BS: fixing boots

Subject: BS: fixing boots
From: GUEST,Davetnova
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 10:08 AM

I got my walking boots out and went for a stroll only to discover that they are letting in water where the rubber sole overlaps the leather. I like these boots and they are otherewise in far to good a condition to bin. Does anyone know a way/product for sealing a joint like that?

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: GUEST,UK Bootboy
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 10:18 AM

clean all surfaces with surgical spirit
and use a rubber solution glue,
maybe superglue, epo0xy etc..

or some bonding agent from a aquarists or boat supply shop..

biggest problem would be devisig a way to exert even tight pressure
on the joins while glue sets..

without permanently sticking the boots to your hands or anything else
they come in contact with..

i'm too skint to throw away good boots until the last
microns of leather upper have decomposed

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: MarkS
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 10:48 AM

I have used a product called "Goop" available in many hardware stores in the adhesives section. Goes on like thick toothpaste and drys clear. You can still tell it is there, but it is better than getting wet feet!
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: GUEST,Mingulay at work
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 11:01 AM

Are your boots of welted or cemented or injection moulded construction? May seem like a silly question but it determines the best way to effect a lasting repair. DO NOT USE SUPERGLUE. I used to earn my living as a cobbler so I have a little knowledge of these things.

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Crystal
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 11:06 AM

Superglue comes unstuck with depressing regularity! I was using it to keep my trainers together with for a few months.
I'd reccomend taking the shoes to a cobbler, they can probably fix the problem for you!

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: pdq
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 11:11 AM

If they leak, wait until it is dry outside to wear them. Maybe summer.

Meanwhile, buy a nice new pair that don't leak.

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 11:12 AM

Copydex

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Amos
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 11:38 AM

A product called Barge Cement has worked for me. Those who sell Birkenstocks often carry it as well.


A

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 12:49 PM

The Google ads at the bottom say:

Water leak? Could be mold
Analysis of leaks/mold--we sample, identify causes & who's responsible

Thigh High Sexy Boots
Hundreds of platforms, boots & more Great styles at low prices!

Could the answer be in either of these ads?????

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: PoppaGator
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 02:14 PM

Those pairs of ads at the bottom of these pages always change. They *usually* have something to do with the subject at hand, but sometimes the connection is pretty oblique; I wonder just how htey're programmed for auto-selection.

The ones I'm seeing right now:

Plumbing Repair Parts ~ Thousands of repair parts in stock...

All Boots Brands & Styles ~ Huge collection of boots at great prices...

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Bert
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 02:27 PM

Dubbin.

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 02:44 PM

I would reinforce, don't use superglue, especially on leather. It turns it rock solid and impossible for any other repair to 'take'. My sandals would frequently break in the same spot, tried glueing it once and paid the price.....

Try asking in one of the camping or hiking shops (in the UK, Millets, Army & Navy), they should be able to point you in the right direction or sell you some rubber based adhesive.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Megan L
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 02:48 PM

Aye ye kin tell yer a MacKenzie right enough i hid a brother thit wid clart oan copydex ta athin aye time he used it tae mend a hole in his breeks and discovered copydex an hairy legs is no a guid combination :)

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 11:29 PM

"I've got a hole in my shoe that is letting in water!"

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 11:57 PM

What kind of boots are they? Do they have a welt? If they're leather uppers and a rubber sole, with a leather welt in between, then a leather seal allowed to soak in is the best you're going to manage, and make sure you use a sealer on the stitches around the welt (where the sole and the upper connect). Since my boots were used in mountaineering, I used Sno-Seal on them. It works great. You have to let it melt in, usually in a barely warm oven for an hour or more. Don't bake your boots! Welt construction.

If you're talking about another kind of boot, like one made popular by LL Bean, then a different treatment is probably called for. I haven't owned any of these, so can't tell you how to fix a leak in this instance. You would do well to contact the manfacturer of your boots and ask them.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Davetnova
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 03:29 AM

They're a pair of Timberlands. The kind where the sole sort of creeps round onto the uppers, no stiching in sight. It has come away slightly where the boot flexes. They have had very little wear and are otherwise in really good nick. I know things like araldite and superglue can make any other repair virtually immpossible and I want to save these so all the helps appreciated.

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: GUEST,Mingulay at work
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 04:10 AM

Ah ha! Timberlands. More than likely cemented ie plastic sole unit just stuck to the upper. They will always 'gap' where they flex and will never be waterproof as they were never designed to be. Best thing to do is plaster them with Dubbin and let it soak in. The only constructed leather footwear that is waterproof is 'veldtschoen' which are expensive. If you want waterproof and cheap buy a pair if wellies. If you stll have problems PM me.

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Gypsy
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 08:32 PM

Barge contact cement. Just remember, you gotta let it DRY, before putting the pieces together!

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: open mike
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 09:49 PM

Shoo goo--1-800-767-4667
http://eclecticproducts.com/shoegoo/home.asp
http://www.weplay.com/Shoe/Goo/

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 09:52 PM

Growing up on the Mississippi, I once saw a guy use barge cement. As far as I know they never did get that barge loose from the moorings. Tough stuff, barge cement.

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Bill D
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 10:06 PM

yep...open mike said it ....ShoeGoo

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Bert
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 01:30 AM

For rubber to leather contact cement is the way to go. Clean both surfaces and roughen them with a fine hacksaw blade. The leather surface should be soft and furry, like velvet.

Clean away all the dust.

Now comes the difficult part. You have to keep the surfaces APART until this is finished. Coat each surface with contact cement and let it dry. When it is completely dry give each surface another coat of contact cement. Let them dry again.

If you let the surfaces touch while they are wet you will have to clean them off and start again which will not be easy.

When both surfaces are completely dry. Press them together REALLY firmly.

They should stick immediately. If there are any SMALL places where the rubber didn't stick right to the edge touch them up with Copydex.

Now you are ready to dubbin the leather or treat it with goose grease if you have any.

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: dianavan
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 01:42 AM

As open mike said, SHOE GOO.

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 01:42 AM

"These boots are made for walkin'!"

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Davetnova
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 03:46 AM

Thanks, all. I'm in the UK never heard of either barge cement or shoo goo. Are they available in Britain?
Mingulay - my bad wording, I realise they'll never be completely waterproof, but they had started lettin in quite badly.
Berts solution sounds like it might be the practicable one for the minute but I'm of to see if I can track down the products mentioned.

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Grab
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 01:34 PM

Sorry to be a damp squid (or some other variety of aquatic life), but Timberlands ain't walking boots. Not really. They're a kind of shoe SUV. ;-)

I found Shoo Goo in B&Q (glues section) some years back, but I haven't looked recently. They might not have that exact brand, but they'll probably have something similar.

Can you not just wax them thoroughly, including round the join with the sole? A good way of waxing thoroughly is Aqueous Nikwax, which actually looks suspiciously like Copydex, but in fact is wax suspended in water, so it seeps in anywhere the water would and deposits a load of wax there so that no more water gets in! I usually just use that these days for easy walks - I only bother with proper wax as well if it's a proper walk or if I'm camping and likely to be living in my boots all week.

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 03:14 PM

B&Q or Robert Dyas should stock the above mentioned adhesives.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: fixing boots
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 07:51 PM

HOLE IN MY SHOE

Traffic - 1967
Neil -1984


I looked in the sky where an elephant's eye
Was looking at me from a bubblegum tree
And all that I knew was the hole in my shoe
Which was letting in water (letting in water)
(letting in water)

I walked through a field that just wasn't real
With one hundred tin soldiers which stood at my shoulder
And all that I knew was the hole in my shoe
Which was letting in water (letting in water)
(letting in water)

(Narration: I climbed on the back of a giant albatross
What flew through a crack in the cloud
To a place where happiness reigned all year round
And music played ever so loudly)

I started to fall and suddenly woke
And the dew on the grass had soaked through my coat
And all that I knew was the hole in my shoe
Which was letting in water (letting in water)
(letting in water)

Chords