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How To Clean Suede Cowboy Boots? 5 Simple Steps

By: Author Jay Gatz

Posted on  - Last updated:

How To Clean Suede Cowboy Boots? 5 Simple Steps

Cleaning leather cowboy boots is never an easy task. With suede cowboy boots, it is even more challenging.

Cowboy boots made from suede are popular with many people because suede is softer, more comfortable, and it has a refined look than leather.

Those are the advantages of suede cowboy boots. Their disadvantages will appear in the rainy and winter seasons. And it takes a lot of care for your suede cowboy boots to survive these wet seasons!

Don’t worry, we’ll cover that for you. In today’s topic, we will show you how to clean suede cowboy boots in the simplest ways.

Shall we?

How to Clean Suede Cowboy Boots

Suede is not like normal leather, it is the inner surface of animal skin (or specially made from animal skin).

Suede cowboy boots have many strong points. They are cooler, softer and more comfortable. Also, it takes less time to break in suede boots.

However, suede is vulnerable to water. It degrades faster than leather, or loses shape, hardens and cracks when exposed to water.

So, the first thing to remember is to keep clean suede boots away from water.

Don’t use water to clean them. Instead, you should use specialized products to protect them better.

The specialized products keep suede cowboy boot shape. They keep your boots smooth, not hard, cracked or moldy, thus increasing suede life.

So make sure you take good care of your suede cowboy boots before and after you wear them!

Read more: How to clean muddy cowboy boots?

Advantages of suede cowboy boots

  • Soft, velvety, natural and uniform in color
  • Suede is usually thicker and more durable than normal leather
  • Bring wearers a youthful and dynamic style
  • Warm in cold and wet weather
  • Suede doesn’t discolor as quickly as normal leather, it can hold color longer.
  • Environmentally friendly.

Disadvantages of suede cowboy boots

  • Easily absorb water or get damaged in the rain
  • Easily get dirty and difficult to clean
  • Not elastic material
  • The price is higher than other skin types.

Instructions for cleaning suede cowboy boots

There are 5 basic steps to clean suede cowboy boots:

Step 1: Prepare specialized products to clean suede

In terms of use, the dedicated suede brush helps clean stains easily and quickly. Besides, it keeps the suede smooth, free from scratches, etc.

Suede cleaner keeps your boots clean, removes any stubborn stains and especially your boots can avoid getting wet.

Suede conditioner helps cowboy boots retain bright colors, keeping suede durable, soft and silky.

Notably, the conditioner keeps the suede waterproof, thus preventing sudden obnoxious rains. It also protects your suede boots when you wear them in winter.

Step 2: Use a dedicated brush to remove dirt

Use a special brush to scrub the surface of suede cowboy boots, making sure that large stains are removed.

Suede brush

You can spray a thin layer of warm water over the surface to make it easy to scrub and remove stains.

But, be aware that if you are trying to remove mud from the suede cowboy boots, then remove when it is dry. If you get the mud wet, the suede will become even more dirty because the mud spreads.

Note:

In case the suede’s nap has a fixed direction (usually women’s cowboy boots for fashion), you should use a brush to brush in that direction to ensure the suede is not damaged or tarnished.

But if the suede’s nap is short and there’s no obvious direction (usually work boots), you can brush in any direction, but I recommend brushing in a circular motion.

Step 3: Use a suede eraser to clean nooks and crannies

Suede cowboy boots are very easy to get dirty in seam and welt, these are hard-to-reach positions for bristles to clean. That’s when you need a dedicated eraser.

A man is holding suede eraser and suede brush

Specialized erasers work to clean dry stains, restore the original texture of suede and make the suede bright.

Remember to use the eraser to scrub gently and thoroughly at the seam and welt. Use the eraser and the special brush, and repeat steps 1 and 2 until you see that the suede cowboy boots are clean.

Step 4: Apply a suede cleaner

Now it’s time to use the suede cleaner, apply it evenly to the surface of your suede cowboy boots.

After applying, take the specialized brush to gently scrub the suede surface and remove all remaining stubborn stains.

Use the suede cleaner and the dedicated brush to clean the entire cowboy boot surface.

To finish this process, grab a dry cloth to wipe around suede cowboy boots again.

This will ensure the suede cowboy boots don’t get moldy, making the suede softer and smoother.

Step 5: Apply suede conditioner

Your cowboy boots are now completely clean. But don’t forget to apply conditioner, this is an important step to care for your boots.

After applying conditioner to suede cowboy boots, take the suede brush to scrub the surface of the boots again. This ensures the conditioner will penetrate deeply into the suede.

The conditioner will help other suede boots fix their weakest point: Water. Suede boots are easier to get dirty and wet than normal leather, so the conditioner helps them fight off.

Besides, the conditioner will make your suede boots softer and more durable and increase their life.

So don’t forget to use them, this is a very important step!

Apply a thin layer to the surface of the suede and it’s done!

Some note when cleaning suede cowboy boots

  • Don’t polish the suede cowboy boots or they might get damaged and ugly
  • Don’t use a hairdryer to dry suede cowboy boots, high temperatures will make the suede dry and crack quickly.
Cowboy Boot Suede Leather Cleaning

Some ways to preserve suede cowboy boots you need to know

Choose a dry place to store suede cowboy boots. This is also a ventilated place because suede needs to breathe.

Wet suede cowboy boots need to be handled immediately as soon as you get home.

There are 3 common ways to dry your boots:

  • Use a boot dryer:

If you have a lot of boots and wear them in the wet seasons (rain or winter). You won’t have time to dry each pair of boots. Let’s use a boot dryer to dry all of them.

Boot dryer

  • Use boot trees:

This is a very common way when suede boots are damp. Once your suede boots get wet, they are easily damaged and lose their shape. Boot trees will solve that.

Mens boot tree from Tecovas

Image copyright Tecovas Boot Company | #CommissionEarned | Click image for more info

  • Use household powder (cornstarch, talcum powder, baby powder):

If the suede cowboy boots are damp and you don’t have the above items on hand, sprinkle some household powder inside boots and leave overnight. Next morning, you will have your boots dry. Don’t forget to tuck an extra toilet paper inside to keep the shape of your suede cowboy boots.

baby powder

  • Use natural wind

You can use the natural wind to dry suede cowboy boots. This is an easy and common way, but it is quite time-consuming.

You can also use vinegar mixed with water in a 1:1 ratio and then use that solution with a suede brush to remove stubborn stains.

vinegar

Remember to use the boot shaper to keep the suede cowboy boots in shape after each cleaning.

Read more: How to care for cowboy boots?

What household items can I use to clean suede cowboy boots?

Actually, we don’t recommend using household items to clean your cowboy boots. But in an emergency, you can apply some methods to fix your suede cowboy boots.

However, don’t overdo them or they might affect the suede quality in the long run.

Cleaning methods include using powder items, vinegar and water, a pencil eraser, a nail file, a scouring pad or… the refrigerator.

You can refer to other cleaning suede methods using household items here, we have a very thorough guide.

If your suede boots are dry and stiff, you can create a milk and lemon juice mixture, dip a towel into it, and wipe evenly over the surface of your suede boots.

Or you can also use peeled potatoes to rub against the surface of suede, which will fix dry and hard suede cowboy boots.

Some tips you need to remember when wearing suede cowboy boots

A woman wears slit dress with suede cowboy boots

  • Wear socks

Wearing socks help your feet avoid sweating, which prevents suede boots from getting wet.

  • Spray suede protector before going out

Don’t forget to spray a layer of a suede protector over the surface of suede cowboy boots before going out. The suede protector makes boots resistant to dirt and sudden rain.

Before you leave

Caring for and cleaning suede cowboy boots might be difficult, but in return, you will get the best results. Suede has advantages that leather doesn’t have.

In general, remember when cleaning or storing suede boots, you need to keep them dry, that’s the most important thing to remember.

Knowing how to clean suede cowboy boots, you can solve all the problems of cowboy boots during the rainy or snowy season.

If you have any problems, new methods or questions, please let us know. We always welcome you here.