Work boots – action overloaded, full in style, standout in line. However, boots aren’t forever young; they tend to get old.
Old work boots are often made of leather, a natural material that decomposes over time. As a result, your boots become stiff and brittle. The material also becomes weaker and more prone to wear and tear.
So, what to do with old work boots?
First, check your old boot’s condition to see if it’s reusable. You can send it to a cobbler to restore, remake a new pair, or recycle it as shoe inserts. If they are not reusable, you can be creative with boot crafts. Turn your work boot into a flower vase, item holder, a cool hat, etc.
Moreover, if your work boot is old but wearable, consider donating to people who need it.
Let’s know more about what you can do with old work boots so that you don’t have to throw them out every time.
What To Do With Old Work Boots?
Boots are our all-time beloved. However, when they get to wear and tear, we need to come to a difficult yet essential decision – what to do with them.
There are a couple of things to do to utilize your old work boots.
Suppose you can try to convert your old work boots into some attractive and unique garden crafts so that your backyard gets more lucrative.
Interestingly my neighbors are a few steps ahead of me using their old working boots. They use theirs as a door stopper, especially when she works in her garden. What a creative way to use the old boots, isn’t it?
So what can you do with your old working boots?
First, you have to see how your old boots are. If those are in a fifty percent good state, you can re-use them. You can mostly re-use the boots’ leather to make a new pair. You can also use them to make shoes, as your old boots are sturdy and durable.
Another way to re-use your old working boots is by turning them into shoe inserts. You can do this by perforating the boot’s soles with a knife, adding grommets, or strapping them shut. You can also follow the same steps to make yourself a pair of insoles.
You can give your old work boots new life by resoling them by going to a cobbler. A Cobbler can make your working boots again reusable easily.
So what about making your old working boots a crafting item? Yes, it is possible, and it is a pretty exciting thing to do with other family members.
You can cut the extra portion of those boots and make them a pair of beautiful flower vases in front of your front door. Painting them additionally will increase the lucrative value more.
However, you can use old boots as a small garage item holder inside your garage. I saw one carpenter using his old boots to hold his working items (like brush, chemical tube, etc.)
Fact is, the work boot is an essential part of any outfit. It is a staple that you can wear in a variety of situations. But what do you do when it’s time to retire your old work boots?
Donate them to someone who needs them. Many people need a good pair of boots for their job but don’t have the money to buy them. If you have an old pair that you no longer need, consider donating them to someone in need.
Keep them as a safety net. If you are unsure about what to do with your old work boots, keep them around as a backup. You never know when they might come in handy again!
How Do You Reuse Old Leather Boots?
There are a few ways to re-use old leather boots. Let’s give you some easy but beautiful ideas to re-use old leather boots.
1. Turn Them Into A New Pair Of Shoes
The first way to re-use old leather boots is by turning them into a new pair of shoes. You can use the pieces of the boot that are still in good condition and combine them with other pieces from other sources, such as discarded furniture and fabric scraps, to create something new.
There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube showing how to convert the old working boots into party boots. You can see any one of them.
2. Make A Bag
Another way to re-use old leather boots is by making a bag out of them. You can cut the boot into different shapes and sizes and then sew the pieces together using different types of stitches and patterns to create an interesting design that you can use as a bag or purse.
3. Make A Cool Hat
You can also turn old boots into a cool hat by removing the heels and trimming off the boot’s soles. You will then need to use some type of glue or adhesive to attach the leather outer-sole side of your new hat to a thin cotton strip so that it doesn’t unravel when you are dealing with them.
4. Renovate Them
Clean the boots with a soft brush (made to clean leather boots). Wash them with soap prepared for leather. However, be careful; not to soak your working boots in the water bath. Once cleaning is done, set them aside to air dry. Polish the boots using leather boots conditioner.
If you do not have any leather polishing agent or leather conditioner, you can also use olive oil and petroleum jelly to polish the boots.
5. Make A Flower Vase
If you want to plant a live orchid or a small cactus inside your working boots, at first, keep a poly bag full of soil. Make some pores on your poly bag so that excess water drips out of the poly bag when you water your plant.
However, if you want to keep some artificial flowers inside the boots, paint the boots and keep some foam inside.
How Do I Dispose Of Old Work Boots?
The best way to dispose of old work boots is to take them to a recycling center. They will be able to recycle the materials from the boots and use them in their own products.
Old work boots can contain harmful chemicals that can be toxic to the environment or people. The recycling process eliminates these hazardous substances and ensures that they are disposed of in a safe manner.
So how to dispose of the old working boots? Re-use them with safety precautions and good care: you can mash the soles of your old work boots and make them into another shoe, or if you have some other use for the heels, then re-use them.
Can You Recycle Safety Boots?
The answer to the question is no, and it is not just because they are made of different materials. Safety boots are designed to be used in specific environments and are made while keeping a particular work in mind.
This means that the material used in their construction will vary depending on how they will be used.
For example, rubber boots may be more appropriate for factory floors, while steel-toe boots might be better for construction sites. However, it may be possible to recycle the safety boots in certain scenarios but not always.
How Do You Dispose Of Worn Shoes?
What if you want to dispose of your old work boots. How can you do that, by the way?
- The first step is to remove the laces from the shoes.
- Then, the second step is to put the sole or leather from those shoes for further usage (if those are still in a good state). If these are too damaged to be used, they can be cut up into smaller pieces and disposed of).
- The third step is to wash the insides and outside surfaces with water.
- The fourth step is to clean out the holes in those shoes so that no dirt or dust remains.
- After doing these, you can either put them in a bag and give them to charity or place them in a recycling bin.
- The best way to dispose of old shoes is to make sure that you clean them before you throw them away.
- Rub the dirt on the shoes into the floor or an old towel and place them in a trash bag.
You might be interested to read also our another comprehensive article of: Are You Looking for Boots Similar to Blundstone? 5 Alternatives
FAQ’s:
- When should you throw away work boots?
First, check and see if there are signs of wear and tear on your boots or not. If there are holes in it or the leather is damaged and is getting ripped off, then it is probably time to get rid of your work boots.
In general, you will usually need to replace or throw away your work boot every six to twelve months.
- What can I do with my old dad’s boots?
There are many things you can do with your old dad’s boots. You can sell them on eBay if they don’t fit you, or you can give them to a charity for the homeless. Furthermore, give them to a friend who has a similar shoe size or save them in your closet for your future use. If none of those above options suits you, you can dump the boot in the garbage.
Boot-Tom Line
Usually, it’s your personal choice of what to do with old work boots. You can use those to meet your indoor or silly outdoor demands or turn them into some awesome crafts.
Yes, you can re-use them or dispose of them (in the worst case), but whatever you do, be sure you are correctly using your old boots’ leather/sole/inner after treating them well!
