Weatherproofing
October 13, 2009
I cheated on my no-frivolous-spending mandate recently on a pair of cute, faux-leather ankle boots.
Armed with a sale, a $10 off coupon, and a gift card I wasn’t planning to use on boots, I bought them anyway. The last pair of boots I owned have been retired since 2006, and were knee-high: not exactly the easiest to deal with when you’re constantly having to take them off, and put them back on. (This is a problem when traveling and when you’re Asian and go to anyone’s house. By my age, removing your footwear is a compulsion at the molecular level, practically.)
Now, how do you protect faux-leather boots? Other than not wearing them? Full disclosure: I’m really tough on my clothing/shoes. I fully intend to wear these boots outside, and that means they’re going to encounter weather. If I travel in them, they might even encounter rain. Sleet. Ice. Snow? Can/should you waterproof faux leather?
For once, I’m thinking ahead to try to protect the shoes instead of destroying them, but Google is silent on this matter. It seems like it would have been easier to spend the extra money on real leather boots since lanolin’s an easy fix for that stuff. But faux leather, does it just not require protection?
Pardon me for guessing that if you’re Asian you might be short(ish) and therefore you can wear that type of boot (if short people think tall people never envy them for any reason, now you know that sometimes they do.) I like cute shoes as much as the next person but they would make me 6’2″ so I pass on that sort; I haven’t even cultivated the ability to wear them (requires certain leg/back muscles I don’t have. Think “Ellen” to picture my shoe styles.)
I don’t see why you can’t weatherproof them. If you know of a place that does shoe repair (sometimes found in dry cleaners) ask them what they would use on it. Otherwise just to read the labels on the shoe-polish rack; I’m sure they have protectant and I’m sure it’ll be labeled as to which type of material it can be used on.
Most weatherproofing sprays can be used on materials other than leather. They just suggest you test them on a small spot before blasting the whole boot! LOL
In addition, I don’t think faux leather requires the same kind of care as real leather since it’s made of plastic and won’t be absorbing moisture and salt anyway.
That’s definitely an upside, however when they do start to look a little worn you can’t perk them up like you can do with leather.
Perhaps a few more dollars on a real leather pair might have been worth it?
But, whatever makes you happy! 🙂
Any REI or outdoors store should sell weatherproofing spray, and like Ginger said, you should be able to use it on materials that aren’t leather.
I am also hard on clothes, especially shoes. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that buying faux-leather boots wasn’t worth it. I may have saved myself $100 at first, but the shoes I bought wore out in less than 2 months. So, then I was I ended up having to shelf out the money for the leather boots, half way through the winter, when if I had just bought them in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to worry about it. In fact, I still own and wear them on a regular basis.
So, I hate to burst your bubble, and I do think your new shoes are so fun, but I wondering if you should just return them and invest in a good pair of leather boots that’ll last you much longer and be easier to weatherproof.
Either way, your new boots are still cute.
Those boots are too cute (I too have been looking for a cute pair of gray ankle boots to accompany my black ones that I purchased last fall). My black ones are also faux leather and I plan to wear them this season, but only on days when the weather is not inclement. I agree that you should be able to treat your boots with sprays you would use on leather or suede shoes, but test in a small area of a shoe first.
444: No need to ask for pardon, I’m totally short. I’ve only two friends shorter than me.
I completely empathize, I like to help my galfriend who needs large sizes (9-10) and she’s tall: she HATES shoe shopping because of it.
Ginger: I would prefer leather boots but I have the WORST time finding any that I like, that are comfortable, that I can afford and … are cute.
I’m still considering returning them if I can find a better alternative.
Chelsea Bea: Where do you find your boots? Maybe I need to look in different places or have a guide to boot shopping.
I much prefer quality over cheap quantity but I also really hate shoe shopping.
Kathleen: Yeah, if I keep these guys, even if they’re cheapy and not as good as leather, they’ll (I hope) last a little longer.
I would just recommend cleaning off any salt that you encounter (in the snowy places).
I LOVE THOSE BOOTS!!
You bought them! Yay!!
I too am hard on my (fake) shoes. I have no words of wisdom, except to clean them off often?
Those boots are SOOOO incredibly cute it doesn’t matter whether they wear out sooner than leather boots would…it’s worth it to have the incredible cuteness for even a little while. 😉
I don’t think you have to do anything to weatherproof faux leather, do you? It’s just plastic… 444 has the right idea to ask someone who knows about those products. Moi, I’d probably just avoid wearing them in rainy or snowy weather.
SavingDiva: I wish they had shoe cleaning stations outside buildings for gross days. Is that too much to ask? Then again, I have no idea if these boots have the gription to handle snow.
Rina: 🙂
eemusings: Yeah, and maybe don’t be so rough on them. 😀
Funny about Money: Advocating the temporary cuteness over long-lasting classics? You DO think they’re cute. 🙂
I’ll take these guys ’round to a shoe store and see what kind of advice they’ve got.