Why take care of your boots? I mean, I understand why most wouldn't; you get home from work, it's been a twelve-hour day, you kick your boots off, and you don’t think about them until the next morning. I get that 100%. The last thing you want to do is worry about your boots, but you should because they’re affecting your entire body.

The easiest way I’ve found to care for boots is to rotate them. Own two pairs. You worked all day in that boot, and you’ve swamped those things out. All that sweat travels down your body, right into that boot. That’s not even counting your feet that actually perspire - studies show that the average person sweats twelve ounces of water into their boot each day! I'm not the average person; I’m a human sprinkler when it comes to sweat, plus I can guarantee I’ll get my boots wet on the outside during a workday (always happens). Duradero boots designed an insole that’s porous and breathable, with a spheric footbed and uniquely designed last that allows maximum airflow. This allows for comfortable conditions during a long workday. However, you still need to dry your boots out.

Think about this; you’re working 8-10 hours a day, every day, and you’re commuting to and from work, which adds an additional 1-2 hours a day in your boot! There are some days when my boots are on my feet for fourteen hours! I personally know people that would laugh at wearing a boot for “only” 14 hours (one guy I ran into wore his 36 hours straight). When we get home, we toss them in our garage or closet and let them sit overnight; they just can’t dry out sufficiently in that amount of time. Rotate them. Two pairs of boots allow each pair to dry out for a solid day between use. This will cut down on mold and bacteria growth, and most importantly, odor.

There’s another HUGE factor when owning two pairs of boots: the way you walk and wear down a boot. They’re like sets of tires that develop a wear pattern, and you rotate your tires to prevent certain wear and make them last longer. The boots are similar, except there’s a much more important aspect to the boot and to you: you wear them.

As you walk, you’ll wear the sole down, or the midsole or the footbed. Something. Although the way you walk will always be similar and wear down a boot similarly, it won’t be exactly the same. There will be slight variations in the boot and the way you wear it down. This will mean there are slight variations on the impact of muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones in your body. Instead of the constant wear on yourself in one area, your body will get a variation every day - and that means less wear and tear on YOU. I’m always looking for any advantage I can to save my body from pain. Rotating my boots, I found to be the easiest and most effective way to keep my hips, ankles, and knees fresh every day.

Aside from rotating boots, everyone has their routines for maintaining their boots; for some, that may mean doing nothing at all, for others, it could mean oiling their boots every couple of weeks. It really depends on the person and the environmental pounding their particular career area brings. Some people may work in an industry that dries the leather out very quickly - these are the guys that work in hard scape or land development in high-temperature parts of the country. They’re burning that leather out; it’ll crack, it’ll fade. For these guys, they may end up treating their leather every other week, for others, this would be way too much. It depends on you and what you do. Some products I prefer are neats foot oil, mink oil, and beeswax. All three will condition leather and make it more supple, but all three will also dramatically change the color of the leather. Mink and beeswax are very good for waterproofing, but both will darken the leather, and if not permanently, then for a long time. Neats foot oil I feel doesn’t darken the leather nearly as much, but it doesn’t seem to waterproof as well (or as long). It is a nice conditioner, though, and will help keep that leather nice and supple.

How do you clean your boots? Conditioning and adding life to the leather is one thing, but how do you clean them? Some won’t do a thing; they’ll just rip through a boot every year and buy a new pair. Duradero offers a free resole with every purchase; to me, that’s enough reason to maintain the leather of the boots and try to get 2-3 years out of them. I’ll use a little saddle soap and give them a good scrubbing with a horsehair brush before I dry them off with a microfiber towel. Others will use a little dishwashing soap diluted down with water and give them a good drying. YouTube is your friend here, and there are lots of ways to care for a boot. It’s up to you. Just remember, you’re not only caring for your boots, but yourself. We work hard; treating your boots is treating yourself.