How To Clean Alpinestars Boots

Your boots take a lot of abuse. From water to mud to rocks and snow, Adventure boots have to be like tires for your feet, yet comfortable enough to wear all day. We demand a lot from our footwear and we wanted to see if there were any ways we could return the favor. Meaning, just like a bike, consistent maintenance can prolong the use of your not-so-cheap foot wrappers. Also, while you are scrubbing away you can check for cracks, loose screws, and damaged hinges. We talked with one of Alpinestars' product specialists Dominic Cimino to see what they officially advise as proper boot care.

Put The Harsh Chemicals Down

"First off, we do not recommend any type of chemical/cleaners/treatments to use on our boots. It could jeopardize the quality of the materials we use, and potentially cause problems that are out of our control."

Mild, Not Wild

Adventure Motorcycle

"Cleaning can be done with water and a mild soap if needed. Good ole' fashioned elbow grease does the job most of the time, but we have used diluted Simple Green before, or even small quantities of Dawn dish soap."

Lose The Sole To Dry

"As for drying, besides using one of those fancy boot stands, or a fan, there is no secret to getting them to dry out faster. The obvious sun exposure helps, along with making sure no sole inserts are left inside if they need to be dried out."

While Astars takes a very conservative approach to boot care, we can add a few extra tips that have worked for us. Stuffing newspaper in wet boots can help suck out some of the moisture before your next ride. Also, if the your boot buckles are getting hard to close, there is no harm in spraying a little WD-40 or other water displacing light lubricant on the buckle hinge.

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Oiled Leather Isn't So Special

We've talked with boot specialist at both Alpinestars and TCX and both have said that there are no extra procedures or additives needed to keep your oiled leather boots in tip-top shape. Just treat them like any other motorcycle boot – no need to re-apply any kind of coating. If you search "oiled leather boot care" there are plenty of companies showing you how to apply a special cleaner, then a special oil, then a special sealant, but the boots they are using are not technical motorcycle footwear. Most are just standard casual leather boots that need a lot of fussing over.

Author: Sean Klinger

With his sights set on doing what he loved for a living, Sean left college with a BA in Journalism and dirt bike in his truck. After five years at a dirt-only motorcycle magazine shooting, testing, writing, editing, and a little off-road racing, he has switched gears to bigger bikes and longer adventures. He'll probably get lost a few times but he'll always have fun doing it. Two wheels and adventure is all he needs.