Does anyone resole their own shoes?

[shelivesthedream]

I have a few pairs of good quality leather shoes. I have an awkward shoe size and strong style preferences and so I want to keep these shoes for as long as I possibly can. I have them reheeled and resoled when they need it, with the thin black rubber soles, but that's often as I walk most places. I am always slightly shocked by how much it costs, so I was wondering if anyone here DIYs. One can buy stick-on rubber soles with accompanying glue in Robert Dyas for a fiver. Is this an overlooked money-saving (and hassle-saving if I can do it in my sitting room) opportunity or am I likely to ruin a pair of good shoes?

[lthenderson]

I had a pair of leather hiking boots that I used to get resoled from time to time. They were however glues and then stitched to the upper part and not adhered using adhesives alone. I guess I would be leery on the longevity of using only adhesive to put a new sole on.

[bobechs]

Professional shoe repairers do glue soles on shoes without extra stitching, nailing or stapling.

They  use soles which are made for the purpose and are both heavier of body and more resistant to abrasive wear than dime-store stick-ons.

They use motorized scratch wheels and belt sanders to prepare both the shoe bottom (after stripping the old sole off) and the replacement sole.  They then use a special glue -Barge Cement is the leading brand almost to exclusion of any other- and heavy pressure to fasten the sole and shoe for the long haul. To clean up the job, they grind back any overhang of the sole on the edge to make a neat, nearly invisible repair

All these supplies are available from internet suppliers and if you have a decent mechanized home shop, with some practice and the willingness to make your own jigs as necessary, it won't cost you much more to repair your own shoes than to take them in.

And you will have a lifetime supply of Barge Cement.

[Tom Bri]

http://hub.me/a7fYK
I wrote this article a few years ago about repairing shoe soles.

[sokoloff]

All these supplies are available from internet suppliers and if you have a decent mechanized home shop, with some practice and the willingness to make your own jigs as necessary, it won't cost you much more to repair your own shoes than to take them in.

I love the subtlety in that paragraph. Well played.

[gillamnstr]

Professional costume girl here.

You can do it and I have sort of done it, but it's a PAIN!

What you need:
-Barge glue (it comes in cans or tubes)
-Dance rubber (or shoe rubber) for shoes. It comes in sheets of varying thicknesses usually in black or tan. You can google it or else they sell it on Manhattan Wardrobe Supply or Amazon
-various cutting tools - heavy duty scissors, and something sander-esque to file the sides. I've used a dremel but you'd probably have better luck with something more heavy duty

Step 1 - if there is rubber on the bottom of the shoe, pull it off. If it's a leather sole, you can just directly apply it.
Step 2 - put shoe base onto rubber and trace around it with a sharpie or pencil to get the outline of the shoe, then cut it out with scissors
Step 3 - Apply barge - the best way is to dab it moderately onto both surfaces with a sponge. You want strings between the sponge and the surface
Step 4 - Allow both sides to dry so they are tacky (anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour - you can use a sponge or hairdryer to speed up process) and press together
Step 5 - bang shoe on the floor or pound with a mallet to get a good grip between the surfaces
Step 6 - sand down or trim the edges the best you can

That's it! Not sure it's worth your time but there you go! I hate and kind of suck at doing it so I always go to a cobbler.