Mink oil.

How is it only now I’ve heard about this stuff?

Yes, it really does contain the scrapings from a dead mink. The fur trade is still thriving it would seem – who knew?

Used for the first time today on my boots, and compared to the Meindl sportwax I used to use, it seems to be in a different league.
At the end of three and a half hours of scraping through crusty snow and muck, the boots still looked the same and water was still beading straight off. Even mud seemed to fall off within a few minutes of walking beyong the muddy bit.
Impressed!

I used to use that thirty-odd years ago, but it’s difficult to find nowadays, or at least in shops, so now I use Renapur wax, all natural materials like beeswax, etc, and it really softens old leather that’s got quite stiff. Works well on waxed cotton jackets and on boots as well.

I’m glad the suffering of an animal means that some mud doesn’t stick to your boots. Heaven forbid you have to brush it off when it’s dry.
**** me gently.

It’s a byproduct.

And they’re mink which are non-native escapees from the fur trade, and which annihilate native wildlife (assuming mink oil comes from culled ones)?

You couldn’t do that commercially I would imagine. More likely it comes from captive mink bred for the fur trade for see you next Tuesdays.

Edit. Wiki

Mink oil is an oil used in medical and cosmetic products. It is obtained by the rendering of mink fat which has been removed from pelts destined for the fur industry.

Oh well, that’s alright then. Anything non-indigenous that harms anything indigenous is fair game.

Seriously?

And on a same but different note there are calls from some people to introduce Beaver because it’ll prevent flooding… Have any of these people seen what one family of Beaver can do to a woodland and water meadow in one night?

**** me gently too…

More likely it comes from captive mink bred for the fur trade

Which is Not OK. I still think a cull by-product would be less ethically dubious.

Off topic, I don’t think anyone is suggesting beavers don’t cause localised flooding, more that they reduce it downstream. IIRC that was one of the findings of the River Otter study?

They do indeed reduce flooding downstream, my tenuous point was more towards their potential breeding rate and their questionable residency status as to whether our bio system would regard them as indigenous, which led me onto the potential need to cull because other indigenous critters are being drowned…

I did say tenuous…

Anyway, it’s worked well for rabbits.

Apparently they do increase biodiversity, water quality and so on, unlike mink which just eat native wildlife. I think they are effectively still native (as the time since they were made extinct in the U.K. is fairly short in evolutionary terms).

There are plenty of things such as some deer species which are non-native, or at least have had their native predators wiped out, which cause huge destruction.

Not to mention moor burning, which probably isn’t a good thing from the POV of downstream flooding among other things.

More likely it comes from captive mink bred for the fur trade

Which is Not OK.

No, I fully agree.

The only manufacturer I know of….https://saphir.com/product/mink-oil/
and the only stockist I know of is Pediwear in Halifax. ….https://www.pediwear.co.uk/accessories/shoe-care/ for all your shoe care needs – valet boxes, balm, cream, polish, horsehair brushes and more; they also sell shoes.

Beaver are indigenous but we slaughtered them all to make more room for outrage

I purchased some boots in Vancouver and they gave me a tub of Mink Oil, I didn’t realised it really was Mink Oil.

Leather boots?

Is it any good as chain lube?

Leather boots? Deerskin cowboy boots actually……

Were the cowboys captive bred? Or non native cowboys that had to be culled?

So what am I supposed to lube my mink up with?

Weasel grease

**** me gently.

Can I lube you before I start? Some mink oil should do the trick….

Perhaps we should use beeswax?

You’re all not going to be pleased about what they do to snakes.

Just to be contentious…

Assuming any of the above are Omnivores or Vegetarians and consume supermarket grade meat, eggs or dairy; why would you have a problem with a mink farm and it’s output?

Redwing mink oil is good and easily available.

I don’t like snakes, do what you like with them.

I’ve always found walking in the snow is very good at cleaning boots. No idea about oil from animals killed for the fur trade.