Old Adage time! Have you ever heard the saying, "That boy don't have enough brains to tan his own hide!"? Well, it's a way of calling people stupid, or more to the
point, brainless. That's right, every animal alive actually has enough brains to rub into the backside of it's skin to tan the leather. Brain tanning leaves a very supple, feel to a hide, in most consumer leathers you'll see it most often as Brain Tanned Elk, Deer, Antelope,
etc. it seems to be used mostly on those types of mammals.
A great trick I learned, in the old days, for waterproofing boots. When you get them home turn on the oven at it's lowest possible setting, hopefully around 150 - 200 degrees F < Not Celsius> set your boots in the oven to "bake" for about 15-20 minutes. Tak them out and rub them down with Bees wax, Neets
foot oil, or any other wax based waterproofing formula. Set them back in the oven for another 10 minutes, and repeat. The second coat should'nt really soak in much at all. This is a trick more for the Tan boots or hiking boots, it will work on traditional "black" boots as well, but may leave tehm discolored.