Cobblers, shoe care, DIY

[Shucks]

glueing rubber / reverse leather care.

Has anyone ever Vibramed / replaced rubber soles? I've got a pair of YY sneaks that have really soft, flexible rubber soles. They're wearing quickly, and the left has cracked under the ball.

I've a decent old school cobbler in Austin, but he works primarily with leather / wood repair, I've never asked him about rubber work.

yes. rick sneaks, a bunch of times. the most important thing is for your cobbler to REALLY clean the soles properly (after grinding etc.) before glueing the new sole to the rubber. my cobbler uses some kind of solvent, to make sure the surfaces are absolutely dust-free, before glueing. otherwise it won't stick. mrbeuys can confirm, i think...

speaking of rick footwear and shoe care - i've thought a bit about if/how to give some TLC to my various reverse leather rick footwear. i've not wanted to apply any wax or shoe creme to them, cause i want to avoid damaging the gorgeous texture of the leather. but at the same time, i've worn some pairs a LOT, and figure the leather def. needs some nourishing...

today i decided to just wing it. i applied a small amount of basic, quite viscous, facial moisturizing creme (a hypo-allergenic one with very simple composition - no perfume etc.) to my palm and then rubbed it in gently to the leather. the leather soaked it right up, without any visible negative effect on the texture/structure at all. it just seemed like the leather was revitalized and returned to the deeper original black.

not sure if there will be any adverse long-term effects - i don't see why there would be - but it def. seems to have worked well right now. (it might be important not to use too much moisturizer to avoid softening the leather too much...)

so maybe this might tip for you reverse-leather ppl out there? i know i'm gonna try it also on some ann suede sneaks etc.

just don't come crying to me if it ends up in a disaster - i make no warranties here...

[lowrey]

yes. rick sneaks, a bunch of times. the most important thing is for your cobbler to REALLY clean the soles properly (after grinding etc.) before glueing the new sole to the rubber. my cobbler uses some kind of solvent, to make sure the surfaces are absolutely dust-free, before glueing. otherwise it won't stick. mrbeuys can confirm, i think...

good advice. just a small detail, but I believe the issue with the adhesion is oil in the rubber material, which is why the surface must be cleaned with a proper solvent

[eleven crows]

I've just had a pair of m.a+ staple derbies soled and despite asking for the a thin layer, they've slapped on a thick rubber heel. No joy arguing with the cobbler to get it replaced as they don't carry anything other than these monstrosities. It's completely ruined the profile of the shoe.

Is it easy enough to have these removed and a thin one applied? I'm quite pissed off that I'm having to shell out for this twice and hoping that they haven't shaved down the sole too much as to have ruined them.

[Raw]

Removing the heel and replacing it with a thin one should be a straight forward job, just like getting the heel replaced. Hopefully they didn't shave down the sole too much, but if you say the heel completely ruined the profile of the shoe then I assume they didn't shave it down too much otherwise it wouldn't have changed the profile that much.

Anyways good luck with it.

[lionlimb]

@shucks & @lowrey THANK YOU! Really, really helpful.

[BrianK]

Can anyone recommend any cobblers in NYC? Because my rick soles are starting to become worn out

[fadetogrey]

I have a pair of white Guidi back zips that are in dire need of some heel & sole protection, but my cobbler doesn't have any white options (or even light grey, which I would have settled for)

Are there any online resources for ordering custom materials like this?

[AppendixG]

I have a pair of white Guidi back zips that are in dire need of some heel & sole protection, but my cobbler doesn't have any white options (or even light grey, which I would have settled for)

Are there any online resources for ordering custom materials like this?

I've run into this same problem, I guess topy isn't made in white?

I wonder if you could buy some of the material from him and paint it with that Krylon spray paint that bonds with plastic, then have him use that? No idea if it would hold up, though.

[drew]

They do make white in some formulations

http://www.topy.fr/en/387/236/shoe_repair-product-CELLOTOP.html

[Lane]

if I have a pair of guidi boots with zipper damage can I contact guidi to buy new zippers to have a cobbler fix them or does someone know which zipper do they use? I'm guessing ykk excellas? but it looks different.

[gavroche88]

Edit: Sorry, I should be better friends with search functions...

[dji]

any recommendations for a cobbler in the DC area?

[VampireNocturnus]

Anyone seen pics of a Rick Owens ss07 combat with the crepe sole replaced? Just picked up a pair of reverse leather ones and looking to throw on a vibram sole but not sure which one to get.

[newp]

BBS bambas: dead sole. Do you have any suggestions how to fix it better and which soles should I use to re-sole? Pic: http://i.imgur.com/2eh4TQz.jpg

Thanks in advance!

[lowrey]

best bet is probably to add a full length thin rubber. I would do it fast before it breaks any further.