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Austin_Allegro
Posts: 1,462 Forumite
I'm pretty sure I recall my grandfather saying that back in the day he repaired all his family's shoes rather than pay a cobbler to do it.
Now I know a good cobbler is a valuable resource, and I do use them for things like putting new leather soles on, but you can do a fair few shoe repairs yourself:
Resoling and heeling - these can be done with kits from Woolworth's that cost about £3-4 including glue. I have even fixed shoes that cobblers said were beyond repair using these kits. They are also great for putting on new leather soles to make them last longer. Make sure you wear the shoes for a few days first however to sufficiently roughen up the soles.
Internal repairs. Keep odd bits of leather from things like old wallets, purses, that you're throwing out. You can glue these to patch up worn areas inside the shoes, esp the bit of lining at the heel that always seems to go.
Make polish go a long way. You can get polish cheaply from pound shops and you only need to use a TINY amount for a good shine - I learned this at school in the army cadet corps. If you use more than about the diameter of a five pence piece then most of it gets wasted on the duster.
Now I know a good cobbler is a valuable resource, and I do use them for things like putting new leather soles on, but you can do a fair few shoe repairs yourself:
Resoling and heeling - these can be done with kits from Woolworth's that cost about £3-4 including glue. I have even fixed shoes that cobblers said were beyond repair using these kits. They are also great for putting on new leather soles to make them last longer. Make sure you wear the shoes for a few days first however to sufficiently roughen up the soles.
Internal repairs. Keep odd bits of leather from things like old wallets, purses, that you're throwing out. You can glue these to patch up worn areas inside the shoes, esp the bit of lining at the heel that always seems to go.
Make polish go a long way. You can get polish cheaply from pound shops and you only need to use a TINY amount for a good shine - I learned this at school in the army cadet corps. If you use more than about the diameter of a five pence piece then most of it gets wasted on the duster.
'Never keep up with Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It's cheaper.' Quentin Crisp
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they are good tips Austin
My dad used to buy 2 pairs exactly the same and get them both soled.He said 2 pairs lasted for longer when bought together and worn every other day , than 2 pairs bought one after the other is worn out.0 -
Thanks Culpeper. Your dad is right - I have three pairs of black shoes for work which I wear in rotation, as shoes need at least 24 hours between wearings to dry out and rest. They last MUCH longer this way - I can usually make a pair of £70 shoes last about 4-5 years.'Never keep up with Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It's cheaper.' Quentin Crisp0
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Austin_Allegro wrote:Thanks Culpeper. Your dad is right - I have three pairs of black shoes for work which I wear in rotation, as shoes need at least 24 hours between wearings to dry out and rest. They last MUCH longer this way - I can usually make a pair of £70 shoes last about 4-5 years.
LOL - will you come and tell all the customers that come in to my shoe shop that? They dont believe me when I tell them. Some of them get really disgusted when I wont change their rotting shoes. They have rotted away inside from sweat etc and its obviously all MY fault
Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold...But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow...0 -
Quackers - I can't do that but what I normally do is start sniffing the air obviously when people (usually men) sit next to me on buses, trains etc with stinking rotting shoes.
The British male attitude seems to be to buy one pair of fashionable shoes, wear them till they rot, then buy another in whatever the latest daft fashion is!'Never keep up with Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It's cheaper.' Quentin Crisp0 -
Those are great tips! Thank you - just goes to show, you learn something new every day - putting Woolies down on my shopping list
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PMS Pot: £57.53 Pigsback Pot: £23.00
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Woolies is brilliant, a must for frugal people. They don't cost much more than pound shops but the quality is usually a lot better.'Never keep up with Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It's cheaper.' Quentin Crisp0
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LOL - will you come and tell all the customers that come in to my shoe shop that? They dont believe me when I tell them. Some of them get really disgusted when I wont change their rotting shoes. They have rotted away inside from sweat etc and its obviously all MY fault
I have five pairs of goodyear welted shoes on the go. All worn once a week, and all with added rubber stick on soles. One pair about to go - welt has gone - but I have been wearing them since 1994! Tell that to your customers. They're Cheney by the way. Cost £89.0 -
I bought the 3.99 rubber soles from Woolies for my boots that I was going to chuck out. They are still going strong. The boots themselves were still fine (good leather ones), but there was a hole in the sole.
So, I think I've saved myself £50.00.
That's a good tip about rotating shoes, next time I am buying, I will get 2 pairs.
To finish, I think that buying expensive shoes, boots is a good investment in the long run. My DH paid £100 for a pair of boots from Shelleys 12 years ago and they still look brand new. He has had them heeled once. Not bad going I think!!
SL x0 -
Austin_Allegro wrote: »
Resoling and heeling - these can be done with kits from Woolworth's that cost about £3-4 including glue. I have even fixed shoes that cobblers said were beyond repair using these kits. They are also great for putting on new leather soles to make them last longer. Make sure you wear the shoes for a few days first however to sufficiently roughen up the soles.
I have resoled my son's shoes and also a pair or two of mine, however I have yet to find proper heels to redo those. Woolies sell those half moon bits but what about when the entire heel has worn down - I'm damned if I'm going to spend £7.00 or £8.00 to have them reheeled but what to do?:rolleyes:0 -
Have a look at this site for all shoe repair items plus much more
http://www.algeos.com/acatalog/index.html
Scroll down for soles and heels
shammy0
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