

 

[Buck268]

Yeah I'm not really sure what it is. Definately nappier than my nubuck hunting boots but in no way as nappy as suede or a rough out boot.

 

[Ajack60]

why not take one small area of the boot, apply what you have and see if works for the rough/suede part. I've always taken a hair dryer and warmed up the leather before treating it. That way the boot oil soaks into the leather and does not have a coated look.

 

[Heirphoto]

The Red Wing store has something suited to suede, nubuck and rough out leather and will treat them for free and possibly give you new laces.

 

[Buck268]

Well I went with obenaufs leather oil this time. Mostly just to see how it does on a rougher leather.

Obviously the leather darkened considerably but even after just a few minutes started to lighten again. I tried using the supplied doubber as well as by wiping on with a rag. Either way it seemed like it was very hard to apply the right amount without saturating the leather. Maybe they were that thirsty but I think for rougher leathers the key is fairly light applications but to do it a couple times in a row. We will see how they finish after drying.

Fwiw I hit the pull on tabs with obenaufs LP and they came out very pleasant. I may end up doing the entire boots- this might be what people term dobbin leather? I don't know.

 

[VermontEdge]

Hey Buck,
I have a pair of Iron Rangers in rough-out leather, which I think Red Wing sometimes calls "muleskinner". Is the inside leather of the boots smooth? If it looks like they were just made in-side out, they're rough-out.
I love this as a boot material as it really doesn't require much care. I use some bees wax and mineral oil conditioner from Frye. It darkens them and mattes the leather down a little bit, but they brighten back up over time.

 

[Buck268]

Wiped down with obenaufs leather oil followed by their LP 24 hours later. Lighter boot is after leather oil, darker is after LP. I rubbed the lp vigorously by hand and despite the waxy finish they retained the slightly nappy finish.