Taking care of turnshoes

[Lonestan]

I just made my first turnshoe (actually, I'm quite proud of this!), and I remember reading somewhere about using beeswax to help pro tect the leather. Can anyone give me some hints on doing this - I seem to remember something about lworking the wax in until the leather is sated.
Thanks in advance for anything you've got.

[Gagglewrangler]

i give mine a good going over with a decent leather feed before putting away at the end of the season, then after use each time clean with saddle soap, dry & then give a fresh feed coat before putting away. they were a pair of Ana's budget ones way back in 2003 & still look almost like new, just the soles showing a little wear.

[Tod]

Use dubbin on the leather and rub beeswax on the thread. Simple.

[Lonestan]

Thanks, gents.

[kate/bob]

I've been lead to believe that you shouldn't use dubbin on linen thread as it rots it. We use clear boot polish on our turn shoes and they've lasted long enough to have to be re-soled due to wear.

[Lonestan]

To be honest, the boys will grow out of their shoes far sooner than they would need to be resoled (I'm saying a prayer that I've put enough growth room in for the shoes to last the season!), but I want to keep them in good nick so I might be able to sell them on afterwards.

[Tod]

Dubbin, neatsfoot etc doesn't rot linen thread, or at least you don't need to worry about it. What does happen is the wax/resin mix gets washed out of the thread and then it breaks. Hence why rubbing it with beeswax works.
By the way WD40 doesn't make metal rust - another story I've read.

[Medicus Matt]

By the way WD40 doesn't make metal rust - another story I've read.

No, but it does go sticky and leads to bits of grit, sand and assorted crap getting stuck to your surfaces, which leads to more rapid wear....which I suppose may be what happens with dubbin or other fat or wax based compounds on thread if you leave gobbets of it in the seams rather than rubbing it in properly.

But no, I've never had thread rot from dubbin or neatsfoot oil.
The old cheap n crappy Neatsfoot COMPOUND, yes. Some of those were cut with mineral oils which could rot linen fibres, but they didn't do the leather much good either.

[kate/bob]

The old cheap n crappy Neatsfoot COMPOUND, yes. Some of those were cut with mineral oils which could rot linen fibres, but they didn't do the leather much good either. - maybe that's where it came from!

[steven pole]

I make a groovy paste for turnshoes, made from heated neatsfoot oil (straight from the butcher) with 1/3 bees wax stirred into it. Used it for years luv.

[Mark Griffin]

The 'dubbin rots linen thread' is an old wives tale, poss a reenactorism. No idea why it came into being but it works fine.

WD40 can stave off rust on its own but is an attractant for dust and grit and sundry crud. That can help to wick moisture onto the metal you are trying to prevent but worse, where moving parts are concerned, it turns into a polishing compound and can wear your item away. Modrn weapons should never be cleaned with it and certainly don't spray it into airsoft weapons, it melts the gears!


I say WaxOyl every time for armour, more specialist items need specialist oils.