How to use Dubbin on football boots

What is Dubbin?

Dubbing wax – also called ‘dubbin’ in short – is a classic care product made from oil, tallow and natural wax, traditionally used to soften, condition and waterproof leather. As far back as the middle ages, people were using dubbin to lift the look of their worn-out leather items, extend their lifespan and restore their shine and suppleness.

Besides reinforcing the waterproofing of your football boots, dubbin is designed to protect boots from dirt and stain accumulation, as well as refreshing the look of the leather by making it suppler.

Things you'll need: Clean leather football boots, dubbin or leather lube, a dry cloth to apply the dubbin, another to remove/buff excess dubbin - optional extras are boot brushes from any cobbler or supermarket.

How to apply Dubbin or Leather Lube on football boots

In order to achieve the best results, use our fewer-than-10 simple steps below on how to correctly apply dubbin/dubbing wax or leather lube to your football boots:

1. Clean your boots. Before starting the treatment, clean your leather football boots thoroughly and ensure they are completely dry.
2. If needed, heat up the Dubbin. Apply a small amount of heat to the dubbin to loosen it up and aid the wax’s penetration of your leather boot if you have purchased a particularly hard wax dubbin. A hairdryer works great for this, but take care! You don’t want to melt the dubbin! Some manufacturers produce ‘Leather Lube’ which is a much softer version of Dubbin. We use Leather Lube here at Patronus Sports.
3. Rub in the Dubbin. Use a cloth to gently and evenly rub a small amount of dubbing wax to the surface of your leather boots. Pay attention to the area where the sole meets the upper as well.
4. Use sparingly. Dubbing wax will always leave an oily film on leather surfaces, so it should be used sparingly to avoid making a mess. Too much treatment slathered onto the boots may also negatively affect their quality. It’s better to apply very thin coatings, one at a time, so you can control how much dubbin ends up on your boots.
5. Repeat the gentle rubbing process for as many times as necessary.
6. Leave the dubbin on to dry for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
7. The leather will absorb the dubbin like our skin absorbs moisturiser. After you’ve checked that the surface of the boots has absorbed the dubbin or leather lube, use a new dry cloth to buff off the excess dubbin to bring out the shine. You can see the difference between the boot that has had Dubbin applied to it on the left of the picture below and the standard boot on the right. The 'Dubbed' boot has more of a shine.
8. Polish (optional). If you’d like to go a step further in the maintenance and boost the shiny new look of your boots, why not opt for a coating of leather-friendly boot polish on your black boots?
9. Match ready! Now that your boots are rejuvenated and looking as good as new, it’s time to head on to the pitch to show them off and to enjoy the benefits of your dubbing wax treatment while playing (and hopefully winning).