Lowa Tibet Care

[Amos Moses]

I’m on my third season with Tibets and wondering if anyone is using Nikwax for treating the boots? I’ve been using the Lowa active cream and their aerosol waterproofing spray, but the leather seems to soak up water pretty good.

I found a few older posts about Lowa boot care, but hoping for some updates on longevity with different methods of upkeep.

 

[Mosby]

I only use Kenetrek boot wax on my Lowa's. I put it on before, during...as needed and after the season before I put them away for the year. I have had good results with it.

 

[Amos Moses]

Bump to see if there are any other Tibet owners trying different things.

 

[Amos Moses]

I only use Kenetrek boot wax on my Lowa's. I put it on before, during...as needed and after the season before I put them away for the year. I have had good results with it.

Thanks, the way I see it this is my third year and a good time to try and experiment a bit. No more warranty

 

[yfarm]

Kenetrek,Whites and Hoffman rebrand Obenaufs boot treatment. All I use is Obenaufs, will darken the leather. Have not used yet on my Lathrops. That being said:https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/safe-for-rubber-rand.63016/

 

[switchback270]

Obenaufs, Montana pitch blend, and sno seal are ones that I’ve used. Usually use the obenaufs after season and the others between hunts throughout season. Seems to work well. Going into my 3rd season with them.


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[Firehawk]

I have used Nikwax cream for years. Works extremely well and my boots are in remarkably great shape considering how old they are.

 

[Brooks]

I clean up my Lowe’s Tibet’s and seal them with Kenetrek boot wax once or twice a year. They have never leaked, I think I’ve had them going on 5 years. Only wear them when hunting or scouting. Great boots for this rough terrain here in NM.

 

[CBB1]

I’ve had good luck with Kenetrek wax. Use it often, don’t let the boots start to crack. I have 5 years on a pair and they are still waterproof. The rand looks like hell but they’ve taken me a lot of places.


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[Brian Fahs]

I use snoseal. I wear tibets everyday for work or hunting. Have been averaging 2 1/2 years of use per set.

 

[Dirtbag]

I used Obenauf's with my tibets with good results.

 

[ognennyy]

No one has seen any detrimental effects to a practice that the manufacturer explicitly states to not do? If it works it works, it just begs the question in my mind why do they recommend against it?

That said, I do have the exact same issue with both pairs of my Lowas. Seems like no matter how careful and consistent I am with applying conditioning cream prior to long storage, and regularly using their waterstop during periods of high use (hunting season), water will bead off the leather for the first few minutes then the leather wets through.

 

[Totoro]

Kenetrek treatment for Lowa and Asolo; Crispi treatment for Crispi.

A few pairs going on 3 years and still shed water.

 

[ognennyy]

I bought some Nikwax leather cleaner and nubuck suede proofing compound. I went over my boots carefully, cleaning every seam, twice with the leather cleaner and wow what a difference. Pores opened wide up, all the leather took on water including the toe box which never did in the past, leather darkened up. Got the proofer applied. I can't wait to see how they perform on my next outing.

Thanks for the information.

 

[grappling_hook]

I bought some Nikwax leather cleaner and nubuck suede proofing compound. I went over my boots carefully, cleaning every seam, twice with the leather cleaner and wow what a difference. Pores opened wide up, all the leather took on water including the toe box which never did in the past, leather darkened up. Got the proofer applied. I can't wait to see how they perform on my next outing.

Thanks for the information.

Please report back. I like the Lowa active cream for keeping the leather moisturized, but like many, I haven't gotten Lowa Waterstop to work longer than a couple of hours (boots remain fully waterproof after three years of regular use, but the leather soaks up water after awhile and it increases weight and reduces breathability). I'm curious to know if Nikwax will be a good fix, or if going to a waterproofing application like Obenauf's is where I'll end up (worrying that will impact the rand and/or reduce breathability from the get-go).

 

[WhitetailTracker]

Have 2 pairs of Tibets. When I bought my first pair, I emailed Lowa and they recommended NikWax Conditioner for Leather. It worked pretty good but the bottle and applicator is kind of a pain. Been using Kenetrek boot wax on the older pair now. That does darken the leather. Otherwise works pretty good too.

Neather seems to bother the rubber rand around the sole. I do put a bead of aquaseal around the edge of the rubber rand though in hopes of it lasting longer.

 

[ognennyy]

I can't remember exactly where I found the information so I can't provide a link, but I know I got to it somehow from poking through the forums here looking for recommendations related to this exact topic of care of Lowa boots. I remember 100% clearly that a Lowa representative specifically called out Obenauf's as it WILL damage the bonding material of the rubber rand.

The harder I think about this the more I think it may have been in a youtube vid I found on Lowa boot care. Sorry I just can't remember the source. I know I won't apply Obenauf's to my Lowa Nubuck full grain leather boots though.

 

[ognennyy]

Please report back. I like the Lowa active cream for keeping the leather moisturized, but like many, I haven't gotten Lowa Waterstop to work longer than a couple of hours (boots remain fully waterproof after three years of regular use, but the leather soaks up water after awhile and it increases weight and reduces breathability). I'm curious to know if Nikwax will be a good fix, or if going to a waterproofing application like Obenauf's is where I'll end up (worrying that will impact the rand and/or reduce breathability from the get-go).

After last week using the Nikwax cleaner I bought to really scrub my boots down then apply the Nikwax Nubuck / Suede proofer I took them out this past weekend. Between Saturday and Sunday I put about 15 miles on them. The moment I stepped in a stream the leather immediately wet out in the same trouble spots they've always wet out in, namely in the lower portion of the toe box where the leather is tightly stretched in about the first one inch above where the leather meets the rand. in the rest of the areas the water beeded up nicely and rolled off.

My feeling is that this is not product related. I'm not going to buy another ten brands of cleaner and proofer to test my theory, but the Nikwax is the third I've tried and I'm getting the same results. I think I've just reached the end of life with those boots. Something has happened with the leather and probably there's no coming back from whatever "denaturing" process it's undergone.

I have a strong suspicion that "denaturing" is related to the leather repeatedly drying out. I also suspect that the drying out results from tiny dirt particles remaining in the leather pores for long periods of time (not cleaning thoroughly enough, frequently enough is my guess). This is just my guess for my footwear since I'm frequently walking through streams and mud that has a lot of clay and silt.

I'd like to think $400-$500 boots can last longer than they have. I'm going to try to contact Lowa directly and find out if there is something I can do to rejuvenate the leather. Maybe somehow get the dirt fully cleaned out of the pores then apply Lowa's conditioning cream like five days in a row, then apply a water proof? I think the trick is getting the dirt out of the pores where the leather is tightly stretched (in the 1" directly above where the leather meets the rand). I'm just out of ideas for how to do that.

More importantly I will ask them, how do I care for the boots to prevent this from happening as quickly with the next pair. I just will not spend $400 every three years on boots.

 

[grappling_hook]

Thanks for the report, too bad the waterproofing was only holding up on the usual areas. I agree the cleaning and moisturizing (and probably storing someplace cool) is pretty critical. Hope the rejuvenation works for you.

 

[CBB1]

I have 2 pair of Tibets, one pair being 6 years old the other 3. They get a lot of wear and have never leaked. I keep them treated with Kenetreks wax. I do have places the rand has separated but I don’t know if the wax is the reason. I think rand separation just goes with the territory.


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