Boot sole glue?

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pishta

pishta

I know I'm right....
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I have a pair of super comfortable steel toe boots with a nice rigid shank for ladder use. The F'n molded sole peeled off one of them and the other is starting to seperate too. These are fairly new (NOS, about 5 years old but only worn for about 3 months) It looks like it was a bad batch of glue or something. Does anyone have experience with a good rubber to leather/cloth glue? I have some "shoe goo" but I think this is a heavier repair than just clear silicone. Maybe this stuff? Whatever I use must be somewhat flexible as the sol does flex so Gorilla glue is out.
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If all else fails, clean well then apply 2 coats of Hardware Store Contact Cement, letting the coats dry 15 minutes Between Applications, then 20 minutes to dry up to a good tack. Then stick the 2 pieces together.

Have you ever tried to pull a freshly glued counter top back up again after it was stuck down with contact cement? Man does that suff stick.

Sticks good to wood pores, the question is how good will it stick to your leather.

Have to try a little test area first.

2 coats contact cement on your shoe leather test area, 2 coats on a brand new bare wood paint stick. Let it dry then stick them together. See if you can pull them apart.

A heat gun will help clean up your test area if things go bad . . .

Good Luck
 
I'm wondering if the contact cement will flex. Sound like it would work great if it does! The boots I'm wearing now are circa 1974, NOS Navy surplus pole climbers that weigh about 5 lbs a pair and walk like ski boots. Great on ladders, but they suck carrying it!
 
Even a thought a few 2" long sheet rock screws from the inside out along with the glue into the perimeter of the heals. Cut off and grind off the excess screw length.

And put a layer or 2 of duct tape over the heads on the inside, or slip in some of those cumfy shoe inserts.
 
George Jets said:
Even a thought a few 2" long sheet rock screws from the inside out along with the glue into the perimeter of the heals. Cut off and grind off the excess screw length.

And put a layer or 2 of duct tape over the heads on the inside, or slip in some of those cumfy shoe inserts.
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I liked your first post better. The counter top example was perfect. I think I'd take the screws out when it's done curing. That contact cement isn't gonna let loose if it's done properly like you said. Lol
 
Man I used Gorilla glue on some western boots I had and loved that the sole came off of and they never came back off. I wore out holes on the sides of the boot themselves and the soles were still attached.
 
I think Shoe Goo is more than just clear silicone. It works great for us.
 
Shoe goo is a good adhesive, used it a few times.
 
I wear Keen hiking boots for work, and they did the same thing. I got the Gorilla Glue out and glued em up on Friday evening when I got home from work. Put them on on Monday morning and they ain't turned loose yet. I don't climb much anymore, but they have been on a ladder a time or 3 since then and have held up fine.
 
Good info here.

I got a pair of real comfortable hybrid shoe-boots that I used to LOVE.

Sole came off of one and is starting to come off the other.

I'd love to get those back in circulation.

I'm real hard to find comfortable shoes and kinda hard wearin' em.
 
I still got a tube of shoe goo. maybe Ill give it another try. Reading up on it, everyone says its superior to clear silicone. I know I tried it once but it didnt hold, I must have not cleaned the leather side enough of the old crap. Ill use acetone this time and get it clean. Hot glue doesnt work, not flexible enough. Its a molded glued on sole, not like a hard sole of a cowboy boot. The look like cheap hiking boots but they have a steel toe and a rigid shank, neither are good in a hiker. There were quite a few bad reviews of them for soles coming off (defective process) and everyone seemed to love them besides that fact, but got them replaced under warranty but these are too old. I already asked. They are close to this.
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A56 said:
Gone are the shoe repair shops of old.
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There are 2 in my area and they want >$75 to resole a pair of Redwings. Redwing wants $115 and they are sent out (they rebuild the heel pocket too). So you get back a pair of 5 year old boots with a new sole for $115? Tempting as they wear pretty good up top but I got a boss that checks the soles of our boots and if they are slick, he'll ask to see some good soles by tomorrow. I should have taken a soldering iron and burned in some waffle tread!
 
pishta said:
.........so Gorilla glue is out.
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FWIW, I've had decent results with their contact cement. It is flexible. It's holding both toe areas to the leather uppers of an older pair I still like. I really bought it to add an inch and a half to floor tiles for the basement. The "holds in just seconds" claim I'd debate. ........

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Shoe Goo worked well for me on a pair of oxfords that needed re gluing after a shoe repair shop tried to glue the soles. Also works great as a general purpose cement for many other uses.
 
I think I got one up on all of you guys being the fact that I skateboarded most of my younger years when I 1st discovered shoe goo' and I've laid carpet for over 20 years and had to reglue the sole of my shoe on which freaking tore off from dragging the toe knee kicking and crawling around.
Contact doesn't hold very long.
Shoe goo.
 
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Shoe goo holding so far. I had forgotten how comfortable these boots were!
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Just a little touch ups needed on some gaps to make them waterproof again. Other one is almost perfect with no factory glue failure.
 
If that fails you might try np-1 or osi quad, which are flexible roof sealants and stick to near anything.
 
I have a son with CP that drags his feet all the time. I use to use Shoe Goo, but it scrapes off far too easy. After trying several things, what I found work the best is using the Gorilla super glue gel and glue on MiMiLive rubber shoe repair pads from Amazon. I clean both surfaces and let completely dry. Apply a thin layer of the super clue gel then use a 4" spring clamp from Home Depot to squeeze the pads into the shoe.

These particular pads do not come off, but wear off at a slow rate unlike the other pads I have tried from Amazon. This has allowed my son to wear out his shoe rather the be replaced because he ground a hole in the shoes.

I have also use the super glue gel to mend trunnion boots. Clean both surfaces with alcohol and apply a thin layer of the gel to both sides of the tear. I have a video of a boot that I cut, installed on the drive shaft then tried to tear the boot off after the gel glue dried. I was unable to tear the boot and had to cut the boot off to remove it. The toughest adhesive for rubber I have found. I wish I could show you this video...
 
I tried super glue and it didnt work. It just made a hard puck on the leather part that the rubber dd not stick to. This was the little yellow dropper bottle with the red top, "original super glue" YMMV. so far the shoe goo is holding, maybe I put it on correctly this time!
 
pishta said:
There are 2 in my area and they want >$75 to resole a pair of Redwings. Redwing wants $115 and they are sent out (they rebuild the heel pocket too). So you get back a pair of 5 year old boots with a new sole for $115? Tempting as they wear pretty good up top but I got a boss that checks the soles of our boots and if they are slick, he'll ask to see some good soles by tomorrow. I should have taken a soldering iron and burned in some waffle tread!
Click to expand...

I had a pair of Redwings resoled twice, what a beautiful boot, used to wear them as my regular shoe as well, lasted for years .
They stopped making that style, and I never found another style as comfy.
 
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