Salt stained boots winter remedy

Oh, I love winter. The snow, the ice, the temperatures. Getting cold and then scurrying like a crazy girl to get warm. Snowflakes, snow storms, and snow angels. I love the whole change of wardrobe and accessories. And the boots. Bring on the boots. Smooch, smooch to all of it. Of course there are things that come with the season that aren’t my favorites — like salt stained boots, booties or shoes.

Of course, sometimes there is so much snow that staying indoors and marveling [or growling] is your best bet.

Somehow my boots have managed to be salt — stain — free for as long as I can remember.

Until this year.

I give you the salt stained boots of 2016.

Even if boots have been treated with a leather conditioner, walking/hiking/playing in the snow will eat up the finish. Once you’ve removed the salt stains from your boots, you’ll want to use a leather conditioner.

I wanted to try one of the two basic “homemade recipes” floating around the internet right now for salt stain removal. Both use water and vinegar but in different proportions.

The first “recipe” is equal parts water and vinegar. 1 Tbsp water to 1 Tbsp white vinegar.
[Which seems acidic to me. I’d be willing to try it on a pair of boots that I don’t care about. ~grin~ I don’t have a pair of those, yet.]

The second “recipe” is 1 cup of water and 1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar.

Here’s what you’ll need.

— a soft white cotton cloth

— 1 cup of water

— 1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar

Add the vinegar to the water and mix.

Dip the end of the cotton cloth into the mixture and begin using a circular motion over the salt stain.

Don’t saturate the area but make sure the area is covered.

Let the boots air dry.

The mixture evaporates quickly and apparently using a heat source to dry the boots may cause damage.
[So don’t use a blow dryer or a blow torch.]

The first attempt faded the salt stained tip of the boot but the line is still visible.

Make sure the water and vinegar combination is mixed and begin the process again.

I intentionally did one boot at a time for comparison.
The one on the right has been treated twice. You can still see signs of the salt stain but it has faded.

I start the process on the other boot.

Make sure the water and vinegar is mixed — dip the cotton cloth — use a circular motion on the salt stain — let it air dry.

It’s actually kinda cool to watch the water and vinegar evaporate.

I choreographed a little evaporation dance.

It looks a lot like skipping and pretend mixing a batch of cookies at the same time.

I eventually treated both sides three times each and let them sit overnight.

The next day I treated them with a leather conditioner and voila!

[By the way, I found an L.L. Bean Boot Guard leather conditioning/cleaning/restoring product that I’ve purchased and am going to give a try. I’ll let you know how it goes.]

By way of review:

Here’s what you’ll need.

— a soft white cotton cloth

–1 cup of water

— 1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar

Add the vinegar to the water and mix.

Dip the end of the cotton cloth into the mixture and begin using a circular motion over the salt stain.

Don’t saturate the area but make sure the area is covered.

Let the boots air dry.

Repeat the process as needed.

Don’t hesitate to add a little bit of pressure to the circular movement. Don’t scrape against the boot, but be firm.

And there you have it — no more salt stained boots.

Win.

I’d love to find out if anyone tries the one part water to one part vinegar “recipe.”

Also, what kind of leather conditioner you use for you favorite boots/shoes/booties?