To blacken or not to blacken

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LHistorian
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Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:49 am
Location: US of A

To blacken or not to blacken

Post by LHistorian »

Howdy folks! Just a quick question on boots.... I have myself some brand new 2nd generation german low boots, and they are as brown as can be. So does one leave them as is? or should I blacken them?

And If I do the latter, anyone have any good recipes on how to go about it? :?:
die Wille Gottes wird nie nehmen Sie, wo die Gnade Gottes wird Sie nicht schützen.
~~~~~~
Put a German soldier into a box. Close it as tight as you can.

Write on it´s top the warning: " DO NOT OPEN! ONLY IN CASE OF WAR!"
Tommy
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Location: Wiltshire

Re: To blacken or not to blacken

Post by Tommy »

As the war went on, it was common for boots to be issued in natural leather (it saved time and materials). They will darken with the application of lederfat, but if you want to blacken them, here is a good method to use:
http://www.dererstezug.com/blackeningboots.htm
SplinterA
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:35 pm
Location: UK

Re: To blacken or not to blacken

Post by SplinterA »

You should blacken them.
Beige boots have no place in WW2 German re-enacting.
They are a fundament of farb.
Halle
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Location: Sud west

Re: To blacken or not to blacken

Post by Halle »

Untreated beige boots are , indeed , an eyesore - however , to assume all half boots were worn only black , is , of course , nonsense ....
Jäger Stefan Halle 3./I./Geb.Jag.Reg.100
SplinterA
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Location: UK

Re: To blacken or not to blacken

Post by SplinterA »

I agree Halle, untreated boots is what I meant. It was just quicker to say blacken.
If you just apply black polish to the beige boot you get, certainly on the smooth out uppers, a nice deep brown shade that deepens with time. The rough out toes take the polish better and they go black more quickly. That's without dying the leather. Apply dubbin or lederfett over that and you get, what is to my eyes, a handsome boot.
The change in the regulation that came in saying the blacking of boots was to be suspended was not an instruction not to polish or weather proof your boots. Just to abstain from dying them first. You wouldn't last a week in combat with untreated boots. Der Speiss, if not the weather would have you. The mind set was different, people were used to cleaning and polishing their foot ware. For many a good pair of boots were a thing of great value. I probably have more pairs of boots for re-enacting than most people back then saw in their adult life.
Every army I can think of had serious concerns over the condition of its soldiers feet.
dixiedrummer
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Location: Missouri, USA

Re: To blacken or not to blacken

Post by dixiedrummer »

These are my Berger lows. Not blackened, just weatherproofed with some original Lederfett and a couple other things. I think they look better like this than dyed jet black.

Image
Image
Halle
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Location: Sud west

Re: To blacken or not to blacken

Post by Halle »

Nice looking boots Dixie drummer - I agree with you , a bit of Lederfett , beeswax etc ., and a lot of wear , and they come up a treat . I treated all my boots with Lederbalsam , had the same effect :D
Jäger Stefan Halle 3./I./Geb.Jag.Reg.100
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LHistorian
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Location: US of A

Re: To blacken or not to blacken

Post by LHistorian »

Vielen dank chaps! helped out a million!! :D

Really interested in the Lederbalsam application for the boots, think I'll give that a go and see if that works. Halle, you have any recommendations on applying it? did a quick google search on it and this was a prominent result: http://www.doversaddlery.com/effax-lede ... /X1-31118/ : this the stuff?

Thanks folks!
die Wille Gottes wird nie nehmen Sie, wo die Gnade Gottes wird Sie nicht schützen.
~~~~~~
Put a German soldier into a box. Close it as tight as you can.

Write on it´s top the warning: " DO NOT OPEN! ONLY IN CASE OF WAR!"
dixiedrummer
Posts: 107
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:23 pm
Location: Missouri, USA

Re: To blacken or not to blacken

Post by dixiedrummer »

Thanks Halle.

LHistorian- what I do is put my oven on the lowest setting (no higher than 170), put my boots in there for a bit to warm them up and apply the letterfett. The heat opens the pores of the leather and it absorbs the conditioner better.
Halle
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Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:57 pm
Location: Sud west

Re: To blacken or not to blacken

Post by Halle »

That's interesting Dixiedrummer , never heated my boots before ! - when I apply the lederbalsam ive found the raw leather is " hungry " , and soaksbit up easily . I do it regularly , all over - including the soles ( very important to keep the nails/cleats in place , they fall out if the leather shrinks ) Keep em clean , apply the fat , and polish ( you can retain a bit of a shine that way if you brush them regularly ) , and that should do it !

Interestingly , when my first pair of Bergschue got wet in snow ( feet stayed dry ) , they lost a lot of fat and lightened in colour - after I reapplied plenty of fat though , they darkened considerably , and don't lose colour any more .
Jäger Stefan Halle 3./I./Geb.Jag.Reg.100
dixiedrummer
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Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:23 pm
Location: Missouri, USA

Re: To blacken or not to blacken

Post by dixiedrummer »

I mainly do that with the beeswax based waterproofing products. It helps the wax kind of melt into the boot and makes it easier to spread around.
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