Mukluk care?

[Justin P.]

I stumbled across a pair of used Steger Muckluks for a good price and in the right size, so I pretty much had to try them. I've never owned a pair before this week.
They look to me to be the Quetico Tall, which is a moose leather lower, canvas upper and the rubberized sole.
They are low milage and in excellent shape.
I hand washed and air dried the wool liners.

I see Steger sells some sort of siliconized spray water repellent for them.
I don't want to pay shipping if I can find something suitable locally.
What do you treat your mukluks with, or do you even bother to treat them with anything?

[Haggis]

I have a old pair of Steger’s of the sort you describe,,, I’ve never done anything except wear them, mistreat them, and been everything except a responsible adult with them. Been wearing these above 15 years I suppose,,, the soles are turning to sticky gum, and the leather lowers have holes worn in them from my snowshoes, but they’re still ok for the bush... I’ve a new pair of the same style,,, had them several years now, and I fully intend to wear them,,, eventually...

What my old Stegers look like after all these years and zero concern for taking care of them. I don’t count “barefoot” miles, but I keep relative track of snowshoe miles, and I’m pretty near or just over 6,000 snowshoe miles on these... Already barefooting in them this snowy fall,,, deer hunting and running my rabbit snare line... Once deer season is over,,, and I’m less likely to get shot,,, I’ll spend at least a couple hours walking in the bush every day... Tough bit of foot covering these...

[Justin P.]

I have a old pair of Steger’s of the sort you describe,,, I’ve never done anything except wear them, mistreat them, and been everything except a responsible adult with them. Been wearing these above 15 years I suppose,,, the soles are turning to sticky gum, and the leather lowers have holes worn in them from my snowshoes, but they’re still ok for the bush... I’ve a new pair of the same style,,, had them several years now, and I fully intend to wear them,,, eventually...

Thanks Haggis, I appreciate it!
I couldn't see any reason to spray them with silicon spray but I thought I'd check. I think I'll do the same as you.
Only wore them a few minutes so far, but it's gonna be nice to have something light weight and flexible to wear, instead of some heavy stiff cloud hoppers.

I can't remember the name, or what street it's on, but I saw a shoe store and shoe repair shop in Superior that will repair them if you don't want to do it yourself.

[bushedbushman]

The best thing you can do is to not wear them in melting conditions. The leather doesn't need to be treated with anything. Also, make sure to keep them away from fuel and oil. Don't wear them to a gas station and be careful when fuelling your snow machine or chainsaw. Petroleum products will seriously degrade the rubber. When the canvas gets worn you can just sew patches on. For cuts or tears in the leather I sew the damage up and slather a bunch of ShooGoo on the stitches.

The rubber that seals the leather to the soles will eventually degrade causing separation of the two and again, I just slather a bunch of ShooGoo on. They can get pretty ugly looking but I'm not making a fashion statement and you can keep them going for quite a few years. I've completely worn out at least 10 pairs over the years. In my opinion the quality has gone down from when I got my first pair.

[Justin P.]

The best thing you can do is to not wear them in melting conditions. The leather doesn't need to be treated with anything. Also, make sure to keep them away from fuel and oil. Don't wear them to a gas station and be careful when fuelling your snow machine or chainsaw. Petroleum products will seriously degrade the rubber. When the canvas gets worn you can just sew patches on. For cuts or tears in the leather I sew the damage up and slather a bunch of ShooGoo on the stitches.

The rubber that seals the leather to the soles will eventually degrade causing separation of the two and again, I just slather a bunch of ShooGoo on. They can get pretty ugly looking but I'm not making a fashion statement and you can keep them going for quite a few years. I've completely worn out at least 10 pairs over the years. In my opinion the quality has gone down from when I got my first pair.

Thanks for all the information!

As a related side note, I ran into a guy North West of me years ago, he claimed 3M 5200 marine sealant was better than Shoe Goo for shoe repairs, in that it stayed more flexible and had better adhesion,
He also used it for rubberizing moccasins soles.

I've never tried it, only because I forget about it and it's not available locally here.

[bushedbushman]

Thanks for all the information!

As a related side note, I ran into a guy North West of me years ago, he claimed 3M 5200 marine sealant was better than Shoe Goo for shoe repairs, in that it stayed more flexible and had better adhesion,
He also used it for rubberizing moccasins soles.

I've never tried it, only because I forget about it and it's not available locally here.

Good to know about the 5200 sealant. I just looked it up and may order some to try on some moose hide moccasins I have. I've tried sewing and glueing crepe rubber on the soles but was never really impressed with the results.

[Justin P.]

Good to know about the 5200 sealant. I just looked it up and may order some to try on some moose hide moccasins I have. I've tried sewing and glueing crepe rubber on the soles but was never really impressed with the results.

The guy was using the black stuff, he spread it out on the soles and up the sides, like it was originally and he used a small dowel to scribe some tread into the sole before it hardened too.
He said it was almost as good as original.
I'd like to get some for repairing Muck boots and neoprene waders that I seem to constantly tear holes in.
I wanted to get the small toothpaste tube style though.
I'm guessing with it being a polyurethane based sealant that it most like will be moisture cured, so once the caulk tube is cut open I'm betting it won't have a real long shelf life.
But that's only wild guess............. unless I'm right.

[snapper]

If you still think you might want to treat the moosehide on your Steger mukluks, you can use Sno-Seal of another product like that. It will darken and smooth out the leather but it will still be OK in the end. That said, eventually moisture will probably work its way into your liner. One thing I've found over the years is the longer it takes for the leather to wet out, the longer it will take to fully dry. That can be a disadvantage to treating the leather on your mukluks. As to the canvas; I'm like Haggis in that I've sewed the canvas on my Stegers numerous times over the years due to the rubbing from my snowshoe bindings. They may look ugly but they still do what they're supposed to do so I'll call that a "win."

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

[Undersky]

I wonder how the old "barge cement" compares to 5200 sealant and other newer adhesives?

[Justin P.]

I think the same guy said he uses barge and tire crumb too.
I thought he said 5200 held up better, but barge and tire crumb had better traction and is a slight bit more flexible than 5200.
But I might be mixing stories up that I heard from several people, it's be a while ago, so I'm not sure anymore.
But that makes sense..............unless I'm wrong...LOL

[kiggy]

I treat my leather Siberian hunting boots with sno-seal.
for sole repair - check lure of the north kit https://lureofthenorth.com/product/d...er-soling-kit/ have not used it but company has great reputation, I don't think they will sell useless products

[Justin P.]

Thanks, I've never dealt with Lure Of The North, but I've never heard a single bad word about them, they have a great reputation.