Accessoires for Shoes & Boots

A good western boot lasts many years — if it is looked after. Most boots don't fail because the leather wears through, but because it dries out, cracks, or the boot gets put away wet. A few simple habits and the right accessories will easily double its life.

Leather care: grease or balm?

Over time leather loses its oils and moisture. If those are not replaced it hardens and cracks along the flex lines — usually first across the instep.

Leather grease penetrates deeply, softens the leather and makes it far more water-repellent. The trade-off: it darkens the leather, and too much of it will eventually leave the leather slack, so the shaft loses its shape. Right for work boots that get wet.

Leather balm is lighter, barely darkens the leather and keeps it standing. Right for western boots with stitching, for light-coloured leather, and for anything that is meant to look good.

How to do it: boot dry and clean, apply thinly, let it soak in, brush off. Thin and often beats thick and once.

Important: suede and nubuck take neither grease nor balm — both clog the nap and stain it. Use the sprays made for them. And fabric uppers such as ecoTWX® need no leather care at all, just a brush down.

Wet boots

Never on the radiator, never in direct sun, never with a hairdryer. The leather shrinks and turns brittle. Instead: stuff with newspaper, stand them somewhere airy at room temperature, change the paper several times. Only treat the leather once the boot is dry.

Replace the footbed, not the boot

The footbed is the part that gives out first. On Twisted X boots it is removable and replaceable on its own. A fresh footbed restores the cushioning for a fraction of the price of a new pair. Blend 85® insoles are, according to the manufacturer, made from 85 percent EVA foam waste from the company's own production.

Boot and shaft stretchers

If the shaft pinches at the calf or the instep is too tight, that need not mean a new boot. A stretcher expands the leather at the tight spot specifically. It takes time — overnight or longer — and works in one place, not across the whole boot. It is usually enough for the last centimetre; it will not gain you a full size.

Boot bags

The shaft of a western boot creases when it lies flat in a car boot, and the crease stays. A boot bag keeps the boot upright, protects the stitching from scuffs and keeps straw and sand out of the vehicle. For anyone travelling to a show or on holiday.

Boot scrubbers

A boot scrubber is fitted or stood outside the door. The brushes take off the coarse dirt before it comes into the house — and before it dries into the leather, where it draws out moisture.