Why Leather Toes Wear Out on Steel Toe Work Boots

Steel Toe Boots Protect Feet from Serious Injuries

Work place accidents can happen frighteningly fast, instantly crushing toes in soft toe work boots. If you work at a job that places feet in danger of being crushed; such as working close to heavy moving machinery that might ride over your feet, or in a warehouse where objects might drop from above, steel toe boots are your best source of protection.

Unfortunately, cuts, rips and tears in the leather of the toes of steel toe boots can quickly destroy them. Preventing the leather on your boots from becoming damaged in the toe area is important, especially if you want to make your boots last an entire work season. 

Why Leather Wears Out Faster on Steel Toe Boots

Steel Toe work boots have rigid, protective steel caps inserted into them during the production cycle, that span the inside of the toe boxes. When the boot's leather is stretched over these steel caps, it encases them within the boots, holding them securely in place.

Because the steel caps are extremely hard and strong, the daily pressure of the leather laying right up against them causes the leather to wear away quicker than it would in a pair of soft toe boots. 

This is especially the case if you have a job where you may be kneeling all day on a job site, grinding and shifting the toes of your work boots into and along the ground. 

If your job is doing Landscaping or Landscape Construction Work, Brick-laying, Tile Work, Plumbing, Roofing, Indoor Construction and Flooring, Road Work, etc., you know first-hand how the leather toes of your boots can get chewed up, during the course of a work day

Damage occurs from the pressing and rubbing of your work boot's toes down against various floorings, bricks walkways, concrete, or roof shingles. This creates extra friction between the leather in the toe area of your boots and the steel caps that lay just beneath them.

The result? The development of gouges, rips or tears, hastening the erosion of the leather toes, and therefore the overall integrity of your work boots.

The Wearing Away of Leather is Not Just Cosmetic

When the leather across the toes of your work boots gets damaged, it can affect the very features you paid good money for in the first place.

If your boots are waterproof and the leather across the toes of the boots becomes ripped, or torn, it may compromise the boot's waterproofing system, allowing water to seep inside. 

The leather may also wear away so much that it could causes a shift in the steel toe caps themselves, reducing their protectiveness when you need it most.

Stop the Damage Being Done to the Leather on the Toes of your Work Boots

There are a few things you can do to protect the leather on your Steel Toe work boots and to help extend the life of your protective boots.

• Switch to Soft Toe Boots or Shoes
  If you don't need Safety Toe Boots, soft toe boots or shoes will wear better, because the leather is not constantly being pressed against a hard steel surface that lies underneath
• Invest in Premium Leather Work Boots 
  You get what you pay for. More expensive work boots use thicker, better grades of leather across the toes of the boots, making them more durable, better resisting rips and tears
• Buy Steel Toe Boots made with Double the Leather
  Search out work boot styles that have added extra sheaths of leather over the high abrasion areas; such as toe and heel areas, for double the protection
• Keep Leather Work Boots Well Oiled 
  Dried out leather will wear through much faster than well-conditioned leather
• Wear Work Boots with Built -in Rubber Toes
  Thick rubber toe bumpers that are built into the toes of the shoes provide a heavy defense against abrasions, helping to protect the structure of the work boots.
• Invest in After-Market Rubber Toe Caps
  Rubber toe caps adhere directly onto the toes of the boots, guarding against damage

Our Expert Recommendation:
Purchase Steel Toe Boots Made With Extra Thick Leather

Chippewa Super Logger Boots are handcrafted in the USA with global parts. Chippewa imports only premium leathers that lasts longer than other work boots, made with lesser quality, thinner leathers. The old adage you get what you pay for really rings true in the work boot world. 

Danner Super Rain Forest Boots are 100% USA Made Safety Toe Boots. They have double-thick leather across the top of the boots and across the toes. Their leather is put through 6 separate quality control tests and will even resist harmful substances, like lime and alkali.

One Final Thought

Check out our selection of  Keen Utility Boots, that are known for their built-in Rubber Toe Bumpers that make them extra tough and durable. preventing leather toes from tearing.

Check out our selection of  Carolina's Lineman Boots made with with extra leather over the toe areas, sides and heels.

Updated 11/20/2023 to confirm the latest information.

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