Replacing felt soles?

I have a pair of Orvis boots. The bottoms are not flat, but have a built in heel as a regular pair of hiking boots would have.

The felt soles on both have started to come off. It appears the problem was that a proper amount of glue was not applied originally.

The problem I'm having is that after applying glue, the felt wants to pull away from the bottom of the boot. I applied a total of four clamps and two pairs of vise grips, but the results were still less than satisfactory.

Are we customers expected to merely throw the boots away after the soles wear down or become unglued?

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

I've been known to use screws to "anchor" the soles in that situation....usually use Shoo-Goo or Marine Goop for glue.

Stuff... and I mean STUFF the shoes full of newspaper to make a solid base for clamping
Then glue the soles and wrap the shoes with more newspaper... just to protect the surfaces
Then wrap it up all up tight with a bunch of duct tape.... no clamps

HCR:

What kind of glue did you use? Barge Cement is the old standby and IMHO still the best choice for the job.

With old soles the trick is cleaning BOTH the shoe bottom and the sole/heel material with soap & water to remove all dirt, grease and fuglies and then scuffing up the surface of the shoe. I use a scrub brush & Dawn for the cleaning and a wire brush and sandpaper for the scuffing. Usually there is old cement on the felt that has to be cleaned and scuffed as well or removed if possible with sandpaper.

After cleaning when the shoe and sole/heel have dried completely; apply a several coats of cement allowing each to dry thoroughly. If the felt is still "felty" on the glue side; make sure to apply enough coats so that it soaks deep into the felt and is not just on the surface; that is key to getting a good bond with contact cement. I buy Barge by the quart so I have put as many as 4 coats on some soles so it soaked in well.

After final coats are applied and the glue dries I make contact; put my hand in the shoe and pound the soles onto the shoe with a cobbler's hammer although any hammer will do. After that I stuff the shoe with newspaper or a shoe tree and wrap it tightly with duct tape making sure the heel/sole is pressing firmly against the shoe. Allow it dry for 24 hours. If you want you can cover portions of the shoe with a plastic bag so the duct tape doesn't leave adhesive on the shoe but make sure not to cover the shoe completely with plastic so air gets to the glue so it can dry.

I have resoled many pair of wading shoes over the years and re-glued more than a few loose heels & soles and Barge has never failed me yet when I do it this way. Like Duck said; I also like add a few flat head stainless steel sheet metal screws through the heels into the shoe itself. A 1/2" or 3/4" #10 does the trick and adds some traction as well.

The sad thing for this old grandson of a shoemaker is many of the newer shoes out there don't lend themselves to resoling either because of construction or in the case of felt it is sometimes bonded to the plastic mid-sole when the shoe is manufactured. I have a new pair of Chota's and those soles are on there SO good that I would have to grind off the old material to replace the soles. Unfortunately I have TWO sets of replacement Chota soles sitting at home!

I'm with you; the shoes should be able to be resoled especially when you pay more than a few bucks for them.

Good luck!

Your suggestions are excellent and I see the error of my ways in my past attempts.

Should have posted and asked for advice before I attempted to resole! Lesson learned.

Many thanks!!

HCR,

Just replaced felt soles on my old Orvis chest waders. As previously suggested, stuff the toes very tightly with newspaper before proceeding. I used a double stone grinder to remove all the old felt from the bottoms of the boots. As you stated, mine also have a heel on them that's not on the same level as the rest of the sole. I did as suggested and cut pieces to fit the sole by placing the new felt to the bottom of the boots and cutting off the new felt to fit that area. As also stated, put a couple of coats of glue on the felt and boots and let them dry for the time suggested on the glue tube. Placed the new felt on the heels and soles and wound duct tape around the boot as tight as I could get it. Let dry for about two days and then took off duct tape and trimmed the overlapping felt to fit the boots. Seems to have worked out well. Now, if we ever get any rain in the streams I'll be able to try them out!

***NOTE OF CAUTION*** I'd be very careful when you touch the new felt pieces to the bottom of the boots. I slightly misaligned one of the heel pieces and couldn't hardly move it into the correct alignment as the glue set up almost immediatelty.

I'd be on the phone to Orvis knowing they'd take care of this.

MontanaMoose

Montana Moose--you make a good pt. about contacting Orvis.

The reason I have the current boots is that I had problems w/my previous pair of Orvis boots that had interchangable soles and the fittings for the screws fell out. I returned those boots asking for them to be repaired. Orvis contacted me at once and said they couldn't be fixed and that I should pick a new pair from their offerings.

So, Orvis stands behind their wading shoes, but although I love Orvis lines, vests, etc., I've become a little cautious about their quality control with respect to their wading shoes.

Anybody else have these concerns?

http://tu226.wordpress.com/2008/08/0...-banned-in-nz/

Ok HCR, that happened to me too only over at Bean. I think I wore one model of felted but not studded Bean boot 6 or 8 times and one felt just peeled back about halfway and I had a long ways to walk back, so I peeled it the rest of the way off.

Bean had greatly reduced the price of these due to a complaint about yet another of their boot models so it's iffy as to whether or not they should help me with the felted ones that have peeled. <...How's that for a run on sentence?

Anyway, I now have two pair of Bean boots to return..one I don't want anything in return, but the felted ones that peeled I do. I've talked with product reps at Bean and they always say they're improving products like wading boots, waders. This isn't a rip on Bean but I don't see the changes. Prolly because the stuff isn't made here and it might not be easy to explain how to make boots lace easily or for felt to stick to the bottom of boots. You know, a language barrier !

So I'd still call Orvis even though the boots are replacements for other failed boots. Like Bean, Orvis doesn't want ppl like me posting boards negatively about service. Product, ok, but not service...they told me they hate that.

Cheers,

MontanaMoose

I have a pair of Orvis boots, that the soles came off.

Took them to the local cobbler ( shoe repair guy ).

They have a great selection of glue especially designed to repair such propblems.

Heck, it only cost me 7 bucks to get them fixed.

Have a great weekend,
chris

If you're not able to get satisfaction through the manufacturer or if you just want to replace the felt anyway try this set of instructions.

I found it useful when I did my first replacement.

http://www.santiamflycasters.com/Art...SoleRepair.htm

Finally got around to replacing the felt soles, followed the suggestions in this post, and the effort turned out well.

A word of caution--you will need an electric bench grinder (I borrowed one) and I had to buy an extra small can of contact cement as the amount provided in the kit bought from Cabela's was not enough.
The product description on Cabela's site did not mention that a grinder was needed, but the product instructions said so.

Yes, I'm aware that felt soles are on the way out, but I wanted to get a couple of seasons more out of these boots and I'm waiting for the bugs to be worked out in the new rubber soles. I've also read that rock snot can be tranferred from the tops of the boots, laces, and waders themselves, so the Lord only knows what changes we are in for.

Is there a store close to you?

My Clearwaters peeled back on my right boot. Wound up ripping the sole off to continue fishing (to be honest, we don't have real slippery rocks, I found no difference).

Took the boot and sole into the local store, manager told me to come back tomorrow and pick the boot up. Voila'

It was the end of the season, so I'll see how it goes come March/April, but you can't beat the service, nor the cost (free).

I checked with Simms re/ replacement soles for my felt soled Rivertek shoes and got this reply:

'A Vibram Resoling Kit will be available in the spring (price tba)"


Rich

Hey Rich W.--thanks for the post that's good information to know.

A few years ago, I ran across a felt resole kit at clearance for $2.00. Since my Chotas were about 6 seasons old, of course, I jumped on it. Brought it home and tried to remove the old worn soles. Lemme tell ya, I ruined the boots in my attempt to remove the old soles. I was SO aggravated, I probably spent $5.00 in gas to return the $2.00 kit to Dicks. Lesson learned, worn boots?, new boots!!!. There is a time to be parsimonious and there is a time to be sensible.

Mark

Mark:

Chota USED to have a problem with heels coming loose and even soles. I actually resoled one pair I had with hardly any problem so I bought two sets of Chota replacement soles with the holes in them to accommodate the stud mounts.

Then I bought a new pair and discovered they redesigned the shoes and I can tell you from experience those soles & heels AIN'T comin' off! So now I have two sets of size 12 replacement soles with holes in them that I may end up using as fly swatters. :rolleyes:

The other bad news is, as the soles & studs wear if you replace the studs, they protrude way too far. I resolved that issue by recessing them a bit more into the plastic with the help of a Dremel tool.

Unfortunately, once the soles are completely done so are the shoes and this grandson of a shoemaker HATES throwing away a perfectly good pair of shoes just because the soles or heel wore out!

I have quite a few pairs of wading shoes to rotate and I take good care of my stuff so having a pair of wading shoes that last 5-10 years is not uncommon for me. Unfortunately for Chota, the fact I can't resole them any longer has knocked them from their former #1 position on my favorites list.

It's Korkers Konvertables for me from now on!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marco

There is a time to be parsimonious and there is a time to be sensible.

Mark

---

Marco--you're still working, right? I hope so, so many are not these days.

Self-UNemployment (my choice in 2000) has special rules. See my signature.

HCR,
My post was NOT a sermon but merely a recount of an experience and lesson learned from same.
Sorry I wasn't clearer in my statement.


Mark
PS: And yes, I'm still working and like you " my choice...."

It seems that there is a trend away from felt soles. I have 3 pair of boots -- all felt but based upon what I am reading, they allow us to transfer all types of bad stuff from one water shed to another and introduce things like mud snails and rock snot to our previously uncontaminated water ways.

I know it will involve some time and expense, but maybe the new boots will be better overall for everyone and everything.

Last year in Chile, I was talking to our outfitter and guide and asking them why they didn't immediately take the boots from their clients when they arrived at the lodge - clients who largely come from all over the world - and treat them with whatever is recommended just to avoid introducing foreign species to their uncontaminated water ways. They shrugged their shoulders and I don't know if it went anywhere. Seemed like a good idea to me.

Orthoman--sounds like a very good idea and only after it's too late will they probably recognize it as such.

Due to most people moving away from felt and new products that advertize "sticky rubber" imm sure when my felt boots fade away, one season left maybe, ill just buy some nice rubber ones.

All my friends that have replaced felt said it was a PITA as just say buy new boots.