Taking care of your duty boots
People's duty boots are their important appearance accessories as well as performance accessories. Both these aspects of it can be ensured only if the boots are well cared for. Further, boots that are well cared will have a much longer life as well, thus making them more economical. The lace, insoles, and the leather and nylon portions of the uppers should all be cleaned separately.
Though full cleaning and washing of your duty boots may not be possible every day, make sure that you daily wear boots are at least brushed every time you wear it so that dirt and dust never get a chance to accumulate on it. That in itself will keep it looking good, and the weekend cleaning you will have to give it will become much easier as well.
While cleaning your duty boots, first of all remove whatever parts of it can be removed from it, which will be mainly laces, and insoles where they are removable. Laces can be washed and dried in a washing machine along with other clothes. Where laces are long, it could get entangled with other clothes and may knot them up. One way of avoiding this is putting the laces in a mesh bag.
Where duty boots have removable insoles, they can be taken out and just aired and dusted so far as there is no extra dirt on them. If there is, it is better to hand wash it separately and dry it in the open air rather than let it go into a washing machine. Getting twisted around with other clothes may not bode well for the insole, and the high heat that a clothes dryer provides may also not be good for it.
A very large percentage of duty boots are made of full grain leather. For cleaning them, first of all dirt and dust should be brushed off and then a leather cleaner can be used to remove the remaining more embedded dirt. After that the recommended polish for the color can be applied and brushed. The boots should be allowed to dry fully before putting the insoles and laces back on them. Some boots manufacturers also recommend treating the boots with a coating of Scotch guard after cleaning. It will minimize the possibility of your duty boots getting stained, and dirt accumulating on them.
On a pair of suede duty boots also the procedure is more or less the same. Where there are nylon panels on the boots, these can be cleaned using a mild detergent and soft brush. Then the area should be gently rinsed with water. There are cleaning agents like athletic shoe cleaners and nylon cleaners that can be used on nylon surfaces. Or laundry detergents or dishwashing detergents can be diluted and used instead.
If your duty boots have zippers, there is nothing special to be done by way of cleaning it but some attention has to be given while using it. Never pull the zipper up blindly without confirming that it is not entangled with the gusset. Even one instance of the leather getting caught within the zipper is not good for the zip and too frequent occurrences could result in the zipper getting fully damaged. And if your duty boots have an extra closure or strap for keeping the zipper pull in place, remember to strap it on every time you pull the zipper up.
Though full cleaning and washing of your duty boots may not be possible every day, make sure that you daily wear boots are at least brushed every time you wear it so that dirt and dust never get a chance to accumulate on it. That in itself will keep it looking good, and the weekend cleaning you will have to give it will become much easier as well.
While cleaning your duty boots, first of all remove whatever parts of it can be removed from it, which will be mainly laces, and insoles where they are removable. Laces can be washed and dried in a washing machine along with other clothes. Where laces are long, it could get entangled with other clothes and may knot them up. One way of avoiding this is putting the laces in a mesh bag.
Where duty boots have removable insoles, they can be taken out and just aired and dusted so far as there is no extra dirt on them. If there is, it is better to hand wash it separately and dry it in the open air rather than let it go into a washing machine. Getting twisted around with other clothes may not bode well for the insole, and the high heat that a clothes dryer provides may also not be good for it.
A very large percentage of duty boots are made of full grain leather. For cleaning them, first of all dirt and dust should be brushed off and then a leather cleaner can be used to remove the remaining more embedded dirt. After that the recommended polish for the color can be applied and brushed. The boots should be allowed to dry fully before putting the insoles and laces back on them. Some boots manufacturers also recommend treating the boots with a coating of Scotch guard after cleaning. It will minimize the possibility of your duty boots getting stained, and dirt accumulating on them.
On a pair of suede duty boots also the procedure is more or less the same. Where there are nylon panels on the boots, these can be cleaned using a mild detergent and soft brush. Then the area should be gently rinsed with water. There are cleaning agents like athletic shoe cleaners and nylon cleaners that can be used on nylon surfaces. Or laundry detergents or dishwashing detergents can be diluted and used instead.
If your duty boots have zippers, there is nothing special to be done by way of cleaning it but some attention has to be given while using it. Never pull the zipper up blindly without confirming that it is not entangled with the gusset. Even one instance of the leather getting caught within the zipper is not good for the zip and too frequent occurrences could result in the zipper getting fully damaged. And if your duty boots have an extra closure or strap for keeping the zipper pull in place, remember to strap it on every time you pull the zipper up.