Hi,
I recently purchased a pair of meindl island boots and made the mistake of washing one of them with a detergant soaked rag. the boot now absorbs water on the surface of the leather rather than it beading up like it should.
Can someone please tell me how severely i have damaged the gore-tex lining and if it can be fully repaired (I have "Meindl conditioner and proofer", is that considered a durable water reppelent restoration product?)?
Thanks for the help,
Mark

I wear a boot I think has a similar exterior, Lowa Mountain Expert, and I re-treat the DWR several times a year. I use TECRON boot spray (from REI). This absorbs easily on nubuck type leather, does not discolor the leather, and after a couple of treatments is extremely water resistant. Leather is not gummed up as with other waxy treatments. You apparently have stripped off the original DWR by using a detergent. I would rinse and brush (not too stiff) the contaminated areas several times, drying for a day or two in-between the rinses. Your success depends on getting the detergent out before retreating with DWR. Then dry thoroughly for a week, then spray heavily with techron and rub into the leather surface. On this initial treatement, you want the Tecron to be deeply abosorbed. Later re-treatments do not have to be heavy.