Dane County Water Education Resource Center (WERC)
Care, Cleaning and Handling Procedures for Hip Boots
Hip boots must be returned CLEANED and DRY!
All hip boots and bins must be cleaned after use as follows:
Aquatic invasive species such as the New Zealand mud snail now reside in some of our
county’s surface waters. We do not want them to be transferred to other bodies of
water, thus the following cleaning procedure must be done for every pair of hip boots
you borrow prior to returning them to the WERC.
Cleaning Procedure:
1. Fill the white and blue buckets provided half full of water. This can be clear
surface water or tap water.
2. Add 1cup concentrated bleach (provided) into the white bucket and stir.
3. Dip and carefully scrub the foot portion and up to 8” up from the bottom of
the boot into the bleach solution and use the provided brush to scrub the sole
of the boot completely free of any mud and debris. Make sure that you
carefully clean between the ridges in the boot tread and around the heel of
the boot.
4. After the boot is clean, dip it twice in the clean rinse water and lay it out in
a sunny location to dry.
5. Repeat procedure with each and every boot.
6. Wash bottom of bin with the bleach water and triple rinse it with clear tap or
surface water.
7. Change rinse water after rinsing every five pairs of boots.
8. Change bleach water as needed.
9. Pour dirty bleach water on a paved surface. Sunlight breaks down the
bleach.
If a hip boot get wet on the inside:
1.
2.
3.
4.
First fold down the top of the boot
Next shove crumpled newspapers into the boot bottom
Remove periodically (after a few minutes) and repeat
Leave boots in a warm, sunny place or use a hair dryer (on low heat only) to
dry boot interior (Too much heat or sunlight can deteriorate the rubber, so
use low heat and bring boots out of the sun as soon as they are dry.)
over →
If any hip boot develops a leak:
1. If the leak site is known, circle with a marker.
2. Tape a note about the leak on the boot and container.
3. Even leaky boots must be returned dry!
There is no fee if hip boots are damaged during normal use.
Fees for unacceptable return of hip boots:
Drying fee
$2/boot
Repair of leaks (not-normal use)
$5/hole, rip or tear
Lost or destroyed boots
$75 pair