Imperial Leather Balm Neutral, 4 Ounces

Dear VSB, I bought you because I just got into collecting good year welted boots. The first pair ever was my Thursday Captains in classic black, second pair was my Arizona Adobes, and my third pair was the Loggers in Cacao. I got this mainly because that what Thursday suggested to use on the Loggers because the leather is a waxed rough out type of leather. The Cacao leather looks super nice. Brand new they look almost look like a pair of smooth leather boots with the shine that it has because of the waxed leather. After some days of wearing I can tell that the nap will eventually come through as the boots are worn down and patina. The VSB is meant to help the nap lay down flat and obtain it’s original look. The first place I tried it on was the inside of the tongue where the nap is showing through and it worked out well. It didn’t bring the leather back 100% but it was about 90% which is good enough for me but I only put a small dab onto the scuffed portion of the tongue. This balm will also work with smooth leathers but I would NOT use this to condition nubuck leather unless you want to change the color and/or texture of the boot. It’s perfect for what I need it for which is for my Loggers in the waxed flesh. This balm will work on most brands out there as there are tons of other company’s out there like Truman, Nick’s, and White’s, etc, that have waxed flesh out leather. This balm came in a small box and I could tell that it’s been sitting there untouched for months if not years because I had to shake it up vigorously before I used it as the center of the cream was all hardened. I don’t know that all VSB’s do the same thing but I would imagine it would unless mine are defective. I don’t think so though and I’m 99.9% sure. Thanks in advance! 2/6/2023 I bought a pair of Grant Stone Ottawa boots in crimson cxl. I have a habit of conditioning all the boots I buy when I receive them because you don’t ever know how long the boots have been sitting in a warehouse and when it was last conditioned. After putting just a little bit on the boot the shine is like no other. I find that it’s better than Saphir in terms of shining your boot after the fact. I tried using saphir’s but it didn’t yield the result I was looking for so I wiped it off and started over again. I think that VSB is best for cxl leather. It is not super greasy and will provide a good shine to the leather if you buff it with a horsehair brush like you’re suppose to. I will likely not condition the boots again for a few months. You can see from my photo that it’s very shiny and it brings out the crimson in the boot especially under natural light. I also used the vsb because I want to be able to break in the boots easily and the balm should do the trick. I didn’t use all that much to condition my boots. I pour out enough on the cap of the bottle and then I spread it all over the boots. Filling up the cap is enough for you to condition both right and left boots. I would recommend this product on any boot that wasn’t MTO and are mass produced. I like this balsam a lot. Edit: Memorial Day 2023 Since my original post I have purchased 2 more pairs of Grant Stone boots. A pair of Dune(Natty) CXL Diesel’s and a pair of Black CXL Diesel’s with a leather outsole. I have use VSB on both and they shine up really nice and right out of the box both boots seemed to be dry so I conditioned it with Saphir at first but I didn’t like the results. Saphir renovator shines up a little better BUT VSB conditions the boots much better with a thin coat. I really like the results of VSB vs Saphir for conditioning. I use the SR for polishing my boots not to condition them. It sounds stupid because SR is more expensive but it gives you different results. If you’re looking to condition your boots then use vsb. If you’re looking to mirror shine your boots the use vsb to condition and then SR to start laying a foundation for a mirror shine. One thing the instructions tells you to do is to bush with a polishing cloth first and then brush with a horsehaired brush BUT I do it the other way around. I use the brush first and then I use the cloth. I can’t say which is better because to me it yields the same results but do as you please. Thanks in advance!

This fully SAVED my miu miu boots from several alcohol spills all over them from a Vegas trip. Left my boots looking BRAND NEW and the coloring intact ❤️🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Saved me a trip to the shoe cobbler as well! It was so easy to use and I hardly used up any of it.

Realy nice balm, I used on two pairs of Carolina's, 504 boots and composite toe shoes. The boots are a softer leather and they really soaked up the balm. The moisture slightly darkens the leather but, it's not changing the color of the leather just moisturizing it. But I think it works really good, and it actually left the leather feeling much softer than before using. On the shoes, they are a much harder leather and at first it didn't seem like they were soaking up the balm that much but when I came back and next day it seems like it did really help moisturize the shoes and the leather felt softer in general. The shoes have a spot where there is a lot of folding and creasing and I'm concerned they might start to crack there so I really loaded that area up and that spot in particular feels a lot softer now. I think if you want a moisturizer and protectant that is safe on most leathers (not suade) then this is a great choice. I'm even going to use some on my office chair on the faux leather armrests.

Works great! Wish I the jar was larger. Is quite expensive by the oz for what it is.

This stuff is great! Great seller. Fast shipping.

I watched a YouTube video that said this was the overall best at conditioning, restoring, and adding water resistant to leather. I would agree. I bought this to add some water resistance to a pair of my wife’s new dress shoes. Water beads on the shoes now. It adds very minimal color darkening to leather if any. I applied it to a pair of my brown leather dress shoes that had never been treated and wow did it bring back the old color. I was shocked how much my shoes needed a fresh. I was initially worried about the price but a little bit goes a long way so the value is there. It does need a good shake when you first get it. It looked off when I first opened it. The bottle clearly says to shake to blend. Once I did that it looked like a nice smooth cream.

This leather balm works great on my redwings. I rub it in my hand, let it dry and buff. It may darken leather a little, but hasn’t made much of a difference in my experience.

Goes on and buffs easy. Makes some of my boots look more polished than others. I guess it depends on the leather. Water beads up well after application. It seems to form a durable protective barrier that compliments the leather.

I used it on our leather purses we brought back from Italy. Brought out the beauty in them and made them buttery soft

Really premium quality product. Had a pair of boots that hadn't been worn since 2020 and become unwearable due to leather becoming dry and stiff . Decided to try this as a last measure and it did work wonders. The leather became much softer after working the balm in (I'll admit there were multiple coats required before I could wear them all day). I now try and work this in every couple of weeks to ensure that the boots dont go dry again.

It’s the best one I’ve tried but surely there must be something like drunk elephant for a bag

Don't leave stains on the leather