Leathercare:
sole to knee

New leather riding boots look elegant and neat, but for the price you pay for them, you want them to continue to look that way. The way you maintain them determines how long your leather riding boots can last. Wear is inevitable with frequent use, but you can keep it to a minimum with the following tips:

Tip 1: Clean immediately after riding

Bootcare sets are intended to care for your riding boots immediately after riding, so that they remain in good shape. The horse’s sweat is disastrous for the leather. It can be compared to how your own skin feels when you come out of the sea and don’t dry yourself off afterwards. By cleaning your boots immediately after riding, you remove the sweat. But also dirt, sand and harmful natural oils. This can be done with a damp cloth, but preferably with our cleaner.

Tip 2: Never forget your bootcare routine

Maintain your riding boots even when you are not using them. Due to bad weather or an injury, your boots may be temporarily unused and left in your tackroom. As a result, leather boots wear out quickly if they are not maintained. They will then dry out and may crack when used again. Make sure to use a cream, to prevent this from happening.

Tip 3: Zipper or laces?

Riding boots with laces

Some Petrie models, like Coventry and Melbourne, have decorative laces. Daily maintenance is not necessary. However, you will notice that the laces wear out over time. They can easily be replaced by yourself or a local shoemaker. With a needle you can thread the lace through the holes that you cannot reach from behind. You can order special laces for the Florence and the Rimini at your local Petrie dealer.

Riding boots with zippers

When you wear riding boots, grains of sand or other dirt can get into the zipper. Eventually zippers may no longer open and close properly. Because dirt such as dust, sand and horsehair affect the quality of the zipper. We recommend that you clean it regularly. The easiest way is to brush the dirt out with a small brush. Make sure to use our zip spray after cleaning, to optimalise the function of the zipper.

If you want to take off a boot after riding, always unzip them completely! Placing one foot on the heel of the other foot to take them off can cause the sole to come loose over time.

Tip 4: Never let your boots dry next to a heater or radiator

Never dry leather boots near a heater. This will cause them to dry out. Are your boots wet and do you want to dry them? Then a ‘normal’ room will suffice. Make sure this room is not damp. So do not put your riding boots in a closed bootbag or tackroom when they are damp.

Tip 5: Special care for special leather

Coloured leather

If you own boots in a special colour, such as cognac or red, it is advisable to treat them with our colour cream. It is wise to keep repeating this monthly. The dyes in the leather can be affected by intensive use.

Do you have a competition and do you want to give your boots an extra shine? Go over it with a nylon pantyhose. This makes your riding boots shine extra in the ring.

Patent leather

Patent leather requires another bootcare routine, because of the lacquer applied over the leather. As a result, a standard cleaner or creamer does not penetrate the leather well enough. A damp cloth is sufficient for cleaning dirt and dust. You can buy a special lacquer polish at shoe stores to keep the boots polished.

Nubuck

As with almost all types of leather, nubuck care starts with removing stains. You do this with a suede brush. The most important thing with nubuck is that you do not rub the stains with a cloth. If you do this, you will press the dirt into the pores and it is almost impossible to recover. Use the rubber side of the brush to remove dirt and the copper side to roughen the leather. If the stains have not completely disappeared, you can ‘wash’ off the stains with leather wash or with a cleaner.

Tip: Due to the vulnerability of nubuck, weekly impregnation of these fabrics is necessary. Especially if you wear the boots often. Use a good quality impregnating spray for this. In addition to making the fabric dirt and water repellent, you also bring out the color.