I finally got the chance to work on my project boots again last week. My Huberd's came in the mail and I was very gung ho to get started on the boots. While I was at it I also cleaned and conditioned some Doc's and my newer boots. I did the new boots with Huberd's to try and soften them up so I can keep breaking them in. They are very stiff. I think I'm going to need to strip them down, condition them, then polish. I haven't cracked my one tin of polish yet. It's Lincoln, the one that came from the kit I got at the OVR auction.
My project boots were still so filthy that I just gave up and went over every inch of them with a soft tooth brush. After two regular cleanings with saddle soap and a bigger brush there was still mud coming off them. I think I finally got down to bare leather after the toothbrush. But they were very grey and definitely in need of conditioner after all that. I put a nice coating of Huberd's on them and they are starting to look like real boots again.
At this point they've sat for a week while I waited for more supplies. I ordered some Chelsea leather food in both clear and black. I'm going to use the black on the project boots to try and supplement the color. I don't think they're so far gone that I'll need to dye them, thankfully. I figure after I let the Chelsea sit for a few days I may do another coat or move on to experimenting with polish at that point. There are some cracks and gouges. I don't want to get into leather dust and that sort of thing. I want the character of the boots to show through still. I may still try a little bit of filling in with polish so they don't look as banged up.
I'll post the next round of pictures at some point, too (on Fet). It's amazing how different they look even now with just getting them truly clean and soaking in some good conditioner.
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