Spent more than I usually would on a pair of leather boots and after two days of wearing them there's a hard crease across the toe that looks like it's been there for years. It's not painful and they feel comfortable, but it looks worn out. Sized to what the shop measured, with about a thumb's width in front of my longest toe. Did I get the size wrong or is this normal?
The one thing that genuinely worries me in your post is nothing you mentioned. Creasing is cosmetic. Watch instead for the crease going white or feeling papery — that's dry leather about to crack, and that is a real problem. A light conditioner before that point costs a few pounds.
Noted. What's a reasonable interval for boots worn maybe twice a week through a wet winter?
Every six to eight weeks in a wet winter, less in summer. Thin coat, let it sit overnight, buff it off. Over-conditioning makes leather soft and saggy so don't overdo it.
Two wears is fast but not alarming. Creasing is where the foot flexes and everyone's flex point is a bit different — if yours is a high-arched foot with a strong toe-off, you'll crease harder and earlier than the photos on the shop's website, which are of unworn boots.
Whatever you do, don't try to iron or heat the crease out. It's a recurring bit of advice online and the best case is nothing happens, the worst case is you scorch the finish permanently.
@bobbin_bind · 2mo ago · 3 replies
Normal, and the depth of the crease is mostly about the leather rather than the fit. Full grain leather with a firm finish creases in a few sharp lines. Softer or corrected grain creases into many fine ones. Neither is a defect and neither is reversible.
What you can do is stop it getting worse and stop it cracking:
If you have unusually deep single creases across the whole toe and lots of movement inside, that can be too much length. A thumb's width is right though.
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@carbon_steel_kit · 2mo ago
Bought trees the same day. The crease is still there but it's noticeably less sharp after a week of using them.
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@curl_chemist · 2mo ago
Warm-boot insertion is the detail people miss. Trees do most of their work in the first hour while the leather is still damp from your foot.
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