Wow, heating the paste wax up sounds like a great idea. That makes sense and would really help polishing boots for dry weather use. For wet use I would still go with oil.
Different techniques for different leathers and applications. Guys I knew in the Reserves would sometimes pre-heat paste/polish in a can, going for an inspection shine - nothing I've ever worried about.
I clean off the boot, and let it dry if needed. Then I take the Snow Proof paste
as it sits in the can, and rub it into
all the leather surfaces with my fingers.
Only then do I take a hair dryer, and melt it into the boot. If you have a severely dried out area of leather, then it may take a second hit of paste+melt to get it saturated properly. I use a hair dryer for convenience, if I had a traditional wood stove humming away nicely, I'd just set the boots nearby - watching that they didn't get too hot.
BTW, the hair-dryer tip was a suggestion I got when I first bought Snow Proof, from the second generation (or maybe 3'rd+ gen) owner of this Canadian boot company, Altimate:
Motorcycle boots available from altimategear
I figured his tribal knowledge on boots well exceeded what I know, so I gave it a try. I found it a convenient way to finish treating a boot, and works well for what
I need the Snow Proof to do.
To be clear, Snow Proof (and similar pastes) usually don't have pigment/colour in them - any final change in how the leather looks mostly comes from the oil being absorbed into the leather (what direct heating helps accomplish) and restoring it
back close to its original colour/tone.
I don't know how bad Winter is in Ohio, but if it is anything like up here, imagine going a whole Winter w/o putting any lotion on your hands. Like motor oil, we may have our brand preferences, but the only important thing with leather is to get
some kind of appropriate substance back into the leather to help it fight drying out - moisture repelling performance is a bonus. I'm speaking from the standpoint of the function I need from a boot - IMO they look look presentable when I'm done, but I'm not going for parade inspection finish.
Give it a go on one set of boots, I think you'll like the results.
Rgds, D.