Help with boot care/repair

[KimTexan]

This isn’t directly related to fossils, but it’s related to fossil hunting gear. I’m not sure if this is the best place to post my questions. I am pretty sure some of you will have tidbits of wisdom and advice to offer.

My hiking boots had finally had it. The sole has been separating from them for over a month. I applied Shoe Goo to them a couple times over the past month, but Shoe Goo just couldn’t handle what I’ve been dishing out to my boots lately. They are Danner brand boots that were originally about $170. I got them on EBay for $30 I think. They looked like they had never been worn.

 

I went fossil hunting after work on Thursday and my boots and I encountered some significant mud.

You have to look close, but here is my boot sunk in the mud, obviously without my foot in it after I tried to pull my foot out and the boot stayed. You can see my previous step above it.

I intentionally left my other foot in place for the photo. You can’t even tell, but the foot that’s still in the boot is compleatly covered and sunk in the mud about 10 inches deep. My leg and where the side of my foot and boot would be are in the pic, but all you can see is mud. I love the adventure of it!!! I think it’s so fun to go out and do stuff like that. Yep, I’m a little crazy in love with nature and the outdoors. I’m out there by myself laughing out loud at how comical a sight I must be and loving every minute of it. Even with all that mud and water my feet still felt completely dry!!! I love my boots!

 

My boots and I in the mud is nothing new, but they needed some serious cleaning after that. While cleaning them I decided it was time to do what I have been avoiding for weeks now. 

 

I love these boots! I mean really love them. I have had them for maybe 6 years. They have held up amazingly well. They have impressed me again and again. They’re not the heavy weight type of hiking boots, but they have been the most comfortable hiking boots I’ve ever had. I have another pair that are Merrel hiking boots, but they’re heavy and clunky. The Danners are so light in weight.

 

This is the one that was in better shape, but you can see the front of the sole has separated from the boot. The other one I had already cleaned and taken apart. I had brushed off most of the mud on this one, but still needed to wash it.

They are still in great condition so I want to try to restore them to good working condition.

I’m looking for advice on how to restore them.

This is what they currently look like. The soles have been completely removed. The boots are pretty much water proof/resistant up to the black part around the ankle. 

 

I was going to put Neats foot oil on the leather uppers, but the boots and gloves I’ve used it on before we’re not this kind of leather. Is there some other coat to put on the that would be better?

I saw something called Boot Butter, but I’ve never used it before.

The sole of the upper is coated with something that makes them water resistant, but is still flexible. How it is stitched in preserves the seal to keep water out too. The inside sole’s material is a durable felt like material. The inserts are removable rubber and nylon/polyester type material that wicks moisture away from your foot, even sweat. I’m not sure how it does that, but it’s an awesome feature.

I’m not sure if there is anything I could recoat the bottom of the sole with to preserve that water resistant quality before gluing the sole back on. It seems to still be in tact though.

 

I bought contact cement to glue them back on with. I hope that works well. Anyone have experience with contact cement and boot soles?

Do any of you have experience with this? Do you have any insight to share? Any advice, wisdome or personal experience of do’s and don’ts would be appreciated.

Like I said I love these boots! I’m sentimental  about them. My boots and I have been through a lot together and had some amazing adventures and experiences together. Not only that they’re so comfortable!! 

I’m not ready to end the relationship yet and part soles. LOL

[Fruitbat]

You could always take them to a shoe repair shop and have them repaired professionally.  I've heard good things about Diego's Quality Shoe Repair in Rowlett (close to Dos Charros).  You might give them a try!

 

-Joe

[Ptychodus04]

Great story! 

 

Joe beat me to this advice. I type too slow!

 

You could always take them to a place that does shoe repair and have the soles professionally replaced. That may be cost prohibitive though. I’ve never had hiking boots re-soled but cowboy boots cost about $90 a pair for a full job. That’s great for $500 ostrich boots but not so much for $150 hiking boots.

 

I like to use mink oil for my leather waterproofing. It has served my boots well over the years.

[Miocene_Mason]

Unrelated side note: They look a million times better than my tennis shoes after tennis practice.

 

Hope you can get’em fixed, shoes/boots are probably one of the top three things that need to work to go fossil hunting.

[KimTexan]

Tennis shoes aren’t made for the heavy duty hiking in the rugged places I often go to. 

I try to take good care of my boots. I put them through an aweful lot. For my hunting in wet creeks and rivers I usually wear rubber boots from Home Depot, the kind the concrete pourers wear.

 

@Fruitbat and @Ptychodus04 I did consider that, but I was thinking it might cost me more that I paid for them. I am on a tight budget these days.

 

My Dad wears cowboy boots a lot. He has had a few pair resoled. It is pretty expensive. I remember watching him polish his boots practically every night when I was a kid. It sure made them last a lot longer. Not too many people polish their boots everyday. His daily boots weren’t even fancy. They were a regular pair of cowboy boots.

I did find another apearingly great deal on EBay of $320 Asolo brand used hiking boots for $30. I’ve never heard of the brand, but they had $500 hiking boots on Amazon. That is some serious hiking boots. Must be for hiking something like the Himalayas or something.

[Fruitbat]

I've heard that Diego's is pretty reasonable considering how much you like those boots and how much it will cost to replace them.

 

-Joe

[DPS Ammonite]

Kim, Shoe Goo and Superglue never worked for me. I would be tempted to use one glue mentioned in the following article. Good luck.  

https://www.bootreviewshow.com/best-glue-for-shoes/

 

Ask the manufacturer to see what kind of products they recommend to put on the boots. 

[JarrodB]

I can't offer good advice on this subject since I wear $10 Walmart shoes to fossil hunt lol. I throw them away after every third trip.  I keep wet feet all day so hate to buy expensive ones to hunt. I have tried the product in the pic and it works pretty good for waterproofing. 

[Intheswamp]

Thinking outside the (shoe)box...

 

Tire and inner tube repairs have to withstand some severe conditions...their failure can be catastrophic or at the very least very, very aggravating (ask a farmer who's on the back-40 and suddenly a rear tire that he had repaired the day before goes flat on his tractor.  Repairs must withstand extreme stresses both in weight loads and heat build-up.  Anyhow, a few things that must be done for a good repair is to apply a "pre-buff" cleaner.  This is something that will remove all the oils, etc, from the rubber surfaces.  Maybe acetone or denatured alcohol, in lieu of proper buffing cleaner?  Spray or wipe your cleaner on the surfaces and let it sit a short time and wipe off.  Maybe sample a small spot on the shoe pieces to be sure the cleaner you are using doesn't turn the shoe into goo.  Once this is dry and clean then you need to buff it to a "matte finish"...a dull-looking finish.  I use a purpose-built pneumatic buffing tool with a metal buffing wheel on it.  Something similar could be used on a drill.  In a shoe application I would think even a wire-wheel would work.  If nothing else a wire-brush and some elbow grease.  Working on tires you don't want any debris imparted from the wheel to the rubber surface, such as bits of grit, etc., but for a shoe it shouldn't be too critical...a regular sanding wheel might clog up with rubber dust too fast and might lose grit to the surface.  If you do use a powered wheel use it *very* lightly as it could eat up an amazing amount of rubber very quickly.  Anyhow, by now the surfaces has been cleaned with the pre-buff cleaner and buffed to a matte finish.  I use a vulcanizing fluid, some people call it patch glue but it *is* a very different substance.  Vulcanizing fluid can be compared to pvc glue in that it literally joins/melds two pieces of rubber together similar as to how pvc glue melds/melts two pieces of pvc pipe together.  Repairing a tire you would apply a thin but thorough coating of vulcanzing fluid to the surface being repaired.  Once applied the fluid must be allowed to sit for three or four minutes or until the fluid is completely dry.   A proper patch is placed over the prepared puncture area, is pressed down, and then rolled heavily with a hand-tool that has a metal wheel on it, forcing out small air bubbles, etc.,.  The wheel is rolled starting in the center to force bubbles out each side.  But, I'm working on butyl rubber, you're working on boots, and I don't know what type rubber you may have here. 

 

The take away from the above, since we're talking about repairing boots is that regardless of what type of glue or rubber you are dealing with is to clean, clean, clean the work surfaces.  Oils and dirt will be your biggest obstacle.  Did I mention you need to really clean the surfaces?  Once the surfaces have been cleaned thoroughly then roughen up the surfaces...the more matte-like you can get the surface the better they will accept chemicals (glues, fluids, whatever).  After you buff the surfaces look at the surfaces and gently brush/wipe away any rubber dust on the surface.   Then, following the instructions for your particular choice of glue/fluid apply it and join the two shoe parts.  Some glues say only use a bead of glue, but this seems like it would leave air pockets to possibly cause issues later...I would still want a fairly thorough coverage and to press the parts together solidly...Harbor Freight sells some bags of those big black spring clips.  After joining the two pieces together it might be a good idea to let the boots sit for a few days for any chemical process to complete before stressing/testing the repair.  I know that with low-pressure ATV tires that repairs are more successful if the tires are allowed to sit a couple of days before they're mounted and tension put on them with air pressure...but, of course, this is a chemical vulcanizing process taking place...I'm not sure what type process is going on with the glue you select.

 

Clean, clean, clean.  Matte finish.

FWIW.

Best wishes,

Ed

[Wrangellian]

I've used that Freesole stuff that is listed in DPS's link, though not for anything as big as replacing a whole sole. But it did work pretty well for my purposes and it's what the local cobbler said he uses.

[Phevo]

I have had a pair of hiking boots have the sole fall off on me too, I think it could be a manufacturing fault, with your shoes I would expect the seams on the sides to be the first thing to go. 

 

If you want a hiking shoe that will last I currently have some from Lowa (female version pictured), which have lasted 5 years so far with no hiccups... I use grease to keep them watertight and brush them down occasionally but other than that they take care of themselves. I have also had a pair of Skarpa's before these and they lasted a long time aswell.

 

Sorry for the product placement