We’re in the midst of winter, and your leather shoes may need a little TLC after sloshing around in the rain or snow. Boot and leather polishes can get quite expensive, so we devised our own special recipe: a little olive oil mixed with a little beeswax acts as a great all around boot conditioner and water repellent. You can even add a pigment to revive dull or faded leather. Lay it on thick for maximum leather protecting power!
What You’ll Need:
1.1 oz. White Beeswax
2.8 oz. Olive Oil
Optional: 1.5 tsp. of Brown Oxide or Black Oxide
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart! Please note that the kit includes the Brown and Black Oxide pigments, even though they are optional. If you don’t want them, you can remove them from your cart during checkout.
ONE: In a small heat-safe container, combine the olive oil and white beeswax. Be sure to use a small container that is proportional to the amount of liquid and wax. If there is too much extra room, the container can explode in the microwave.
TWO: Heat the mixture in the microwave on 30 second bursts. It took us 2 heating sessions to fully melt the mixture, but depending on the strength of your microwave it may vary. The container will be very hot, so be careful when you slowly pour it into the candle tin.
Give the mixture about 45 minute – 1 hour to fully harden. It’s ready to use right away! To use, take a damp washcloth and clean dirt and debris off the shoe before applying the balm. Then, use another washcloth to buff the balm into the shoe. The more the merrier, so don’t be afraid to apply it liberally!
Tinted Balm
If you’d like, you can easily tint the balm with either Brown or Black oxide. Although not necessary, the oxide does help to restore color to the boot.
ONE: To get the colorant to disperse throughout the mixture, you’ll need to micronize it first. To do that, simply blend the color in a food processor or coffee grinder to get it to a fine, powdery consistency. We recommend buying a coffee grinder that has a removable, stainless steel bowl for easy cleaning.
TWO: Add the entirety of the colorant to the melted olive oil and wax mixture. We used a mini mixer to incorporate the color.
THREE: Just like with the untinted balm, give the mixture 45 minutes – 1 hour to harden. It’s ready to use right away!
The tinted polish really works! Check out the difference between these two boots. The boot on the right was polished with the tinted balm, the boot on the left was left untreated.
hi there,
thanks for this!
Maybe a weird question, but does it have a shelf life? In other words, does it change depending on how long it sits unused, and is there an optimum way of storing it?
Thanks!
Hi Sofia!
That’s a great question! This boot polish does have a shelf life. Beeswax has an indefinite shelf life, but olive oil lasts about 2 years. After 2 years, the oil can start to go rancid. Read more about oil shelf lives here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/free-beginners-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/
To ensure the polish lasts a long time, we recommend storing it in a cool, dark place. That will keep the oil fresher for longer. 🙂
Read more about storing handmade products here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-store-handmade-bath-products/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I would love to make this but have no black or brown oxide. Would black clay work?
Thanks, Cadence.
Hi Cadence!
Clays are incredibly absorbent. While that can be great in scrubs and masks, it may make this polish dry. I would recommend making a small test batch to see if you like the consistency. It may also help to increase the amount of olive oil so your polish has plenty of moisture. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Could you use natural beeswax (golden beeswax) instead of white? I have a lot of natural wax because I have bees and I’d like to try this 🙂
Hi Sandy!
Absolutely! That would work great in this recipe. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Can this be used for military boots?
Hi Candice!
If your boots are made of leather, this would be a great boot polish! I have used it on several different types of leather shoes, and it has been great for all of them 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Is it safe to use Micas? I have been wanting to polish my leather sofa and your cappuccino mica looks like the right shade of chocolate brown I need. If not, I could tinker with blending the brown and black oxide. Thanks!
My other question is how much oxide should be used per batch? Thanks!
Hi Kaira!
For each batch, we used 1.5 tsp of oxide. You could certainly use less or more, although I would not use more than 2 tsp or so. Micas have a bit of a shimmer to them, so unless you don’t mind a bit of shine on your couch…I would recommend using the oxides 🙂
Keep in mind you wouldn’t have to have the exact shade as your couch, because you will want to wipe it off anyways…I wouldn’t want you to get any colorant on your pants! Also, we used the brown on a darker brown pair of boots, and it worked just fine 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Wonderful, thank you! This blog is a wealth of information. 🙂
Hi Kaira!
I’m so glad you are enjoying the blog! 🙂 Thanks for being a reader!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
How safe would you say this product is on saddle leather? (leather worth $3k or more…) Would it stain, rub off, or make the tack greasy? I’d like to try something more natural on my horse products, but before I try it, I want to make sure it would be safe/non slicking/non staining…
Hi there!
While my boots are not made out of leather that is quite that high of quality, my boots loved this polish! It gave them a nice sheen, and was not overly greasy. If you are worried about your leather, I would recommend applying this polish to a small section to test first 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
I love how you guys come up with different products to make. I am always looking for products for men and I have several family members and friends who are boot wearers so this polish will be great for them. I can’t wait to try it! how do you find all these ideas? They are wonderful!
Hi Deborah!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this tutorial :). I agree, finding homemade gifts for men can be tricky, but this would be perfect! If you give it a try, I’d love to know what you think 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
WAY COOL!!!!! Awesome for cowgirls and horse folks! I love how easy and natural it is, I’m going to have to give this one a try! I also love how you guys post recipes for not only soapy crafts, but all kinds of other everyday items as well!
I, too, would LOVE to see a Saddle Soap tutorial!!! If we can make homemade products for ourselves, why not make them for our horses? 🙂
Hi Liv!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this tutorial! I really hope you try it out, it was really fun and easy to make and made everybody’s shoes here in the office look great! Thanks for the feedback regarding Saddle Soap :)!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
This looks great! I want to try it with out any colorant, do you happen to have a picture of results without any colorant? Or could you tell me what it makes the boot look like without it?
Hi Anna!
While we do not have photos of the results without colorants, we found that the colorless formula made a huge difference in the leather as well! Gave it lots of shine, made both black and brown boots darker and helped repel water. I personally liked the polish with a bit of color, but the colorless is also a fantastic option! Definitely worth it 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
This is so neat! I will definitely pass this on to a few of my horse-y friends. They always have boots which need polishing!
Now if only I could find a saddle soap recipe!
Hi Katie!
So glad you enjoyed this tutorial, and I hope your friends love it as well! Thanks for the suggestion regarding saddle soap…I will look into it 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Here’s a link to a saddle soap recipe that I’ve thought about trying.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/homemade-saddle-soap.aspx
Hi Amanda!
Thanks for sharing this with us 🙂 We will look into it!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Awesome project! Thanks so much! Maybe a weird question, but would adding a Bramble Berry fragrance oil (or essential oil) harm the leather? Not that you’d be able to smell it on your shoes! But perhaps on a leather jacket or even wallet? Thanks so much! 🙂
Hi Ginny!
While adding fragrance to this recipe is a fun idea, I would not recommend it because it’s possible the fragrance could do weird things to the leather. I would hate for it to do something weird to an awesome piece of leather, so to be safe I wouldn’t 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
I wonder if Bramble Berry’s Natural Indigo Powder would work for a Navy Blue?
Hi Tess!
I think the Natural Indigo Powder would work well! That being said, even using the polish without a colorant made a huge difference in the leather! 🙂
Natural Indigo Powder:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Natural-Indigo-Powder-P5727.aspx
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
What a great idea! I love how it’s all natural ingredients.
Hi Monica!
I love this recipe as well for that exact reason, and it was so incredibly easy to make! Perfect for a beginner crafter.
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
What a great idea! Does Bramble Berry carry a navy blue oxide? I have navy blue shoes that get scuffed during my day as a teacher and I can’t find navy blue shoe polish anywhere! Would love to make this boot polish in navy blue!
Hi Suzanne!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 While we do not have a Navy Blue Oxide, we do have a Natural Indigo Powder that would probably work really well!
Natural Indigo Powder:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Natural-Indigo-Powder-P5727.aspx
We also found that while adding the colorant certainly helped the color, even the clear polish made a huge difference! So you could always just try it without a colorant as well 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Thanks, Amanda, for your help. I definitely will try the natural indigo powder.
This is awesome! Thank you for expanding my ideas of what I can make at home!
Hi Margaret!
I’m so happy we could inspire you to create new things from home! This was such a fun and easy project, I hope you give it a try!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Would there be a natural substitute for the oxides? Activated charcoal? Is there anything wrong with using yellow beeswax? I don’t like the bleaching process.
Hi Erica!
You could certainly use yellow beeswax instead. While oxides are made in a lab, they are considered “nature identical” meaning they are the exact same chemical structure as the platelet minerals found in the earth. But they are created in a lab to ensure purity.
If you wanted to use activated charcoal instead I’m sure that would be fine, just be sure to mix extremely well. We also found that micronizing our pigments first helped to disperse them throughout the mixture. If you give activated charcoal a try, let us know how it turns out!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
I just bought some shoe polish the other day and thought, “I bet I could make this myself with the great supplies I get from BrambleBerry!”
And now I know I was right! 🙂
Thanks for sharing – great info.
Hi Elizabeth!
Isn’t it amazing how many things you can easily make, rather than buy? I’m so happy to hear you will be giving this recipe a try in the future 🙂
Happy Soaping!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Ha ha ha I did this for the hubby a few weeks ago. Turns out some of the ingredients in commercial made stuff isn’t so good for leather. He loves it!!!
Hi Chris!
I’m happy to hear you gave this a try and had good results, it was a really fun project to work on 🙂
Happy Soaping!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
I’m always just amazed at the variety of projects you all come up with – awesome – I want to try this one. And I have to say that I just love that all the ingredients can always be added to the cart with one click! Wonderful.
Hi Michael!
I’m so glad to hear you’re interested in making this boot polish. It was such a fun, and incredibly easy project! I’m also glad to hear you find the “add to cart” feature helpful 🙂
Happy Soaping!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry