There is something quite pleasing about oiling and dressing an old pair of boots. I have an old pair of CAT work boots that I have hidden away in a closet for way too long. They were in pretty bad shape when I pulled them out earlier. Some spots were dark brown (almost black) and some appeared to be fading to a light tan, from varied wear (jeans protecting part, scrapes on the toes, etc). There is a quite rewarding feeling that goes along with taking off the old finish (using oils, warm water and towels) and the putting on a new finish (with boot dressing).

This pair of boots confused me at first. With most of my boots, I clean them (with a little water, brushes and occasionally some shoe cleaning spray) and then apply either dressing, bee oil or polish. These boots feel under the category of boot dressing (polish is for shiny black boots and the oil is for porous leathers). The boots became sticky when I tried applying the dressing (odd reaction for a boot), so I wiped it off and cleaned the area with water. The water didn’t seam to do anything, but strangely, a dry towel and a little bit of sesame oil (not an oil I usually use on boots) worked beautifully, it removed whatever it was on the boot finish and allowed me to put down the dressing.

Now the boots are a consistent medium brown color with a low shine,  as they are supposed to have. They are also water protected by the dressing.