Hi friends!  I’m happy to be sharing a leather boot care tutorial and Walrus Oil Leather Wax and Leather Oil review today.  My husband Adam has been asking if he can do a shoe shining tutorial for the blog for over a year so when Walrus Oil reached out and asked if I wanted to sample some of their products I knew I had to get the leather care products for Adam.  He’s been taking care of both of our leather shoes for as long as I can remember and has used just about every shoe shining brand on the market.  This post will provide an in depth review of Walrus Oil’s leather products along with a tutorial showing how to care for leather boots.  If you’re like me, you’ve probably recently pulled out your fall boots only to notice that they are looking rough from the harsh conditions of last winter.  Don’t worry, it’s an easy fix to get them looking good again.

*Walrus oil provided me with free products however all opinions are 100% my own.

You’ll need a few supplies to properly clean and polish your leather shoes.  I’ve linked to all of the materials that we used below.

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will make a commission if you click through and make a purchase.  Thanks for the support!

Materials

Saddle Soap

Shoe Shine Brush Set

Spray bottle

Shoe Polish

Walrus Oil – Leather Wax

Walrus Oil – Leather Oil

How to Clean & Protect Leather Boots

Before Photos

I have a pair of brown and black boots that I wear all the time in the fall and winter.  They were looking pretty rough so it was definitely time for a clean and polish.  Here are some before photos.  They are very dull and the toes have quite a few scuff marks.

Step 1 – Brush

Use the large horse hair brush to brush off the entire boot to get rid of any loose dirt, debris etc.

Step 2 – Clean with Saddle Soap

For this step you will need saddle soap, a small brush and a spray bottle full of  WARM water.

Spray the saddle soap and the leather with water.

Use the small horse hair brush to apply the saddle soap to the leather.  Scrub the leather with the soap to clean the leather boot.

If you have fabric areas on your boot be careful to avoid those spots.  You only want to apply the saddle soap to the leather.

Use a dry towel to wipe everything off.

Step 3 – Shoe Polish

The next step is to apply shoe polish.  Be sure to match the shoe polish color to the leather color.  There are a variety of colors available and if you pick a color darker than your leather it will dye your leather darker.  For the brown boots Adam used dark tan shoe polish.

Spray the boot and the shoe polish with water. Then rub some of the polish on to your fingers and apply it to the leather.

*Note: This method is a personal preference as Adam thinks it helps make the polish spread more easily and evenly.  The polish can also be applied dry using either your fingers or a dry rag.

Keep applying the polish and building it up until you’re satisfied with the color.  It dyes your fingers but it will wash out.

Here is what the brown boots looked like after the polish was applied.  You can see that the build up of polish is consistent across the leather providing an even coloring.

Next you’ll want to use a rag to buff out the leather.  Use a side to side motion just like the shoe shiners that you see at the airport.

Below is a picture of the black leather boot prior to being polished to show that he used black polish for the black leather.

Step 4 – Leather Oil or Leather Wax

Adam decided to go with the leather wax for the brown boots and the leather oil for the black boots.  He was pretty excited to be able to compare the two products and I was excited to get both of my boots cleaned and conditioned. 😉

Walrus Oil Leather Wax Review

The Walrus Oil leather wax was very easy to apply.  Adam used a clean rag and simply wiped it in the tin to get some leather wax and then applied it all over the leather on the boots.

Be sure to pay extra attention where the boot gets more wear and tear.  For me that is the toe and the top of the boot.

Here is what the boots looked like after the wax was applied.  I think they look great!

When I asked Adam for his opinion of the Walrus Oil leather wax he said that he liked it a lot.  It was very easy to apply, had great coverage and didn’t leave a super shiny finish.  Overall he thought that it conditioned the leather very well and he would definitely use it again.

Walrus Oil Leather Oil Review

The walrus oil leather oil was easy to apply as well.  Just squirt some of the leather oil onto a rag and rub into the leather.

The after photos (below) look great! 

Adam’s opinion of the Walrus Oil leather oil was positive but he did say that he preferred the wax over the oil.  Similar to the wax, the oil didn’t leave too shiny of a finish and conditioned the leather very well.  The only thing that he didn’t like was that he felt like he wiped off more oil than what absorbed into the boot.

Before and After Comparison

The Walrus Oil Leather Wax & Leather Oil both did a great job conditioning my boots.  Pictures don’t lie, just look at the before and after photos below!

Black boots cleaned with Saddle Soap, polished with black Shoe Polish and finished with Walrus Oil – Leather Oil.

Brown boots cleaned with Saddle Soap, polished with brown Shoe Polish and finished with Walrus Oil – Leather Wax .

After I finished my master closet project I realized that I should probably invest in some shoe shapers to allow my boots to sit upright when stored.  I found the ones below on Amazon for less than $13!  They are actually way higher quality than I was expecting so I was very impressed.  I figured I would share here in case anyone else is looking for these.

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I hope this tutorial and review is helpful.  Let me know your thoughts in the comments!