I have a pair of hodgman bantam weight felt bottom wading boots. The felt has gotten pretty discolored and I noticed when I was fishing the other day I seemed to slip a bit more often than normal. I do clean them but only now and again I tried bleach and a scrub brush but not much help. They have about six months of pretty decent use is there any hope or is it time to replace? Any suggestions are appreciated.
wire
Wireguy,
I have the same boots (actually I just replced them).
If your soles are only 6 months old, it’s not the soles causing the slipping. They should last for a lot longer than that.
I’ve used mine for about four years. Used them pretty hard. The felt is getting thin in places and you can see the boot sole through it. Still grip well on rocky/pebbly bottoms.
Never cleaned them (the felt soles). They worked fine until I hit a place with slippery algae gunk everywhere (San Juan in New Mexico), and I learned that studded soles will work better.
I’ll still use them for some of the plain rocky places I fish.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Clean them with a power washer.
This may sound a little extreme but I clean my wading shoes after each fishing trip IF I’m not fishing the following day.
I use Dawn and a scrub brush on the soles and shoes and my felt is always squeaky clean.
I’ve been doing it for years with great results on synthetic and real wool felt. It’s like cleaning a fly line; if you do it after each use it stay cleaner and performs better than if you clean it once a season.
It’s just a minor pain in the butt but well worth it when you consider what you pay for decent shoes.
wire - Discoloration of the felt is pretty much unavoidable. One of my pair of boots is 8 years old, and the only care they receive is getting hosed off after use and getting hung up to dry completely. The drying process takes several days until they are completely dry - I have several pairs of boots and rotate their usage, so this isn’t a problem even though I sometimes fish every day. My 8 yr old pair of felt boots grip as well as they did when new, even though they’re getting a little thin.
As for the slipping part, there could be several reasons why this is happening, including fishing a more slippery stream bottom (algae growth), and ageing (you, not the boots - seriously!), among others. I would recommend buying another pair of boots, and for the ultimate in traction, try a studded pair. You could rotate the boots between uses, and always have a dry pair of boots to use. Some streams are not as slippery, and the regular felt would be fine for those situations, but sometimes ya just gotta be a “stud”, pun intended.
My newest pair of boots are the LL Bean River Treads with a studded Aquastealth sole - I’m most impressed with them so far! They are a lot less messy to deal with, since there’s no felt involved. I haven’t noticed a great difference in grip between the studded Aquastealth, and studded felt, but I’m an ex-hockey player, and a skier, so I have a really good sense of balance.
All my boots are a size 11, and if you’ll be at the PA Fish-In, you’d be welcome to try out my Patagonia studded felt boots, and the LL Bean studded Aquastealths for yourself to see if they’d help you (if they fit).
Another option is to buy a set of case hardened studs that look like regular sheet metal screws (but last longer) and screw a couple into the soles of your Hodgmans. They can be removed just as quick if you don’t like the feel, but they might be an inexpensive fix for your problem. Chota sells the screw kits for $6.50, but regular sheet metal screws in the correct length would give you an idea if this will work for you, and cost very little. Good Luck, and I’ll see ya at the PA Fish-In (hopefully standing up!)…Ed 8)
P.S. Might be a good time to buy a wading staff as well!
Let’s see…
Fish
Drive home
Unpack the vehicle
Pull out the float tube…should we wash it down…heaven forbid if we we used a pontoon
Clean the boots…maybe the dishwasher would make it easier
Clean the line…should we stretch it?
Clean the hippers inside and out…oh yeah we used waders…wash the outside …heaven forbid there’s any slime on them…check for leaks…well before that turn them inside out to dry them …but then check for leaks…for some that’s using water…might as well use detergent cause it cleans at the same time
Should probably change out the leaders…oh I forgot I use furled now
Should I spray everything with clorox…invasive species lurking everywhere
Maybe I’ll clean the vehicle just for a change of pace right about now
No I think I’ll ty some flies
Oh, hXXX I’m just going to leave everything in the vehicle and go out again first thing in the morning…well maybe not I’ve got to check the computer first to see what the weather is going to be
Bam…not directed at you …started before I saw yours…
Is this a high jack???
Clean them with a power washer, they will look & work like new and it will take less then a minute.
Duck:
No offense taken! 
Believe me; my fishing buddies think I’m nuts and have for years but my post fishing maintenance takes me less than 10 minutes to clean my shoes and like Heritage Angler; I have a few pairs to rotate. I also don’t do it if I’m fishing on consecutive days which is OFTEN.
I also clean my fly line after each trip; that takes me less than 10 minutes and the difference between a dirty and clean line is well worth my effort. But heck; I really don’t care what people do with their stuff; it’s THEIRS, not mine.
But the real reson I do it is: I never check the weather; never replace my leaders and I only clean my waders and float tube once a year so with all the time I have to spare; I can fit it in, PLUS I have the time for more crtical tasks like refilling my flask and checking my cigar supply.
Buy the way, did I mention that these chores are almost always accompanied by a beer…or two? It sorta makes it like an excuse to drink.
Ray,
I understand the ‘concept’ of the whole power washer thing, but…I don’t generally, in fact purposely, leave the power washer ‘ready to go’ (SWMBO would find things for me to clean with it otherwise)…
Got to get the washer unit out from where it got put the last time it was used. Have to move some stuff to get to it, about ten minutes…
Got to set up the power washer, add the stuff that makes it clean well…oops, I’m out of it, have to run down to the local big box and get some more…about an hour (you got to walk through the fishing gear, the craft section, and the glues/adhesives…for fly tying, don’t you know…).
Get home, have to find the extension cord (wife gets mad if all the stuff from the washer gets on anything she deems decorative or could be damaged, so I have to go ‘way out back’…)… I know it’s around here someplace…about another ten minutes…
Now, where did I put those wading shoes…
So, I get to finally clean them…
Nice and clean.
Not something I’ll EVER do, though. Too much like work, and I’m basically lazy.
Once in a while I’ll rinse them off (sometimes forget to ‘rinse’ them in the water before I take them off…), just to get rid of the mud.
They are just wading boots…I use mine often during the summer, and most times they don’t get to dry in between uses.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Don’t bother with the soap/additive, just the water will more then do the trick.