Drying Military Boots Without Damaging The Leather

7 July 2018
 Categories: , Blog


Military footwear tends to outlast many of the other options that consumers have to choose from. When your military boots get wet inside, you will need to get them dried out as quickly as possible. Here, you'll find a few tips that can help you dry your boots and keep them in good shape for quite some time.

Prepare the Boots for Drying

Before you begin trying to dry your boots, you need to get them good and clean. If you allow dirt and mud to remain as you dry the boots, you will likely see stains appear that will not come off later. Take out the laces. If you dry the boots with the laces in them, the laces can shrink and cause the leather to become misshaped.

Pull out removable inserts. The more padding that there is to dry inside the boots, the longer it will take to get them dry.

Avoid Heat Drying

One of the worst thing that you can do to leather boots is drying them with heat. The heat will dry the leather faster, but it will also damage the leather, as well as the glue that holds the boots together. If you need to dry the boots with heat, don't use heaters, wood-burning stoves, or open fires. These sources put off too much heat. Instead, use a hair dryer on low heat.

If you're out camping and need to dry your boots by a fire, keep the boots far enough away from the fire to keep them from overheating, but close enough to slowly dry the boots.

Drying Options

There are several things that you can do to expedite the drying process, including:

Rice – Pour rice inside an air-tight plastic bin – you'll need about an inch covering the bottom. Place the boots on top of the rice and close the lid. Let the boots sit for a day and check them – they could be dry, or they may need a little more time.

Towel Dry – Clean the boots, tuck the corners of a towel in each boot and wrap them with the remaining towel. Place the towel-wrapped boots on a fan and let them sit for the day.

Sun Dry – Put the boots out in the sun for the day after removing the laces and insoles. Pull the tongues out as far as possible and place the boots in a dry, sun-drenched area.

Drying your boots properly will help to extend the life of them, will help to protect your feet from moisture issues and keep them looking great. Hopefully, these tips help you maintain your military boots properly. For more information, contact a company like Bargain Center.


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