Soles are often the first part of a pair of shoes to wear out. They wear out two to three times faster than vamps and laces. Fortunately, if other parts are still in good condition, shop from a multitude of shoe soles at wholesale price to fix your pair.
Repairing a sole isn’t as hard as you might think; basic tools, a new sole and the following steps is all you need.
Table of contents
- Remove the old sole.
- Scrape off dirt and remove dried glue with acetone
- Roughen up the sole and the bottom part of the shoe in preparation for gluing
- Apply cobbler’s glue on the surface
- Bring the sole and the other part together.
- Clamp the sole and the shoe together
- Giving your shoes a new sole is easy
1. Remove the old sole.
You must remove the old sole to create room for a new sole. It is straightforward:
Find the seaming along the toe and sides. A seam is a sewed line between the vamp and the sole, which is distinguishable by single or double stitches. Some seams are clearly visible while others are buried inside the sole.
Next, pry up on one side of the sole with a pry bar and pull upward until it pops off. If you don’t have a pry bar, improvise one at home using a screwdriver. Simply hammer a screwdriver to take a chisel-like shape.
2. Scrape off dirt and remove dried glue with acetone
After removing a shoe sole, there might be dirt and remnants of dried glue. You must remove them to prepare the surface for a new layer of adhesive.
Still, with a pry bar or a putty knife, scrape off any dirt, which may include parts of the old sole, dried-up mud and residual grime. Also, remove any loose threads.
For dried-up glue, a few drops of acetone or nail polish remover will dissolve it away. Simply squeeze out a few drops of acetone on a rag and wipe it over the glue. Let acetone react with glue before scraping it off.
3. Roughen up the sole and the bottom part of the shoe in preparation for gluing
A rough surface holds glue better than a smooth one. Here use 120 grit sandpaper to roughen up the surface. Avoid sandpaper with coarser grits. It will destroy the shoes.
If you can’t find 120 grit sandpaper, ask for fine grade sandpaper and use it with bare hands or attach it to a belt sander.
4. Apply cobbler’s glue on the surface
Though there are different types of glue, go for cobbler’s glue, such as Loctite shoe glue, which is designed to bind very quickly with most shoe materials and also form watertight bonds.
Apply a thin layer of cobbler’s glue on roughed-up surfaces and let it cure for a few minutes. Curing is a chemical process that starts when you expose glue to air to form strong bonds. Read through the how-to-use section of the glue package to understand how long it takes to cure.
5. Bring the sole and the other part together.
This is the most crucial stage during a shoe repair and should be done with care. Lay the front part of the sole against the front part of the shoe and align the edges correctly. Using the index finger and thumb with one hand holding the sole, align the remaining parts as you apply pressure.
Misaligning the sole will force you to repeat the entire process again.
6. Clamp the sole and the shoe together
The sole and shoe need to be clamped together for some time to adhere to each other. Use rubber bands or duct tape to apply pressure for several hours.
To do this, bind duct tape around the shoe to prevent the sole from separating or not forming a strong bond.
Alternatively, place the shoes on a flat surface and apply weights.
The purpose of clamping is to let the glue form the strongest bond in a conducive environment.
Giving your shoes a new sole is easy
Start by removing the old sole, followed by scraping off dried-up mud and glue. Use acetone to remove the glue. Next is sanding, and finally, the application of glue and binding of the two surfaces together.