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Shoe dyeing in Vancouver

R-H

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Can anyone recommend a place in Vancouver that does shoe dyeing? I have a pair of tan Allen Edmonds that I would dyed dark brown.

I've asked the people at my regular cobbler but they only do spray on colouring.
 

contaygious

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I'd say parson's downtown. Trouble is they are not open on weekends so I am waiting for a workday off to go in. People say they are the best so I assume they would do that for you.
 

Spatlese

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In addition to Parson's, maybe give the Quick Cobbler a call (unless that's your regular cobbler!). Either way, between these two, they may know where to steer you.
 

MiniW

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ever consider doing it yourself? I recently dyed a pair of brown boots black and it worked out and the process was fairly simple (I found instructions are in other threads on SF). Unfortunately, in very bright light, I can still see brown undertones under the black, and this is after polishing the shoes. But I suspect light to dark brown to be less problematic. All you need is masking (blue painter's) tape to cover the soles, some acetone or whatever solution to remove the current color and open up the leather, and then the color dye you want. All the materials costed me less than $20 and I had to pay rip off prices in small cobbler stores in NYC. Good luck.
 

R-H

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Parsons is my usual place. They actually suggested I not leave me shoes with them as I wouldn't be happy with the results. Apparently, the results would looks streaky unless I chose to have the shoes coloured black.

I might try the DIY method as outlined in some of RIDER's posts, but with a inexpensive pair.

Thanks.
 

Beetleything

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Just an update for anyone.....

I need a good pair of leather shoes resoled and so was interested by this thread..

Parson's i think have moved and where hard to find from google searches..

they are now in the Bentall Mall 595 Burrard- lower level below bentall 2 - The BMO building if anyone needs them.

The lady i dealt with was knowledgeable and very impressed with my shoes and talked about how a good pair of leather shoes could last 10-20 years as opposed to some stuff people bring in that she said cannot even be repaired, presumably cheap construction etc...
 

office drone

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^ you are completely correct, sir.....they did move and shack up with the Bentall Shoe Renew store. Apparently both stores were run by the same family (Francis at Bentall, his wife at Parsons), and they just merged into one location when the Parsons store's lease was up. They are a nice lot....they always say "nice shoes..." when I bring them in...LOL.

I also enquired about getting my shoes darkened, but Francis recommended against it, saying it wouldn't look very good.
 

brokentelephone

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Originally Posted by office drone
^ you are completely correct, sir.....they did move and shack up with the Bentall Shoe Renew store. Apparently both stores were run by the same family (Francis at Bentall, his wife at Parsons), and they just merged into one location when the Parsons store's lease was up. They are a nice lot....they always say "nice shoes..." when I bring them in...LOL.

I also enquired about getting my shoes darkened, but Francis recommended against it, saying it wouldn't look very good.


Are those stores run by a Japanese family? I used to get my shoes fixed in Bentall and they were pretty good -- but cannot recall the name of the store.
 

office drone

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The one in Bentall is run by a Chinese couple.

There is another shoe repair place in Royal Centre, on the Skytrain level. I think they're Japanese, for what it's worth.
 

brokentelephone

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Originally Posted by office drone
The one in Bentall is run by a Chinese couple.

There is another shoe repair place in Royal Centre, on the Skytrain level. I think they're Japanese, for what it's worth.


Thanks -- I don't live in Vancouver anymore (but am actually here at the minute) and had a few pairs I wanted to get resoled, and was confused b/w Bental and Royal Centre. The place at Royal Centre used to do good work.
 

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