Here in rural France, winter is something you have to prepare for, rather than letting it sneak up on you.

For instance, there's no simply switching on the central heating, etc, when it gets cold. You have to get the wood and fuel oil ordered well in advance, the chimneys swept, the boilers serviced. That was all done last week and the week before, in gorgeous September weather, and yesterday the temperature dropped like a stone. 

Another little preparation-for-winter job I always do is to get my clothes winter-ready. This means waterproofing my Uggs and any coats such as leathers and Barbours

This weekend, when I went to the can of 'impermeabilisant' it was empty (trust me to keep a completely empty can of waterproofer hanging round the house for a year). So I used floorwax. You wax your shoes to keep them waterproof, I figured. Why not your coats?

It may sound weird, but this is the way some bikers proof their leathers, I have now found. The wax I used is a French staple, a mixture of beeswax and solvent for cleaning wooden or tile floors. It stinks to high heaven, but it makes your floors look like a dream.

Wax turns the character of suede, but that's fine by me - a leathery finish is more practical. Using it has changed the colour of the suede from light beige to a very attractive nut brown. The darker colour is also more practical for my life, and has formed a pleasing contrast with the bits that stayed pale, such as the heels and stitching. 

I've also done my brown leather trenchcoat and cream leather car coat with wax and am really pleased with the results - they look like new. Particularly pleasing is the car coat, which I bought in 1998 from Jaegar leather, but which came back from the dry cleaners looking dried out and stiff as a board - this waxing has given it years more of good life and the leather is rich and pliable again. 

Only the Barbours still to do and I can't find the thornproof dressing, so I might try floorwax on those too. 

If you want to try this at home and can't get this kind of wax, melt a cake of beeswax over a VERY low heat and incorporate a tablespoon of linseed oil into it. Dip in a sponge, and apply.

The oil/wax mixture also works well for impregnating a duster. This makes the world's best duster/polisher, which picks up dust while simultaneously nourishing wood. Rinse it out and keep it in a tightly sealed jam jar for future use.