How to make shoes waterproof at home?

Slushy weather in winter or in the off-season threatens with depression due to lack of sun and comfort, and colds due to cold and wet feet. Therefore, the question of how to make shoes waterproof is especially relevant at such a time. Using simple methods, you can maintain your health and save a budget on the purchase of new boots or boots.

Reasons for getting wet shoes

It's no secret that wet feet are a harbinger of a runny nose and high fever. Therefore, to understand how to keep your feet dry and warm, you need to understand why the shoes get wet in slushy or rainy days. The reason for this may be:

1. Sole peeling off. Often, increased humidity is explained precisely by damage to the sole or its loose fit to the boot itself.
2. Poor quality shoes. Budget shoes at an attractive price usually have a significant drawback: disgusting quality. By production, cheap materials are used, and a lot of flaws and defects are allowed in the manufacturing technology.
3. The effect of chemicals. They are used in the winter for sprinkling slippery roads, which negatively affects the condition of even the strongest and most expensive boots.
4. Synthetic materials. Under the influence of low temperatures, artificial skin and other synthetic materials tend to crack, which also negatively affects moisture resistance.
5. Saving the manufacturer on special impregnation for shoes in production.

Proper preparation of shoes for winter

In order not to look, when it is too late, information on how to make shoes waterproof, you should immediately prepare it for the winter. To do this, you need:

• Check whether the sole, seams, leather and accessories are intact in all places.
• Wash and clean the surface.
• Replace heels if necessary, and strengthen heels.
• Sew (strengthen) the seams.
• Reinforce the sole with insufficient strength. With the help of such a preventive measure, it will become more dense, will not rub and slip so quickly. But you need to make sure that the master trimmed it with high-quality material, resistant to reagents and low temperatures. It is optimal to use wear-resistant rubber or polyurethane, but cheap resites should not be considered as an amplifier.
  

Professional remedies

There are various ways to make leather shoes waterproof. The easiest, but also the most expensive thing is to purchase special tools for processing shoes or boots. They are sold in all shoe stores and differ in the manufacturer and the material for which they are intended. The most effective are:

1. Salamander Universal SMS. It is made in the form of a spray and is suitable for both leather and suede or textile. In addition to protection against moisture and dirt, it improves the appearance of products.
2. Ecco. It is a fast-acting spray because it dries in less than a minute. Its use guarantees the shoes moisture resistance and breathability.
3. Salamander. Processing leather shoes with this oily cream makes the shoes waterproof and improves their appearance, restoring shine, painting over scratches and eliminating roughness. The main ingredient of the product is natural wax.
4. Collonil Nanopro. The best spray for coating nubuck products. They can also handle leather boots, velor ankle boots and textile boots.
5. Grangers G-Wax Cream is ideal for protection against water and salts on coarse leather boots and boots.
6. High-quality Swedish impregnation SMS Olvist is designed for processing suede. This is the best way to make suede shoes waterproof, given that in principle it is not a moisture resistant material. And the use of improvised means can ruin its appearance.
   

Processing mechanism

It is important not only to buy, but also to apply the product correctly, so that the shoes are moisture resistant and comfortable to wear.

Before applying the cream or spray, boots or boots must be cleaned of dirt, washed and left to dry.

The spray should be sprayed once - until it is absorbed into the processed material. This is a great way to make shoes waterproof in 8 minutes. But the cream is applied three times - once a day. So it will provide maximum effect.

Universal recommendations

In order for boots, boots or shoes to last for a long time and at the same time look beautiful, you need to wear them correctly, namely, according to the weather. Then the question of how to make shoes waterproof at home will not be so relevant. Here are some general shoe conservation tips:

1. You should always carefully study the manufacturer's recommendations. If they say that the shoes have waterproof properties, then they can be worn in slush and rain. If shoes or boots are not designed for high humidity, do not walk in them through snowdrifts and puddles, otherwise they will quickly become worthless.
2. If the financial opportunity does not allow you to separately purchase shoes for the rainy season, just get the usual galoshes. On sale today there are even transparent models that do not catch the eye at all. A great way to protect your shoes is to temporarily make them rubber. Galoshes are better than rubber boots in that they take up less space and make it possible to combine them with different shoes.
3. A useful prevention is the treatment of shoes with castor or linseed oil, hard fat. The joints with the sole and seams should be carefully treated. They are most affected by moisture entering the shoe through these places.
   

Home life hacks

When there is no professional water-repellent at hand, and the rainy season has begun outside the window, home-made shoes will help to make shoes waterproof. Here are three simple budget recipes:

1. Paraffin or wax. To keep the boots dry, you can rub them with wax or paraffin, but not with stearic suppositories, which contain fatty acids that do not save from moisture. Paraffin is thoroughly rubbed on the outer surface of the shoe, after which you need to walk on it with a hairdryer with hot air. He will melt the paraffin and let it soak. This method is not suitable for suede boots and nubuck products, it will forever ruin their appearance.
2. Paraffin and gasoline. Effective tips on how to make leather shoes waterproof include impregnating them with grated paraffin (1 tsp) and refined gasoline (100 g). The ingredients should be mixed and whisked until paraffin is completely dissolved. Then the boots are generously lubricated with the mixture and left overnight to absorb. Before starting the procedure, the shoes can be heated with a hairdryer so that it is soaked faster. It is also important to ensure that there are no open sources of fire nearby, because the mixture contains gasoline.
3. Castor, linseed oil and paraffin. This recipe is good for its versatility, as it is suitable for both the skin and its substitutes. It is necessary to dissolve castor, linseed oil and grated paraffin in a ratio of 2: 2: 1 in a water bath and apply the mixture to the shoes in warm form. It is important not to overdo it: castor oil in large quantities clogs the pores and leads to coarsening of the skin.
   

Output

There are many ways to make shoes waterproof. You can buy special funds, or you can use one of the given life hacks. And so that the shoes serve for a long time and retain their presentation, it is optimal to wear them according to the weather, and for rain and slush, get rubber boots or galoshes.