Breaking in, lacing, shoe care – your hiking boots guide
Updated on
- Breaking in your hiking and mountain boots
- How to tie hiking boots
- Cleaning and looking after your hiking boots
- Good footwork technique when hiking
- Accessories: the best hiking socks
- Resoling HANWAG boots
Congratulations on choosing a new pair of hiking or mountain boots or shoes! To help you enjoy your treks and tours safely and comfortably, we’ve put together the HANWAG boots guide with the most important tips for looking after your footwear. We cover everything from breaking in your boots, to lacing techniques and tips for how to prevent blisters.
Naturally, we want you to be able to enjoy using your hiking, mountain or trekking boots for as long as possible. This is why we also provide shoe care tips and explain how to get your boots resoled.
To find out more, simply read the corresponding article or watch the video (English subtitles available).
1 Breaking in your hiking and mountain boots
Leather boots in particular benefit from being broken in before your first big hiking tour. Breaking them in means customizing the fit. It helps them to better take on the shape of your feet. This also helps prevent pressure points and blisters. This article explains how to break in your boots and the best way to go about it.
Read the article How to break in hiking boots
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THE HANWAG PROMISE: 100% MADE IN EUROPE
All HANWAG footwear is made in Europe. HANWAG has manufacturing sites in six European countries. Each of our boots shows you which country it was made in when you look inside it. We source virtually everything – from leather, to soles and lining materials here in Europe. Find out more about THE HANWAG PROMISE and come on a virtual tour of our manufacturing sites.
2 How to tie hiking boots
Hiking, trekking and mountain boots have clever lacing systems. This makes it possible to adapt the fit to the shape of your foot or for particular situations, such as walking uphill or downhill. Getting your lacing right is important to ensure that your boots give you good support in more rugged terrain. In addition, it also helps you to avoid pressure points and blisters. In the article and video, we explain more – and give you special lacing techniques.
Read the article How to tie hiking boots
3 Cleaning and looking after your hiking boots
Leather is a hardwearing and long-lasting material. By cleaning and looking after your well worn-in hiking boots properly, you’ll help them to last you for many years to come. This also includes cleaning and drying them the right way, something that people often get wrong. In addition, it’s important to reapply waterproofing treatment and wax the leather. Find out here why all this is so important and how to get it right. Moreover, we take you through the main shoe care products
Read the article Cleaning and looking after your hiking boots
Step-by-step shoe care guide: Download the PDF here
5 Good footwork technique when hiking
6 Accessories: the best hiking socks
Wearing the right footwear is the best way to stay safe in rugged terrain and enjoy more relaxed hiking. However, your socks have an important role to play too. High-quality hiking and trekking socks stop your feet from getting too sweaty, which helps blisters and unpleasant pressure points from forming. Hiking socks come with a wide range of different materials, lengths, and padding. We explain which socks are best for you in the article and our buying advice video.
Read the article How to choose the best socks for hiking
7 Resoling HANWAG boots
When you have new shoes you just head out and hike in them. But the more kilometres you clock up, the more you wear the sole and grip down. Though this is no reason to replace your boots. You see, most HANWAG models can be resoled. This means that your old, comfortable, worn-in boots can enjoy a new lease of life – with grip and traction like new. To have your boots resoled, talk to your local HANWAG retailer. Alternatively, you can contact our Customer Service. In the following video, we show you how resoling works.
Searching for inspiration for hiking tours? Read our Tour and travel tips.
