how to clean my red wing boots

How to Clean and Restore Red Wing Boots

Before and After — Red Wing 8875 Irish Setter

Red Wing is one of the most popular work boots available on the Market, its durability and comfortability stole the hearts of many people. including mine. The most popular version of Red Wing are the Heritage models, which is our focus on this tutorial. I will be covering several topics: Cleaning, Color Restoration, Sole restoration, and more!

I did a lot of mistakes when I first starte d with cleaning and restorations, lots of trial and errors which resulted in either success or frustration. I made this tutorial so that other people will not make the same mistakes I did, and at the same time I want to encourage people to restore their own boots by showing effective ways to do so.

In this tutorial you will notice that I've restored several Red Wing boots, they are actually my personal— I bought them from a few local thrift stores and online marketplace. Of course not all boots can be restored, I personally evaluate each one before purchasing.

Tip: do not buy used boots with too much creases and cracks.

Cleaning

There are several ways to clean your boots, but in this tutorial I will share the methods that I personally use to successfully get rid of all the dirt and grime.

Brush your boots with a horse brush to get rid of all that dust and mud. For suede leather you can use a suede brush —be sure not to go too hard as suede brush have metal bristles which could damage the leather if too much pressure is applied.
Use saddle soap to get rid of harder stains — Grab an old toothbrush that you no longer use then start brushing the surface with saddle soap and water until you notice bubbles, then grab a clean damp cloth to wipe the surface of the leather. I usually repeat this step 3–4 times to ensure that the surface is completely clean. You can use a bigger brush to speed up this process, just make sure not to brush too hard as it could permanently damage the leather. When you're done, let your boots dry for 12–24 hours before proceeding with the next step.
Apply leather conditioner — After your boot has completely dried it will be in a state where the surface feels rough, this is because all the wax and conditioners that keeps the boot alive are gone, and if this was left untreated — it will eventually lead to cracking. So you need to apply a leather conditioner to help rejuvenate the surface. Any leather conditioner will do, usually the cheapest are the brands used by Car Wash companies for cleaning leather interior of cars. After application, let it dry for 10–20 minutes.
Apply mink oil — if your job requires you to be on the field where your boots are expected to get a lot of water and dirt, then I strongly suggest that you apply mink oil to help protect the leather of your boots.

Note: Avoid using alcohol, bleach, or detergent for cleaning your Red Wing boots as they will damage the surface of the leather.

Here are some pictures of Before and After cleaning:

Color Restoration

There are several ways to restore the color of your faded Red Wing boots, bellow are two ways I personally find effective:

Use mink oil — in most cases, the color of the boots tend to fade after constant wear, and the easiest way to restore the color is by simply applying mink oil. It will darken the surface of the boot which is normal, but the advantage is that you get a consistent color across the boot. Make sure to follow the Cleaning procedure above before proceeding with this step to ensure consistency when applying mink oil. Use your finger when applying to help heat-up and melt the oil, rub it against the surface of the leather in circular motion to get better results.

Here are examples of faded boots that I restored using just mink oil:

2. Apply Shoe Cream — if mink oil is unable to restore the color of your boots, another method is to use a shoe coloring cream. This process can be very tricky and may result in you ruining the color of your boots if incorrect color is applied. I created a separate tutorial where I restored a Red Wing 875 back to its original color using a shoe coloring cream, you can read all about it here: https://medium.com/@carl.fontanos/how-to-restore-the-color-of-red-wing-875-f11c6aa773b5

Here's another example of Shoe Creamed pair of Rare Vintage 1970s Red Wing Pecos 966:

Remove Hard Stains and Wax

The solution that worked the best for me is Saddle Soap, it can remove pretty much anything, even the ones that seem permanent! Whenever I want to get rid of hard stains, I usually brush it with saddle soap about 5–6 times until they are no longer visible. Note that too much use of saddle soap can remove the original color of the boot, take this Red Wing 1907 for example:

The previous owner of this boot probably made a mistake when he attempted to perform a restoration, you will notice that there's that uneven brown-colored stains all over the surface. But thanks to saddle soap I was able to get rid of all the wax and coloring solutions. Though this process also got rid of the original color of the boot, I still like the way it turned out. The original color of a 1907 is coffee brown, but now it looks like mocha brown and the surface looks dry. It's normally unsafe to keep it untreated as it's prone to cracks, but if you really want to keep this Mocha color — you may apply leather conditioner to help keep the surface hydrated without darkening the leather, just make sure to apply ample amount of leather conditioner at least 2–3 times a month.

Remove the Shine

Not a big fan of shiny boots? Want to restore your boots to a factory finish look? you can accomplish this using Saddle Soap! Grab an old toothbrush that you no longer use then brush the surface of the leather with Saddle Soap and Water — repeat 4–5x to ensure consistency. Be extra careful when brushing Black-colored boots because the color may fade out. Bellow is an example where I strip down the shine off a Red Wing 8130 Black Chrome and Red Wing Iron Ranger 8114

Before and After — Red Wing Iron Ranger 8114

Keeping your Soles White

White soles are bound to get dirty. Luckily, though, there are plenty of things you can do to keep your soles white. Bellow are some methods that I personally find effective:

Saddle Soap — get an old toothbrush and brush the soles of your boots with saddle soap and water. You may need brush several times to get it fully clean and white.
Sand it off — if saddle soap is not enough, you can use a sand paper to get rid of all that permanent dirt marks and restore the soles to its original color. Just make sure to perform this step meticulously.

Red Wing 8173 — after cleaning white soles

Red Wing 8167 — after sanding off white soles

Removing Scuffs

It's frustrating when your shoes get scuffed. The more scuffed they get, the worse they look, and you may eventually think about throwing them away. However, there are many great ways to clean your shoes and keep them looking nice for a few more years. The solution that worked for me in most cases is Mink Oil. Follow these steps to get rid of the scuffs:

Brush your boots with Saddle Soap and Water to get rid of all the dirt and grime, then let it dry for 12–24 hours.
Apply mink oil — cover the entire surface of the boot to ensure color consistency. Use your fingers to help heat-up and melt the oil, rub it against the surface of the leather in circular motion to get better results. Let it seat for 24 hours to ensure that the leather has fully absorbed the mink oil.
Use a horse brush to get rid of any excess mink oil - This is important, or else your boots will develop some temporary white creases during use.

Here's an example restoration of a scuffed pair of Red Wing Iron Ranger and Lineman:

Before and After — Red Wing 8111 Iron Ranger

Reduce Creases

Simply use a Shoe Tree when thoroughly cleaning your boots with water and soap. When the leather is wet, it gets soft, and with a shoe tree you can mold its shape back to original, and at the same time this will also reduce the creases.

Before and After — Red Wing 9874 Irish Setter

Other examples of shoes that I've cleaned and restored:

Before and After — Timberland Harrison Tweed

Conclusion

You don't necessarily need to pay for a professional to restore your boots. you just got to have the time and patience to do it all by your self. There are tons of products that you can use to restore your boots, you just got to find them, go ask around. Also, seeking answers from the internet will not cause you a dime.

Hey guys, my name is Carl, i'm a Programmer by profession and a Leatherware enthusiast. Got any questions? feel free to reach out.