I purchased a pair of the classic Clarks Desert boots in beeswax leather, and decided I better waterproof them.
I searched a few forums for the best leather waterproofing product, and Sno-Seal seemed to be mentioned the most with good reviews. It’s an all natural product made of beeswax, and doesn’t have a chemical smell, which is a big plus.
Here are some shots of the boots before the waterproofing:
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- Before- Angle
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- Before- Front
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- Before- Back
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- Before- Right
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- Before- Left
One thing to keep in mind about the Sno-Seal is that it will darken the leather, but that wasn’t something I was concerned about.
The process was mostly straightforward. I preheated my oven to the lowest temperature, and put one boot in at a time for a few minutes. The heat allows the Sno-Seal to be absorbed into the leather. You could also use a hairdryer, or any other type of heat source. When I took one boot out of the oven to apply the Sno-Seal, I put the other one in. When applying the Sno-Seal make sure to use a lot around the seam of the boot- really apply it liberally. I ended up doing two coats. On the final coat it’s really important to wipe off all the excess beeswax with a soft rag. It may be necessary to heat the boots up a final time to get all the excess off.
Here are some shots of the boots after the waterproofing:
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- After- Angle
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- After- Front
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- After- Back
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- After- Right
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- After- Left
Overall, I’m happy with how they turned out. I think the darker color looks good, and the waterproofing definitely works, as you can see:
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- Waterproof
Bring on the water!
This is exactly the information I was looking for, thanks.
Guess I got lucky. I bought a pair last summer and decided to seal them for the winter and just happened to have a can of snow-seal lying around. Works wonders but they’ll definitely need a new coat and some TLC soon. Your pair work well through the winter?
Nice! Yeah, they worked fine. The winters are pretty mild where I’m at on the east coast. Mine could probably use a new coat too though.
How did you clean them before applying Sno Seal?
Chris, mine were actually pretty much brand new when I applied the Sno-Seal, so I never did clean them. You could probably just use a damp cloth though.