Look closely at this boot. This is one of Libby's hiking boots. She wanted a leather boot for the support and durability. She hadn't anticipated the fungus that would grow so happily on that medium.
We've been wondering how our boots will hold up after their repeated plungings in the various streams and puddles we stomped through on our wet hike at Roundrock nearly two weeks ago.
My boots are made of some substance that does not occur in nature. So far, they are not fungal, but they do stink something awful. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that.
I used to have a
super-dooper pair of hiking boots that cost me several hundred dollars. They were heavy -- given they had steel toes and steel shanks in them -- but they were great for long hikes over rough terrain. They finally gave up -- the leather cracked from insufficient care -- and I thought I should try some other solution for replacing them. So I bought some cheap ones with the idea that I could replace them without much pain. These are the boots I took to Africa, and they've held up since then. In fact, they've showed no sign of wearing out or losing their support. I suppose I might have kept wearing them indefinitely, except for the current stink situation.
So stay tuned and I'll let you know how this develops.
Missouri calendar:
- The Missouri Natural Events Calendar is blank today.
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July 14th, 2007 at 5:48 am
Those boots look so nasty that I would go ahead and throw them in the washer and then throw them in the dryer for a while. It couldn’t make them any worse for wear I don’t think. And if you put some of those dryer thingies that smell nice in the dryer phase, it may get the stink out.
July 14th, 2007 at 7:54 am
EEEeeewww! Glad your blog doesn’t ave sniff-o-vision.
July 14th, 2007 at 7:57 am
I purchased a leather handbag on Ebay once that smelled terribly of cigarette smoke. I took a large trash sack and dumped a whole sack of kitty litter in with the purse in the middle, making sure the litter was inside and all around the purse. I left it for about a week. It worked! I have also heard putting things in the deep freeze and rubbing all over with pure vanilla.
July 14th, 2007 at 9:59 am
I googled “remove fungus leather” and found this:
To remove mildew from leather goods, wipe with a
cloth moistened with diluted alcohol (1 cup denatured or
rubbing alcohol to 1 cup water). Dry in a current of air.
If mildew remains, wash with thick suds made from a mild
soap or detergent, saddle soap, or a soap containing a
germicide or fungicide. Then wipe with a damp cloth and
dry in an airy place. Polish leather shoes and luggage
with a good wax dressing.
Shoes contaminated with fungus growth on the inside
often develop unpleasant odors, and colored mildew shows
up on the inner sole and linings and up into the toe. You
can remove this kind of mildew with low-pressure sprays
especially intended for freshening shoes; these sprays are
available at shoe and department stores. Use these
products as directed.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
You just posted this to make us all go “eeeewwwwwwwwwwww,” didn’t you?
July 14th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
It looks like the hiking freedom that comes from surrendering yourself to wetness comes at a price!
July 14th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Several hundred dollars?!
Yowza!
Old sneakers are the way to go.
Get em wet, toss them in the yard for the sun to dry them, and let the fireants clean out anything edible growing in them.
When they’re clear of ants, they’re ready to wear again.
July 14th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Yikes,,,they’re walking without you in them,,,
wipe them down with a cloth damp with 10% bleach to water and rub in some Huberd,s shoe grease. This has brought a happy revival to more than one moldy saddle.
July 14th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Those sooper-dooper hiking boots would make you look like a serious outdoorsman/hiker. Libby’s boots look positively alive!
July 15th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Hey! I’ve got lots of experience with wet leather work boots. The only way I can break in my new Wolverines is to wet them thoroughly while I have them on and then walk around in them for awhile and them dry them. An old carpenter taught me that one although he said specifically to wade in the creek. What Robin and Lee suggested sounds pretty good and I would add to unlace them completely and pull the tongues out as far as they will go. Take the insoles out and liberally dust the inside and insoles with baking soda and then put everything out in the direct sun to dry, all day.. We used to always spray our boots with form oil while we were working. In the old days this was just diesel fuel and motor oil, 50/50. It works great though to keep boots soft.
July 16th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
It’s aLIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!