I ordered a pair of Le Chameau rain boots from the UK, which arrived today. I paid about $400 - including customs. When I took them out of the box, they felt very sticky and had a lot of white residue, which had melted onto them. I am familiar with rubber boots "blooming", as I have a couple of pairs of Hunter boots and a pair of Aigle boots, but I have never seen "blooming" this bad. When I touched them, my hands were very sticky and there was white sticky residue on them - washing them with soap didn't help - I had to apply an alcohol solution to get the stickiness out of my hands. Anyway, I decided not to panic, as I don't want to go through the process of sending them back to the UK. I took them outside, sprayed them with the Hunter silicone spray that is supposed to take blooming out of rain boots and scrubbed the residue with a soft-bristled brush. After about two hours of cleaning, they started to look much better. I finished off the process by wiping them down with a damp cloth with some gentle dish liquid, and then with just a damp cloth to get the soap out. I let them dry outside for a bit and they look much better, although they still feel somewhat sticky to the touch. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to get this stickiness out? I presume it may be the Hunter silicone spray, which hopefully will become less visible with time. There doesn't appear to be any more residue coming on to my hands though, which is a relief. Does anyone with any experience with rubber boots have any further advice?
I really cannot believe that the store in the UK would actually ship them to me in this state and expect me to put in a couple of hours of cleaning to get them into wearable shape. I think that I'm going to call them tomorrow to address this. I understand that natural rubber boots bloom and have to be cleaned but this case was really beyond extreme.
I really cannot believe that the store in the UK would actually ship them to me in this state and expect me to put in a couple of hours of cleaning to get them into wearable shape. I think that I'm going to call them tomorrow to address this. I understand that natural rubber boots bloom and have to be cleaned but this case was really beyond extreme.
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