# care for leather soles?



## Bernard Arnest (Oct 22, 2007)

Hi,

I've been oiling and waxing my new, finer shoes regularly now, and I figure that a little brief exposure is no harm. 
But it occurred to me last night, walking back from campus with a fresh coat of snow that hadn't been there before, is this water exposure hell on the exposed leather sole?

If so, do I want to apply mink oil to the sole, too...? Would it probably just get scratched off immediately?
Probably the best thing I can do is get topys, of course; but is there anything more that I can do?

Finally, as this is my first pair of leather-soled shoes: how does the sole usually fail, such that the shoe must be resoled? Does the exposed leather dry out and crack, de-laminating and coming off in small strips? Or simply wear thin-- though 1/4" + would take a looong time to actually wear all the way through.



thanks!
-Bernard


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## Mike147 (Jan 15, 2006)

Bernard Arnest said:


> Hi,
> 
> I've been oiling and waxing my new, finer shoes regularly now, and I figure that a little brief exposure is no harm.
> But it occurred to me last night, walking back from campus with a fresh coat of snow that hadn't been there before, is this water exposure hell on the exposed leather sole?
> ...


I would recommend placing a thick coat of vaseline on your leather soles before you go out in the snow and ice 

In all seriousness - I do NOTHING do the soles of my leather shoes. I avoid the snow / ice / heavy rain and will most definitely invest in a pair of Tingley overshoes before the snow starts falling in NYC. If your want your soles to last, get Topy or buy some Tingley.


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## acidicboy (Feb 17, 2006)

AFAIK, there's not much you could do to leather soles to protect it against snow and salt. Perhaps wearing a pair of shoes designed for snow would be better not only for your dress shoes but also to your health. We don't want you to slip.


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## marlinspike (Jun 4, 2007)

Just enjoy your shoes. Care for the uppers, but the sole will wear off too fast. And the way soles wear out is they wear thin (i.e. all the way through). I've never seen a sole need replacing due to drying or anything light that. They just wear thin until there is a hole in the part where you do most of your stepping (for most, just under the ball of your foot).


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## jamgood (Feb 8, 2006)

www.vrg.org/nutshell/leather.htm


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## Bernard Arnest (Oct 22, 2007)

thanks!

At that rate, then, my soles should last a couple years? Very light Snow shouldn't be too bad, if wear is the issue-- salt might be, though. 
I notice that there's <1/8" of leather at the heel, over a much thicker plate of rubber before more leather again. This is going quickly as a point of high wear; but it's OK to wear into the rubber, correct?

The Tingleys look like an excellent and affordable idea, thanks for bringing them up. How does the sizing work? I have one pair that are 10s, but have longer toes, up to 1.5" longer than another pair of 10s. Are they pretty elastic?

I did get some Red Wing waterproof work boots that were on sale for when the weather gets really bad, but they're clunky and unaesthetic for daily wear, and snow and ice are in the next month going to become a daily element!



thanks!
-Bernard


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## cobblestone (Feb 13, 2007)

*Waterproofing Leather soles*

Collonil makes a product for leather soles. Here is the link.

https://www.collonil.net/en/produkte/collonil_classic/detail.php?id=54530001000


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