Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

I need to condition my Lundhag's Abisku boots. They are full grain leather and either Nubuck or suede. Lundhags recommends either of these:

Leather Grease:
Made from a traditional recipe in Jämtland with a pleasant tar scent, it penetrates deeply, making the leather softer and water resistant and rejuvenating the leather, giving it longer life. Made from a family recipe of natural ingredients.
Ingredients: Grease is derived from animal fat. Protects and rejuvenates the leather. The Tar is From trees, provides shelf life and protects from rotting. Linseed oil is for water repellancy and Beeswax creates a barrier for environmental influences and gives the leather shine.
Leather Wax:
Provides similar protection but doesn't penetrate as deeply as grease, leaving the leather less softened for a stiffer feel.
Ingredients: Carnauba wax, gives the leather shine, adds water repellency. The Jojoba oil comes from seeds of the Jojoba plant, provides shelf life and temperature resistance. Penetrates and conditions the leather. Wool grease (lanolin) comes from sheep, used for its water proofing properties and protects the leather. The beeswax creates a barrier for environmental influences and gives the leather shine.

I thought I'd go with the wax to maintain the stiffness of the boots but I'll have to order from Europe. Can anyone recommend a more readily accessible product with the same or similar ingredients? If I can't find anything I'll go long-distance, but thought I'd check first.

The Lundhags Abisku boot is not made from full-grain leather it is made from Perwanger suede, an Italian suede leather. Suede is never full-grain leather, it is made from the underside layer of the skin.

Lundhags' full-grain leather is made in Germany by a company called- Josef Heinen Gmbh. It is not used in any of their ski boots (why is anyone's guess).

Swix (Lundhags' Norwegian parent company) sends these German leathers or in this case Italian-suede-leather to Portugal and a shoe factory there makes them into Lundhags boots.

Lundhags offers this advice about suede care-

"Suede Leather
Characteristics: Soft and velvety, made from the inner layer of the hide.
Cleaning: Brush off dirt gently.
Protection: Apply a suede-specific impregnation spray regularly.
Maintenance: Use a special brush after treatment to maintain the “hairy” surface. Avoid heavy waxes to keep the texture."

Lundhags states that each ski boot is made from suede. If you look at the boot in question on their website click on "Materials": for every ski-boot it will say- Perwanger Suede.

Example: Abisku - Materials: Certech 4,5 cellular rubber base, Perwanger suede leather, Rottefella Xplore sole, removable 3mm wool felt inner liner including heal fit control HFC.

Lundhags states-

"What is Perwanger® Suede Leather?
A finer suede leather from cow that is robust, has excellent breathability, is water repellent and hardwearing. Thicknesses of 1.8–2.0 mm."

"What is Full Grain Leather?
Full grain leather uses the best parts of the hide. Nubuck is a full grain leather that has been gently brushed to give the surface a different character. The Nubuck surface breathes better and is easier to re-impregnate. The leather is impregnated directly at the tannery and no fluorocarbons are used in the process, which takes place in a closed system. Thicknesses of 2.0–2.2 mm."

randoskier wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:30 am

Nubuck is a full grain leather that has been gently brushed to give the surface a different character. The Nubuck surface breathes better and is easier to re-impregnate. The leather is impregnated directly at the tannery and no fluorocarbons are used in the process, which takes place in a closed system. Thicknesses of 2.0–2.2 mm."

This is the "nubuck" used on my current Lundhags Juare and Scarpa Kinesis- thick, high-quality, treated full-grain leather.
(There seems to be much confusion and broad use of the term "nubuck".)

The Spray would fit the bill.

"We recommend using our Hydrobloc cream (full grains) or spray (nubucks, split grains and Perwangers)."- Zamberlan

Zamberlan is a hiking/hunting/mountain boot maker here in Italy- near the Perwanger tannery. They use a lot of Perwanger leathers in their products. I wish he would make a Nordic backcountry boot!

Silicone-based or not- my experience is that spray products maintain the aesthetic of soft leathers and split leathers- they do not maintain the leather.

I treat all of my leather with a "cream" product, that penetrates and "nourishes"/maintains leather.

Leather that is treated with a spray will eventually dry out and crack.

Zamberlan do indeed make beautifully-crafted and designed leather footwear!

Over the years I have found that Scarpa's lasts and designs fit my feet better though.

lilcliffy wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 11, 2024 9:35 am

Silicone-based or not- my experience is that spray products maintain the aesthetic of soft leathers and split leathers- they do not maintain the leather.

I treat all of my leather with a "cream" product, that penetrates and "nourishes"/maintains leather.

Leather that is treated with a spray will eventually dry out and crack.

Surprising that Zamberlan is not aware of this spray problem, he knows a bit about leather and the nearby Dolomites here are not so easy on boots (summer or winter).

Perhaps the ingredient in the cream is also in their spray?

https://www.zamberlancanada.ca/page/boo ... S2Xz2Ke8pc

lilcliffy wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 11, 2024 9:24 am

randoskier wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:30 am

Nubuck is a full grain leather that has been gently brushed to give the surface a different character. The Nubuck surface breathes better and is easier to re-impregnate. The leather is impregnated directly at the tannery and no fluorocarbons are used in the process, which takes place in a closed system. Thicknesses of 2.0–2.2 mm."

This is the "nubuck" used on my current Lundhags Juare and Scarpa Kinesis- thick, high-quality, treated full-grain leather.
(There seems to be much confusion and broad use of the term "nubuck".)

When talking about Lundhags boots I use their leather descriptions.

For Lundhags Nubuck is full leather turned inside out.

For them Perwanger Suede is a thinner leather than Nubuck (by about 15%) and it is used in all of their ski boots. They don't use any kind of full grain leather for ski boots.

I think you can basically stick anything wax-like on the leather bits as long as it doesn't have softeners in it (mink oil or similar). There's no point in preserving the nap of the leather, I think. I've used all sorts of things, and just maintain them with regular boot wax now, Hanwags or G-Wax or whatever.