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A good pair of leather boots rarely dies dramatically. More often it goes slowly — grit working its way into a flex crease, a lace fraying against a metal hook, mud left to dry along the welt until the stitching begins to give. The cure is unfashionably dull: clean them, dry them properly, feed the leather, and change the laces before they fail. Fifteen minutes at the kitchen table while the day is still on your mind will add seasons to a pair of boots, and there is a quiet satisfaction in it that sits somewhere close to the pleasure of the walk itself.

Clean while the mud is still soft

Dried mud is abrasive. Left in the creases and along the welt, it acts like grinding paste every time your foot flexes, wearing the leather from the inside out. So clean boots soon after a walk, before the peat and grit have set like mortar.

You do not need much. A stiff nylon brush, lukewarm water, a cloth, and a little patience will do more good than any miracle preparation.

• Take the laces out. It feels fussy; it is not. You cannot clean the tongue or the eyelets with laces in the way, and you cannot inspect the laces properly either.
• Brush off wet mud under a running tap, or work over a bowl. Never use detergent, never a pressure washer, and never the washing machine, whatever a well-meaning friend suggests.
• Pay attention to the welt — the strip where upper meets sole — and the creases across the toe box. That is where water gets in first.
• Pull the footbeds out and rinse them separately. A damp footbed left in place is a recipe for crumbling foam and unhappy feet.
• For nubuck or suede panels, use a softer brush and go gently; you are lifting dirt, not scrubbing it in.

Dry them slowly, whatever the temptation

Heat is the enemy. A radiator, an airing cupboard, a hot car or a hair dryer will dry the leather too fast, collapsing the fibres and leaving it stiff, cracked and prone to splitting at the flex point. Boots dried on a radiator have a particular brittle feel that no amount of dressing will quite put right.

Instead, loosen the laces, open the boot as wide as it will go, and stuff it with crumpled newspaper. Change the paper after an hour or so, then again before bed. Leave the pair at room temperature, out of direct sun, ideally upside down on a rack so air moves through the collar. A thoroughly soaked leather boot needs two days; if you walk daily, two pairs in rotation is not extravagance, it is basic arithmetic.

Reproofing: feed the leather, don't drown it

Leather is skin. It loses oils as it flexes, gets wet and dries out again, and it needs both cleaning and conditioning to stay supple and water-resistant. Clean boots first — dressing over mud simply seals the grit in.

Wax-based dressings suit full-grain leather. Water-based treatments are better for fabric, nubuck and mixed uppers, where wax would darken and clog the texture. Warm the boot gently and the product too, then work it in with fingers or a cloth in thin layers, concentrating on the flex creases, the toe box and the welt. Let it soak in, then buff off the excess.

Two warnings. Too much wax clogs the leather so it cannot breathe, and the boot becomes sweaty and stiff. Too much neat oil softens it, and a boot that has gone floppy has lost the support that keeps your ankle happy on rough stony ground. A well-kept boot should crease, not collapse. Test it by dribbling a little water on the toe: it should bead and run off rather than darken the leather straight away.

Laces: the cheapest repair on the hill

A snapped lace halfway along a rocky ridge is not a disaster, but it is a nuisance you can entirely avoid. Inspect laces every few weeks. Frayed sections, flattened spots where they run through hooks, and a faded stretched look all mean replacement.

• Carry a spare pair in your rucksack and another in the car. They weigh almost nothing.
• Run a finger around each eyelet and hook. Burrs and rough metal chew through laces, and a few strokes with fine abrasive paper will save you a pair a year.
• Lace the boot so the tongue sits flat and central. A skewed tongue rubs, and it also lets water in at the seam.
• Seal cut ends by melting them lightly with a flame so they do not unravel.

Small jobs for the kitchen table

Most damage is minor and fixable. A split in the rand or a lifted welt can be cleaned, glued with a flexible contact adhesive, pressed firmly and left a full day to cure. Scuffed toe caps respond well to a light rub with fine abrasive paper followed by wax dressing. Loose stitching should never be pulled at — take the boot to a repairer while it is a small job, not after the seam has opened.

When the tread lugs under the heel have worn smooth, resole before the midsole goes; that is the difference between a modest repair and a replacement. Deep cracks that run right through the flex crease and let water in, or a sole separating from a crumbling midsole, are usually the end. Let them go with thanks.

A kit, a routine, and knowing when to stop

Keep a small box by the door: stiff brush, soft brush, dressing, spare laces, a cloth, contact adhesive. Brush and dry after every walk, reproof every few outings, check the laces monthly, and store boots clean and loosely laced — never sealed in a plastic bag, never squashed under a rucksack.

There is more to this than economy. Every scuff on the toe is a remembered descent; the gritstone edge, the boggy col, the long trudge out under a headtorch. Mending a boot is a way of honouring the miles already in it, and of making sure the next walk starts with dry feet and a lace you can trust.