Snow-proofing boots without darkening them

December 12, 2010 9:15 PM

Can I snow/water-proof my new boots without darkening them substantially?

I bought this pair of Red Wing chukkas last week. Now that it's starting to snow kinda seriously where I live, I need to make them more water and snow resistant!

It seems products like Obenauf's, Sno-Seal, and mink oil might do the trick, but they can darken the leather pretty substantially (especially the Obenauf's). I really like the color of the shoes right now and would prefer not to change it significantly...

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!

posted by AAAAAThatsFiveAs to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (4 answers total)

I use protectant spray on my shoes every winter, and have never had a problem with darkening. That stuff is only really an issue if your shoes are white or very light in colour, for brown shoes and standard protectant spray it shouldn't be a problem.
posted by Kololo at 9:43 PM on December 12, 2010

Silicone or other non-wax treatments in water bases don't change colour much, in my experience. I prefer a wax-treatment for waterproofing, but the silicone stuff isn't bad. Nikwax makes one that they advertise as non-colour changing.
posted by ssg at 11:48 PM on December 12, 2010

Kiwi makes a neutral polish that they say doesn't change the color of your shoes and it's fairly waterproof in my experience, but I used it on combat boots so YMMV.
posted by IvoShandor at 1:35 AM on December 13, 2010

I use nikwax, it has a warning on the bottle that it might slightly darken leather, but I haven't noticed it doing that.
posted by Ahab at 8:51 AM on December 13, 2010