How to Store Winter Boots

The end of winter means that it's time to put away all the winter clothes, boots and gear. It is so tempting to just pile all these things in the closet and deal with it next year. However, if you've spent a lot of money on your winter boots, you want to store them correctly so you'll be able to use them again. Use the following guidelines to preparing your winter boots for storage.

Things You'll Need

• Boot cleansers
• Boot polish
• Boot conditioner
• Boot storage boxes

Instructions

1. Clean all your boots to remove dirt and debris. In addition, take special care with boots that have been worn in areas that had salt to clean and remove all the salt from the exterior of the boots. The salt is very damaging to the boots, especially leather boots. If your boots are suede or a softer material, use the appropriate cleanser recommended by the boot maker to surface clean the outside.

2. Remove the liners inside from your snow boots, ski boots or weather insulated boots that have removable liners. It is amazing that salt and dirt can work its way down under the liners, but it does. If the liners are washable, launder them to clean thoroughly. You want to rid them of dirt, sweat and salt. In addition, you want to prevent mildew from growing inside your boots under the liners. Allow the liners to dry completely and air out before reinserting back into the boots. It's an even better idea to just put the liners with the boots to store and reinsert the liners next year before wearing.

3. Polish the outside of your boots with great care. The wear and tear of the winter elements such as water, dirt and salt are really hard on the exterior of boots. Polish them and then use a conditioner that is recommended for the exterior of your boot. This will help the boots from becoming dry and cracking.

4. Find storage boxes or boot boxes for your boots and liners. Place a clean soft cotton cloth in the bottom of the box to absorb any moisture that might be in the air. If your boots have liners, just lay the liners beside the boots for best storage results. Make sure that your boots actually fit in the box and that you are not smashing them down into the box.

5. Put your cleaned, polished, conditioned winter boots in the closet until next winter rolls around.

Tips & Warnings

• Store your boot conditioner in the same area as your boots and write a note to remind yourself to recondition your boots before wearing next winter.