As the proud purveyors of the Boot Butler, we’re very, very into boot organization. We’re going to expand that a bit: With 10 years in the custom closet business, we’re also very, very into an organization, period. And the challenge of organizing boots is a unique one. Whether you own a couple pairs of boots or have a closetful for each and every occasion, you know exactly how difficult it can be to organize them: Boots topple over and take up a huge amount of space—especially in closets where that space is at a premium.  The problem of boot organization is one that inspired the Boot Butler’s inventor to create the product in the first place. He was working as a closet designer at the time, and time and again, his clients would ask him for help in organizing their multiple pairs of boots. (For more on how the Boot Butler came to be, head over to Chatting With Andrew Elstein, Boot Butler Owner/Inventor.)
In this article, we’re going to review a number of products designed specifically for boot storage and organization. And yes, the Boot Butler is one of those products. But we believe in being as fair and objective as we can be—for a number of reasons. The first is that a free and competitive market means that all our products must strive to be the best they can. And there’s also the fact that everyone’s needs for boot organization are unique. What works for one person’s boots and closet may not work for yours. And an important part of boot organization (any type of organization, truthfully, but for our purposes, we’re sticking to boots), is customization and versatility. If you don’t find a solution to organize your boots that is specific to your needs, chances are you’re not going to stick with that solution for very long. No one wants that—not you and certainly not us.
To be able to present you a fair and accurate assessment of boot organization products, we used the following criteria (which we’re going to share with you below). To come up with that criteria, we perused the product websites and also read through a lot of Amazon reviews (which we always do for our Boot Butler, because customer feedback is really key).

• Capacity In Boot Pairs
  How many pairs of boots does one complete product hold?
• Price Per Boot Pair
  The relative price of the product per pair of boots stored, at time of article publication.
  $ =  $0-5
  $$ =  $6-10
  $$$ =  $11-20
  $$$$ = $21+
• Supports Boot Shape
  How well does the product support the natural shape of the boot? Meaning, how well the shaft of the boot stays upright, keeping the ankle area free of creases.
• Ease + Speed of Removal
  We all lead super busy lives. Efficiency is important! And if it isn’t easy, many of us won’t end up putting our boots back up.
• Boot Visibility
  Are the boots visible to you at a glance? When it comes to clothes, out-of-sight can veer into an out-of-mind territory. We don’t want that for you and your boots!
• Stability Of Boots On The Rack
  Boots—whether made of leather or man-made materials—tend to be heavier than shoes, especially if the boots have wooden heels. Products need to be able to handle that weight and heft and height. We’ve also noted what types of boots work best on each of the products.
• Versatility
  Boot organization needs to fit your lifestyle and storage spaces. Versatility and the ability to customize are important.
• Good Space Usage
  How space efficient is the product with regards to boot storage? We used 21” high boots as an average height.
• Good Air Flow Into Boots
  Does the product hold the boots in such a way that air can circulate within the boots and help them to dry properly overnight?
• Ease Of Assembly
  How easy or difficult and time-consuming is the product to assemble?
• Note(s): General Strengths + Weaknesses
  Pros and cons; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Ready to begin?

We’ll start with a simple table where we contrast and compare some highlights, and then we’ll go into more detail below.

Boot Storage Product Comparison Table

Detailed Product Breakdown

(That’s us!)

• holds 5 pairs of boots
• $$$
• excellent visibility
• for mid-calf and knee-high boots

Our Boot Butler has excellent space usage and efficiency—meaning, the amount of boots that fit in the space it takes up is extremely efficient. The Boot Butler organizes your boots well, and they remain fully visible when hung on the Butler. The Butler has good access and is easy to use and put together. It also provides good stability. And the Butler is unique in that is gentle cradles boots from the inside so that there’s no chance of the product causing damage to the boots.

It’s versatile and adaptable: You can hang 5 boots in a vertical row, or you can split the boots up into more horizontal layerings by using a closet doubler, for example. The Boot Butler works with virtually all boots whether they have heels or not.

The Boot Butler is more expensive than most competitors. It occupies valuable closet rod space, which not all customers can spare. Boots hang next to clothing if customers choose to place the Boot Butler into their clothing closet. The maximum boot height of a boot to work on a Boot Butler is ~22”.

• holds 6 pairs of boots
• $$
• good organization
• for ankle, mid-calf and knee-high boots but lighter boots do better

This boot rack can stand inside your closet; boots are clipped onto a slim vertical rod with the use of hangers with built-in clips.

Boots are well-organized and this product offers good organization, good visibility, and good access and ease of use. It also keeps the boot shaft straight to prevent creasing; however, air flow into the boots is poor.

Customers complain that the clips leave marks on the boots—so this is not a product you’ll want to use on your more delicate leather boots. There are also complaints that the boots slip out of the clips easily, so this product will do better with lighter boots. Customers also note frequent issues with assembly and the large size of the rack.

• holds 6 pairs of boots
• $$
• good use of often-overlooked door space
• for ankle, mid-calf, and knee-high boots

The Boot Valet is hung on a door, which is a great way to use often-overlooked space in a bedroom or closet. Note that this product will only work if your closet door has the required 12” depth needed to accommodate it, so definitely get out your measuring tape before purchasing.

If your door does have the required depth, the Boot Valet offers good organization, good visibility, and good access and ease of use. The design isn’t likely to cause damage to your boots.

The shaping aspect of the product is mediocre; the way the boots are hung allows for poor ventilation, and the product is not tall enough for knee-high boots.

Boot soles face up, so there’s a chance your clothing may brush against the soles if your closet is not particularly deep.

The Boot Valet has a time-consuming assembly of 45 minutes or more and requires tools to assemble dozens of parts. Additionally, the frame is often not squared, according to some customer reviews.

• holds 6 pairs of boots
• $$
• good boot visibility
• for mid-calf and knee-high boots

This stackable boot rack is designed so that you can stack one rack on top of another; each rack holds 6 pairs of shoes. Boots are well-organized, visible, and easily accessible. The product makes good use of space.

The Organize It All doesn’t provide any shaping for the boots, and soft-shafted boots are not well-ventilated. It doesn’t work very well on soft-shafted boots because the design allows the shaft to slide down and fold over. Some customer reviews note that the product works well for thin boots because the bars are spaced pretty close together. Boot soles face straight up so that if you have this product on the floor of your closet, overhanging clothing will be sliding against the boot soles. So if you place this product in your closet, and do a lot of outdoor walking, you’ll want to make sure your boot soles are squeaky clean before you put them away.

• holds 4 pairs of boots
• $$
• good access and ease of use
• for mid-calf and knee-high boots but not for wider boots

The Whitmor Steel Boot Stand is another boot stand that you can place in your closet. Unlike the Organize It All, this boot stand has the boots’ soles facing down, so there’s no chance of you soiling your clothing with them. The Whitmor Boot Stand allows you to see your boots at a glance, and easily pull them out and put them back in. The design won’t cause damage to the boots.

This Whitmor offers mediocre ventilation into the shaft of the boot, and won’t work well with soft-shafted boots unless you also purchase and use boot shapers, as the shafts will tend to slide down and fold over. Just as with the Organize It All, this product seems to work best on thinner boots, as the base isn’t spaced widely enough for wider boots to fit—meaning that the wider the top of the boot, the less likely it will fit into this product.

• holds 6 pairs of boots
• $$
• good ventilation
• for mid-high boots and boots lower than 19”; doesn’t work well on wide-shaft boots

Another Whitmor product, this one is a revolving boot rack with the boot soles facing up (so again, if you place this into a closet with clothes, ensure that the soles are nice and clean). Good access, good ventilation, good organization, and good visibility.

This boot rack has a maximum boot height of ~19”, and like the other Whitmor boot rack has received customer complaints that the base is spaced for thinner boots. Because the design squeezes the boots, it can leave marks on your more delicate leather boots. The rack itself doesn’t score that well on stability, as numerous customers complain of it being unstable when they want to take boots on and off the rack. This rack also takes up a lot of space with boots on it, so be sure that you have 24″ x 24″ of floor space to devote to it.

• holds 3 pairs of boots
• $$
• good visibility
• mid-calf boots only (not tall enough for knee-high boots)

This boot organizer has good visibility and good organization and can fit into your closet underneath your hanging clothes. Boots are easy to take on and off.

It’s not tall enough for knee-high boots and provides only mediocre shaping.

Customers report that the product falls over when fully loaded, even with lightweight boots, so the boot organizer often needs to be leaned against a wall—even with just a pair or two of boots on it. There are also reports of parts breaking.

As with all boot organizers where boot soles hang up, place this either into a closet without clothes, or make it a regular practice to clean the soles so that they don’t sully clothing.

• holds 3 pairs of boots
• $
• good dust protection for long-term storage
• for ankle, mid-calf, and knee-high boots

This is an inexpensive product that offers good dust protection for long-term and out-of-season storage. You insert your boots into clear vinyl pockets; these are then hung from a closet rod. One set of boot inserts is included. Boots are well-organized, and there are good visibility and ease of use.

Wall space usage and efficiency of space are mediocre. Customers often note that boots sometimes fall through the pockets, so stability is also mediocre.

The vinyl construction lacks longevity, especially for moderately heavy boots and heavy boots. Boots are poorly ventilated. Note that the product includes only one pair of boots inserts, so if you’re planning on keeping soft boots shafts from slouching or creasing, you’ll need to purchase additional boot inserts.

In Conclusion

As you can see, there are a lot of products to help you corral your boots out on the market. Remember to read customer reviews, and measure to make sure that the product will fit your closet and boots.

We’d love to hear from you! Have you used any of the above products? Leave your thoughts below. And if we’ve missed any great products, please let us know.