Who doesn’t love that one pair of shoes that’s broken in and fit just right? I know there are a lot of people like me out there that just can’t seem to get rid of their old shoes. I just keep thinking that I might where them again. Some are torn and worn out others are in fairly good shape but out of style. So I decided to take an adventure in bringing my shoes back to life.
A really interesting and responsive tool to save your shoes is fishing line. Fishing line can actually be used as a thread to sew your shoes back together. Since it’s plastic but flexible (or nylon) it works quite well in holding those rips together. You can buy fishing line in different colors such as: gold, coffee, green, clear, red, blue, and multicolored (prices vary from $2.00-$40.00). If you use a different color you could add decorative stitches to give a sort of design on the area where the rip occurred.
Now I’m not usually one for expensive shoes but I actually got a pair of $100 boots. After wearing them a few times the sole started to come off the toe. I was furious! I couldn’t believe that this new of a shoe could be falling apart already. I mean come on I probably only wore them 5 times! So of course the store wouldn’t exchange them so I go in search of a cobbler. Fortunately I found one in the next town. I take my boots in to this cobbler who tells me he will “try” to re-glue the sole but that it might not hold because of today’s inferior products (talking about my boot). I take the chance and leave my boot to get fixed. I had to wait a week to get my boot back and when I did I was worse off than before. This so called cobbler tried to glue the sole back on but it didn’t hold. But on top of him leaving globs of glue all over the sole of my shoe and not being able to fix it, he also gouged the side of the heel. Now we aren’t talking about a scratch or cut up, there was a chunk taken out. You could actually see the fabric under the rubber outside of the heel. I was so mad I vowed never to go back to that “cobbler” and decided to try and fix them myself. I happened to have just bought this amazing glue called Liquid Fusion (cost $5.99, you can find this at Walmart, Michaels, and online). It’s water proof and can be used on just about anything so I tried it out. I squirted the glue into the toe where the sole was coming off and clamped it into place. The glue takes 24 hours to cure. The next day I take a look at my shoe; it was still pulling apart a little but to my surprise the Liquid Fusion glue looked and felt exactly like the glue the cobbler used. I refilled the gap and let it cure for 24 hours again. I had to do this a total of 3 times because the glue was slipping inside the sole into an area where there was a gap. So not only did it glue the piece of sole that was coming off but it also glued the interior sole in place. I have worn there boots hundreds of times and the Liquid Fusion has lived up to its name.
If your shoes are out dated you can always bleach them and then repaint them. You could also pour cement into the shoe and let it dry, so now you have a door stopper! Better yet you could seal the inside of the shoe with a layer of Liquid Fusion (or some other water proofing product) cure and then fill with dirt to make a vintage planter. You can keep them if you want or give them away as presents. There are so many options for your old shoes, just use your imagination!!!!
Sources: Personal Experience
Masterjeles.net/frugalindes.htm
Essortment.com