Cooking oil spill on Alden 405s

[lankywookiee]

After an accidental cooking oil spill in the canteen at work I found myself with horrible dark oil blotches on the side of one of my 405 boots. I initially tried both talc and leather degreaser to remove the marks but to no avail.

Being a new member here I trawled the forum for ideas of what I could do and am pleased with the results I have achieved drawing from all your wise words!

My first move after the leather degreaser (which faded the stains a little but also started to remove colour) was to try Alden dark brown boot cream to try and darken the boots up a little and hopefully hide the stains. Initially I found the boot cream a little uneven so after the application I then cleaned the boots with a lexol cleaner wipe followed by a lexol conditioner wipe. This evened out the colour a fair bit and also brought the stitching back out as well. It gave the boots quite a nice antique look but alas the stains, although now a bit more subdued, still shone through.

I decided my next move was to go down the obenauf's leather oil route. I had seen some examples by you guys on here of the darkening results the oil has achieved so I figured I'd fight cooking oil with leather oil!

And I'm glad I did! Not only am I happy that the cooking oil stains no longer stand out but I'm happier with the new colour of the boots.

Here are the boots pre-staining


Here are the dastardly stains



And here is the end result after all of the processes



Without the help of this forum I would still probably be looking down in disappointment at the stains, so thanks everyone for all the useful tips and tricks on here!

[Michaelson]

Looks great!

Keep in mind, Lexol is a water based condition/cleaner, so you were, indeed, fighting a losing battle with an oil based stain.

You chose the right route.

Regard! Michaelson

[lankywookiee]

Thanks

You're quite right, just using the lexol would have been pointless for the stains, it made no difference to them at all!

I did find the lexol evened out the Alden boot cream quite nicely and brightened up the stitching after the boot cream darkened them way too much though so at least a little good came out of using it.

[Indiana Jeff]

The darker color is very nice. Glad that worked out for you.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Capt. Blumburtt]

After an accidental cooking oil spill in the canteen at work I found myself with horrible dark oil blotches on the side of one of my 405 boots. I initially tried both talc and leather degreaser to remove the marks but to no avail.

Being a new member here I trawled the forum for ideas of what I could do and am pleased with the results I have achieved drawing from all your wise words!

My first move after the leather degreaser (which faded the stains a little but also started to remove colour) was to try Alden dark brown boot cream to try and darken the boots up a little and hopefully hide the stains. Initially I found the boot cream a little uneven so after the application I then cleaned the boots with a lexol cleaner wipe followed by a lexol conditioner wipe. This evened out the colour a fair bit and also brought the stitching back out as well. It gave the boots quite a nice antique look but alas the stains, although now a bit more subdued, still shone through.

I decided my next move was to go down the obenauf's leather oil route. I had seen some examples by you guys on here of the darkening results the oil has achieved so I figured I'd fight cooking oil with leather oil!

And I'm glad I did! Not only am I happy that the cooking oil stains no longer stand out but I'm happier with the new colour of the boots.

Here are the boots pre-staining


Here are the dastardly stains



And here is the end result after all of the processes



Without the help of this forum I would still probably be looking down in disappointment at the stains, so thanks everyone for all the useful tips and tricks on here!

Hey! I saw these a while back and always wanted to ask how they are looking now. Did the color stay dark like that? I have a new pair that are quite orange and I wanted to darken them up without the stitching changing as well.

[Chewbacca Jones]

Hey, look at that. New Indy boots, and at a fraction of the cost!

[lankywookiee]

Hey! I saw these a while back and always wanted to ask how they are looking now. Did the color stay dark like that? I have a new pair that are quite orange and I wanted to darken them up without the stitching changing as well.

Hi Capt. Blumburtt!
They stayed dark but the reddishness has slowly crept back through over time. Here's a couple of pictures of their current state...

[Forrest For the Trees]

I read the title of your thread and thought, that's no big deal, just treat the boots in leather oil.

[Capt. Blumburtt]

Hey! I saw these a while back and always wanted to ask how they are looking now. Did the color stay dark like that? I have a new pair that are quite orange and I wanted to darken them up without the stitching changing as well.

Hi Capt. Blumburtt!
They stayed dark but the reddishness has slowly crept back through over time. Here's a couple of pictures of their current state...

Wow those turned out really well! I love that color. It encourages me to do the same. Thanks!