Time-tested and true, the toothbrush is still an excellent tool choice for cleaning your military boots. To properly clean the exterior of a leather military boot, you can choose to utilize soft soap and water (one tablespoon of bar soap to two cups of water ratio) or lemon juice (one teaspoon of lemon juice to four teaspoons of water). With either mixture, you will want to gently rub the mixture onto your boots with a dry cotton cloth. Once your boots have fully dried, you can then carefully brush them off.
Breaking in military boots doesn’t have to be a painstaking process. Using leather conditioner is a common boot break-in method for leather military boots. You will apply the conditioner with a clean, soft towel just as you would on a normal leather boot, allowing your boots time to fully dry. Plus, either before or after the leather conditioner process, you can also carefully flex and press the inside of your boots by hand to make the footbed more pliable and ready to conform to your unique foot shape. Just remember to make sure this flexing and pressing process is gently carried out.