If the robustness of your pair of cowboy boots made you believe that they can protect themselves on their own, then it is not correct. Dirt and dust are the worst enemies of your boots. You can maintain your boots in three ways—conditioning, cleaning, and polishing.
Conditioning
If you do not care to condition your cowboy boots, be ready to lose the boots' quality. When you do not condition your boots, both dust and dirt will get into the leather, and that will dry out the fibers that give your boots the durable quality.
After you clean and dry your boots, apply a conditioner to get into the leather through the pores. With a conditioner, the leather can preserve its soft and flexible nature.
You will never want your boot color to fade or change color over time, so use conditioners that are lanolin-based to prevent your boots from changing colors.
If your pair of cowboy boots are dark in color, it is good to use oil-based conditioners. It will further darken your boot.
It is easy to apply a conditioner to your boots. Put some conditioner onto a soft cloth and rub it on the boot. And for dry boots, you might need to apply more conditioner as they absorb conditioner at a fast rate.
Cleaning
When you own a pair of cowboy boots, you cannot escape cleaning them. It makes no sense to put on a dirty pair of boots. To clean your leather cowboy boots, you need a soft brush or a damp cloth to clean off dirt and dust buildup. Keep in mind that stuff, like dirt and dust, can damage your boots.
If your boots accumulated mud cakes all over, then a damp cloth will not help. Instead, it is good to use a toothbrush to remove the mud more effectively. If, however, the toothbrush fails, shoe cleaner is the best choice.
Polishing
Polishing is not a part of the cleaning process. It transforms a dull-looking pair of cowboy boots into a shiny pair that can become handy if you are going for a formal event wearing your cowboy boots.
With polishing, you can also remove deep scratches, but the polish has to match the boots' texture and color. But, ensure that you apply the polish in thin layers until your boots exhibit the best shiny finish.
But before buying a pair of boots, you should make yourself clear about whether you need a pair of cowboy boots or work boots. And it will help if you acquaint yourself with the difference between both the boot types.
Refer to the infographic in this post for know-how cowboy and work boots are different.
