I wanted to make a quick post about how we care for boy’s Bisgaard leather winter shoes. We are using Bisgaard TEX boots for the third winter and are extremely happy with them — the boys spend up about 6 hours outside 3-5 days a week all through the winter and their feet never got cold or wet, the shoes are lightweight and have excellent grip. You can see more photos and details abut these winter boots for children here and here.
The pair of shoes in the photo are on their 2nd winter. They are used extensively each week due to how much time our kids spend outside while attending forest school. And with us living in the Rocky Mountains I think our terrain is particularly rough on the outdoor gear. Yet, the shoes are holding together wonderfully.
Recently I realized I never shared how we care for them. The care is really quite simple, but I think it makes a big difference in keeping the shoes waterproof and lasting for a long time in good condition.
Clean after each outdoor use
We wipe our shoes clean with a damp cloth after each extensive use, whether we were in the snow or with no snow. Afterwards we leave them in the shoe tray for few hours or overnight so that surface layer can dry.
Applying FRYE weather balm
After some time when I see that the leather is dry I generously apply waterproof balm by Frye with an old tooth brush. After some time, I wiped off the excess of the balm with a dry cloth buffing the surface along the way. And that is all. 🙂
Note about FRYE weather balm: I really like this product as it works wonderfully, but also because it comes in a tin instead of plastic container.
Repeat after each extensive use
We do this after each day at the forest school (5-6 hours of running around) and the shoes remain in great shape. I recommend doing this even if the outdoor conditions were dry, as cleaning the leather from dust and dirty, and then conditioning it with this cream keeps it nice and soft.
Before and After
Below you can see on the photo the difference the Frye weatherproof balm made.
Thanks for this post! Do you know the ingredients of that leather conditioner? I have been trying to find a non-toxic leather conditioner that would be suitable for children’s vegetable tanned leathers that would not be harmful if the toddler accidently put their shoes near their mouth.
I have read about using coconut oil. Have you tried this? Do you have other ideas?
Thank you!
Thank you for asking that. I never even considered the ingredients, may be because I already owned that cream from few years prior to having kids. So I ended up using it and it has worked really well for us.
I looked up on the tin to see if they list ingredients. They say it is oil-based and also that it contains petroleum distillates. The latter does seem to have all sorts of health issue associated with it. Fortunately, I am the one who applies it, but the kids do touch the shoes when they are putting them on. So I would be looking at something less chemical for the next winter. Thank you for drawing my attention to that.