OK, I just got this very cool pair of leather cowboy boots from a thrift store. They’re tan leather, in excellent condition, and were super cheap. The problem is, one of them was in the shop window, apparently for an extended period of time, and it has faded. As a result, one boot is significantly lighter than the other. The darker one has a reddish tinge to it, while the faded one is, to me, a more pleasing tan shade.
My question is, can I do anything to make the boots the same color? Short of sitting the other boot in a window for 2 months, which I may do if no one has any better ideas? Will polish alone work? Can a shoemaker do anything about this that I couldn’t do myself? Advice needed please.
Talk to your cobbler and find out what the most mild sort of saddle soap is. You will want to apply the faintest bit of sheen to the faded boot. If it goes totally dark on you then you will need to dress the other boot as well. In fact, you may wish to have the cobbler do this job. They are expert at exactly this sort of work.
It might take three or four applications to “balance” the tone of both boots’ leather. For what you probably paid, it should be worth it.
Considering I paid $2.50, and these are beautiful boots, yeah, I wouldn’t mind putting out a little cash to make them look nice. The funny thing about the fading is, it seems not just to have lightened the one boot but to have bleached it-- it went from reddish tan to a lighter shade of tan with no red at all. That’s why just saddle soap alone might not do it.
At all of $2.[sup]50[/sup], your cobbler is definitely the one you want to talk with.