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I bought myself some nice Zamberlan walking boots earlier this year - decent leather outer and a gore-tex liner.
Do folk still NikWax the leather upper? Or is a good water-repellent DWR spray or soak-in a better treatment?
the Zamberlan site says Care: HYDROBLOC® PROOFING CREAM but I reckon I might struggle to buy the exact same wax/cream in my LWS. 🙄
My last boots I had some G-Wax but it was absolutely awful. Didn't last at all and combine with a poor thin leather upper on those I cold cold, wet feet all the time.
Cheers
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Nikwax leather treatment (the new cream one is ace) - you need to look after the leather as thats the bit that keeps you dry long term.
Hydrobloc isn't hard to find...if they sell Zamberlan then they should have some....Similar to Nik Wax I would have thought.
Nice looking boots but what is the point of the gore-tex liner....if the boots have been waxed they will be water-proof and I can't imagine they can 'breathe' ? (guess an abused / unwaxed boot might benefit from the liner ?)
Nikwax Aqueous (rather than the solid stuff) is sold as for use on Gore-Tex lined leather.
Apparently the Aqueous Nikwax attaches to the fibres and prevents water seeping between them rather than forming a wax barrier.
Who knows if that's true?
I was looking recently for Granger G-Max which is supposed to be a breathable type hard wax for goretex boots. I find the hard wax proofing lasts longer as other stuff seems to get washed off by wet grass etc. However, I treat my boots (Scarpa) with a soft gel conditioner first (Daytona stuff left over from the motorbike boots) and then leave that to dry, wipe off the excess and then give them the good news with some G-wax (or G-max if I can ever find it in a shop).
I always use aqueous Nikwax on my leather Gore-Tex lined boots. In really wet conditions, this eventually washes off and the leather gets soaked through. This is when the liner kicks in and stops any water getting through the saturated leather.
Before Gore-Tex liners, leather boots used to saturate and then you'd eventually get wet feet regardless of the treatment. Now, you don't.
I use Nikwax and just work it in with my fingers. It's kept my boots going for years.
Belt and braces. Leather won't stay waterproof after a week of abuse no matter what!
Cheers for the replies so far - my local Zamberlan shop is Tiso in Newcastle so I'll have a look for any of the above locally. Not G-Wax though as it didn't work for me before!
Cheers