Whether you’re brand new to work boots or you’ve been wearing leather work boots for a while there’s a chance you’ve heard about these two popular leather conditioning products.
And I always see a lot of people asking which product is better for their leather work boots: Bick4 or Mink Oil.
Because of that, I decided to use my own work boots to test these two products and bring you my findings in this Mink Oil vs Bick 4 comparison article.
So let’s see what we could find.
Team members working on this page
Victor Adrian
Work Boots Expert
What’s in these leather conditioning products?
As is the case with many other industries out there, companies are trying to keep their secrets very close to their chest.
You might say that’s not good for you, but at the same time, think that if they make all their product ingredients available to the public, immediately you’ll have lots of copycats.
I think we can trust both of these companies that have been selling their products since 1884 (Bickmore) and 1895 (Fiebing’s).
So I don’t personally think they would use things that are bad for you or for your footwear.
There are a few details I could find about their ingredients though. Here’s what I found…
What’s in the mink oil?
The liquid mink oil I’ve got from Fiebing’s says it contains:
- Mink oil
- Lanolin, which is a waxy substance extracted from sheep’s wool
- Silicone
- Neatsfoot oil
What’s in the Bick 4 conditioner?
The Bickmore Bick leather conditioner contains:
- Water
- Glydant Plus Liquid which seems to be a preservative
- Neatsfoot oil
- PMX-200 Fluid which is silicone
- Leather lotion blend which is one of Bickmore’s trade secret
- Hydrogenated tallow which is animal fat predominantly from cattle and sheep
Which one is using animal-derived ingredients?
If you have any issues with using products that come from animals, none of these products are for you. Both have ingredients that are animal-based.
How to apply Mink oil vs Bick4?
I use my hands to apply both, the mink oil and the Bick 4 leather conditioner. It’s a good idea to use a latex glove or similar, otherwise, your hands will stink for a few hours.
Additionally, you can use a rug to apply the mink oil and then use a horse hair brush to properly spread it all over the boot. Same thing with the Bick 4 conditioner.
Differences I’ve seen between Bick4 and mink oil
Now, these are some of the things I could observe while I was applying these both leather conditioners.
1. Different leather conditioning solutions
As you can see from the image, the mink oil I’ve used is a liquid solution altough there are a few different mink oil solutions out there,
And the Bick4 is almost like a cream. That’s why Bick 4 is better for those of you who need to polish your work boots.
Applying Bickmore Bick4 to your boots is going to be less messy than applying mink oil liquid. Take that for what is worth.
2. Color
The second difference between these two products is their color. Bick 4 conditioner is white just like a hand cream, whereas the mink oil has a golden color to it, very similar to sunflower oil.
We’ll see if this has any consequences once applied to the Crazyhorse leather of my Thorogoods 804-4375.
3. Smell
The third difference is their smell. If you remember, in the ingredients section I mentioned that Bick4 has silicone in its composition.
Well, let me tell you that I can definitely smell the silicone in Bick 4 compared to Fiebing’s mink oil which also contains silicone but I can’t feel the smell.
So that’s a plus for the mink oil because silicone definitely doesn’t have a good smell.
On the other hand, the mink oil has a very strong smell too. Not silicone, it must be some other ingredient. Could be the neatsfoot oil, not sure.
Just like I mentioned in my mink oil vs boots oil comparison, the mink oil smell gave me big headaches when the leather of my boots was getting hot.
This is especially in winter when I operate construction machinery and I put the AC on.
The leather gets hot and the mink oil also gets warmed up and the smell is so strong that I have to change my boots or switch the AC off … we both know which one it is if I have to choose, right? haha.
If you’re working in open spaces though, you’ll be just fine.
4. Darkening of the leather
So in this section, I can confirm what both companies are saying on their bottles.
And that is, Bick 4 won’t darken your leather altough it will look a shade darker because it’s getting wet. Once the leather conditioner gets absorbed it will settle very close to the original color.
And also that Fiebing’s mink oil WILL darken the leather of your work boots, especially if apply it to light-colored leathers.
So this is what the boots look like straight after applying both conditioners…
One topic I see all the time people ask about on Reddit and other places is how they can remove excess mink oil from their boots.
I think most people asking this are new to boots and leather care in general so they get scared when they see their boots getting SOOOO dark after applying mink oil to them.
If that’s your case, please don’t despair. Nothing is lost.
After about a month of applying mink oil to my work boots, both conditioners got settled if you want and the difference between the two is not that obvious anymore. Check the image below.
Keep in mind I’m color blind so I might not see a big difference in colors because of this problem I have lol. Let me know what you think.
5. Leather penetration
Bick 4 conditioner remained on top of the leather for a couple of days, kinda like creating an extra layer on top of the leather. So it didn’t penetrate that deep.
Compared to the mink oil which goes straight into the fibers of the leather as soon as you apply it to the leather.
Which one waterproofs better? Mink oil or Bick 4?
None of them! None of these products will literally waterproof your work boots. At best, they’re going to make them water-repellent, which is good enough for some of us.
If you really need waterproof work boots, you have to make sure you buy work boots with waterproof membranes.
No “waterproof” oil, cream, spray, etc are going to keep your feet dry if you’re working in these conditions…
And needless to say, if you work all day in water, chemicals, and wet concrete, please make sure you buy rubber or neoprene work boots.
Price: which one is more affordable?
Both leather conditioners are the same size, at least the bottles I have are both 8 fl oz (236 ml) altough Bick 4 also is available in 2 oz and 16 oz.
Bick 4 is a couple of bucks more expensive than Fiebing’s mink oil solution.
| Fiebing’s Liquid Mink Oil | Bickmore Bick 4 condtioner |
|---|---|
 8 fl oz price in store |
2 oz price in store |
| 8 oz price in store | |
| 16 oz price in store |
There are a few other options on the market though, Fiebing’s and Bickmore are the ones I happened to use and have at home in order to do this comparison.
So which one is better? Mink oil or Bickmore Bick4?
Based on the results I’ve seen by testing and comparing these two products I can say that Bick 4 is more suitable for conditioning leather work boots that are used in a lighter manner on more light-duty jobs or tasks.
Why is that? Because the conditioner doesn’t penetrate that deep into the fibers of the leather.
On the other hand, if you work in industries like mine ( I do construction by the way) where you’re boots are constantly in dust, mud, wet concrete, and chemicals of all sorts, then I highly suggest going for the mink oil.
That’s because the leather is abused more than in other environments it will more care in order to last longer.
So there aren’t winners and losers here.
Which one is better for you, Bick 4 or mink oil will highly depend on what you’re trying to achieve, the harshness of your work environment, and also whether you like your boots to get darker or not.
Let me know if this helps.
Team Members Working On This Page
Victor Adrian – Editor And Webmaster
Construction Professional, driver, crane operator, cleaner, head chef … these are just some of the jobs I did in the past. Working in all these different environments taught me that having good footwear to protect your feet from different dangers at work IS PARAMOUNT for any worker! On this website, I aim to share all my knowledge and personal experience in dealing with different footwear and foot care issues, and hopefully, you can get something out of it. Enjoy!
source https://bestformyfeet.com/mink-oil-versus-bick-4/
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