Altberg give great advice about looking after your Boots.
Drying Leather When Wet:
NEVER dry quickly. NEVER dry near heat or in a warm place. NEVER force dry in any way. If your boots are wet, put them in a cool dry place like a shed or garage for at least 24hrs, you can screw up some old newspaper and push inside to assist drying. Drying them is a warm centrally heated house will make them dry more quickly but you risk the leather shrinking and cracking. When dry, use leder gris on the boots to feed and protect the leather.
NEVER store boots without first treating them with Leder-Gris or Leder-Bök.
REMEMBER drying boots too quickly can shrink the boots (if you are in a very hot climate cover the boots with a damp cloth after you take them off to slow down the rate of moisture evaporation - e.g. Desert boots).
For suede, nubuck and fabric parts of boots, we recommend only Altberg Leder-Bök. Use when boots are damp - slow down drying, especially in hot countries.
If leather is constantly going through a wet/dry cycle, hardening will eventually occur and flex cracking across the joint is inevitable. However, the time before this hardening/cracking occurs can be extended by regular use of Altberg Leder-Gris Wax (green label) and in more arduous conditions occasional use of Altberg Leder-Gris Xtreme (red label).
Altberg Leather Treatment
WE DO NOT RECOMMEND KIWI OR SIMILAR BRANDS OF "SHOE SHINE WAX".
WE RECOMMEND REGULAR USE OF ALTBERG LEDER GRIS GREEN LABEL WAX - it has been specifically developed for the type of water repellent leathers we use. For a better shine and ideal for use on boots used at the barracks you can use 'Leder Glos' which produces a better shine.
Leder Gris
Use Leder Gris for operational and training boots. We recommend you brush in the Leder Gris when the leather is just dry or almost dry. Use the brush to work the wax oils into the leather, brush vigorously to drive into and below the leather surface. With Leder Gris MOD Brown apply and buff the polish with the same brush, do not use a cloth or duster, Do not use a brush that has been used previously to apply black polish.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU ALWAYS TREAT WITH ALTBERG LEDER GRIS BEFORE STORAGE OF BOOTS
Leder Glos
We recommend Leder Glos for barrack use. It will give your boots a high shine especially at the toe and heel. Repeated use will increase the level of shine.
Apply with a brush - leave for 5 minutes then brush vigorously - leave for 10 minutes then buff with a soft dry polishing cloth. Repeated treatment over many days will increase the level of gloss.
Suede Boots
REMEMBER drying boots too quickly can shrink the boots. .
If you are in a very hot climate cover the boots with a damp cloth after you take them off to slow down the rate of moisture evaporation - e.g. suede or nubuk boots. Spray boots with Leder-Bök before use, especially in the seams and where the boot flexes.
NEVER dry near heat.
NEVER force dry in any way.
NEVER leave boots in direct sunlight.
ALWAYS dry slowly, in the shade.
ALWAYS treat boots with Leder-Bök before use.
In this video the Altberg bootmaker shares his experience of problems that can occur with suede boots in hot climates - and the need for retention of some moisture in the boot where ambient temperature, even in shade, is higher.