Leather Sole Care/Life Expectancy, Hole in my boots' sole.

[Macallan]

I am sure I have posted this before:

I was at Church's store a few years ago and speaking to an assistant about shoe-rotation. He made a comparison of two recent cutomers that needed their shoes resoled
i. Older gent, was getting his 10 year old Church's resoled and they need some work to the uppers as well. He took care of shoes, rotated his shoes and used shoe-trees
ii. Annoyed wife of customer, who could not understand why the shoes needed a resole after 6 months. He wore the shoes everyday, did not use shoe-trees and the shoes were rarely polished.

Nathan Brown (Lodger Footwear) told me a similar story; one of friend's wore his Lodger shoes everyday and was harsh on his shoes too, the shoes did not last six months before a resole was needed.



Should you return them? If you want, but do not expect a refund
Resole the shoes? Yes and get shoe-trees

 

[fritzl]



Cracked sole in 2 months? have them fitted.

ftfy

 

[MrPsellus]

Fitted? I am new to all of this.

 

[MrPsellus]

I am sure I have posted this before:
I was at Church's store a few years ago and speaking to an assistant about shoe-rotation. He made a comparison of two recent cutomers that needed their shoes resoled
i. Older gent, was getting his 10 year old Church's resoled and they need some work to the uppers as well. He took care of shoes, rotated his shoes and used shoe-trees
ii. Annoyed wife of customer, who could not understand why the shoes needed a resole after 6 months. He wore the shoes everyday, did not use shoe-trees and the shoes were rarely polished.

I appreciate all of this, but I think my case is a bit different for several reasons:
1) Two months. A hole. I don't think this is normal
2) From what I understand, Church's generally have a single sole, and do not have a reputation for durability, at least by boots standards.

With that said, I'm pretty scared by this, so I'm going to a local shoe repair shop, do whatever I can, and take care of these boots as much as I can. My goal is to give them to a (future) son as proof that I was once dapper.

 

[KObalto]



Damp soles are very easy to cut or gash. That looks like what you might have done.
You can put a half leather sole on those for about $25. If you are going to wear them so much, rubber might be a better choice.

Those are Goodyear welted. They should get a completely re-stitched resole. Here's a very good NYC cobbler: http://www.bnelsonshoes.com/
Prices on the site for all types of soles and you can ship to them. Nick will call you when he gets your shoes and help you figure out what you need/want.

 

[MrPsellus]

Would the fact that it is Goodyear welted make it more difficult/expensive/longer for the repair process? Not possible to get a rubber sole?

 

[Aqualung]

What does rested mean?

That looks like wear. You're not walking correctly and shuffling your feet.
Back in the 70's I used to wear AE shoes a lot and sometimes I'd wear one particular pair I liked a lot. I'd estimate that it took almost 2 years of almost everyday use before they needed a new sole (I'd just buy another shoe rather than waste money on soles)
And I never used shoe tress in them either. I do today but it's not really necessary with modern tanning and shoemaking techniques where the leather doesn't shrink. The whole pupose esp. in the past of using shoetrees was to prevent the shoes from becoming tighter. When a shoe heats up and becomes slightly damp it may shrink when it cools down. A shoe tree keeps it shape.

 

[KObalto]



Would the fact that it is Goodyear welted make it more difficult/expensive/longer for the repair process?  Not possible to get a rubber sole?

Look at the site, Nick can put a nice Dainite rubber sole on there if you wish. One big reason for welted shoes is that they can be re-soled numerous times, yes it's more expensive but they're not just cutting you soles off and gluing new ones on. If you are going to buy welted shoes you have to take care of them as welted shoes. Check out the website, it will answer many of your questions.

 

[MyOtherLife]

Take the boots to your local friendly cobbler and have him put on some TOPY half sole rubbers. $25. Problem solved. You will still get to look dapper for a long long long time to come.

 

[Nick V.]



Take the boots to your local friendly cobbler and have him put on some TOPY half sole rubbers. $25. Problem solved. You will still get to look dapper for a long long long time to come.

Can't put sole guards on them. They're to far gone. A local guy may do it but he's stealing your $.
From what I can see, they are not double soled, they are a single sole w/a Good Year welt. Shows normal wear.
Don't put a half sole on them. That would compromise the structure of shoe.

 

[graymerica]

One question I had, if the shoes only cost 190 pounds new, how much would you spend to resole them?

Spending $120 resoling a pair of $300 shoes seems a bit like a waste.

If the owner wears through a sole in two months, rubber soles would make more sense. How much damage could a rubber half sole do to the shoes.

Andrew

 

[MrPsellus]

Can't put sole guards on them. They're to far gone. A local guy may do it but he's stealing your $.
From what I can see, they are not double soled, they are a single sole w/a Good Year welt. Shows normal wear.
Don't put a half sole on them. That would compromise the structure of shoe.

What would you suggest? You sound like you know a lot more about this than I do, though I admittedly know very little.

Does a Good Year welt make it harder to resole?

Also, does normal wear indicate that I'm not destroying these shoes by walking strangely? I really wanted these to last.

 

[MrPsellus]

One question I had, if the shoes only cost 190 pounds new, how much would you spend to resole them?
Spending $120 resoling a pair of $300 shoes seems a bit like a waste.
If the owner wears through a sole in two months, rubber soles would make more sense. How much damage could a rubber half sole do to the shoes.
Andrew

120 dollars? I haven't seen that price tag anywhere. These shoes were a substantial investment for me, and I will do a lot to repair them.

EDIT: Anyone know a great service in the Chicago Area?

 

[quar]



I am sure I have posted this before:
I was at Church's store a few years ago and speaking to an assistant about shoe-rotation. He made a comparison of two recent cutomers that needed their shoes resoled
i. Older gent, was getting his 10 year old Church's resoled and they need some work to the uppers as well. He took care of shoes, rotated his shoes and used shoe-trees
ii. Annoyed wife of customer, who could not understand why the shoes needed a resole after 6 months. He wore the shoes everyday, did not use shoe-trees and the shoes were rarely polished.
Nathan Brown (Lodger Footwear) told me a similar story; one of friend's wore his Lodger shoes everyday and was harsh on his shoes too, the shoes did not last six months before a resole was needed.
Should you return them? If you want, but do not expect a refund
Resole the shoes? Yes and get shoe-trees

Resting is over-rated. Unless the shoes are wet of course.

Resting just means that you wear the shoes less often, say 50 times per year instead of 150 times per year.

Of course someone with an extensive collection rarely resoles their shoes.

 

[graymerica]

Sorry, If I misread this website you posted -> http://www.grenson.co.uk/shop/sharp-189

It shows them for sale for 190 pounds, which by my calculations is around $300. My thought was rubber half soles are inexpensive and will solve your wear issues, full resoles are over $100 and will not solve your wear issues. If you are wearing through the soles this fast, you will be resoling them a couple of times per year.

Also, if you get a bad full resole the shoes are ruined, a rubber half sole should be able to be removed and replaced.

This is still an interesting debate, but I think the cost of a new pair of the shoes should be factored in. Paying 1/3 of the cost or more to repair the sole seems a little excessive, especially when it is is just to retain the original design.



One more thought, you send the back to the manufacture to get them worked on. http://www.grenson.co.uk/repairs