Felt Soles Coming Off

[sjh]

The felt soles on my wading shoes are starting to come off. What do you use to reattach them?

[Bill Blake]

Are they worn out? If not, I'd try to clean them as best you can before reattaching them. I've heard that liquid nails works really well for attaching felt soles (because they never give you enough glue with new ones), but I don't know how trying to reattach them will work out.

Dear sjh,

Make sure you wash all the grit and grime out of the soles and dry the boots thoroughly.

When dry stuff the boots full of old newspaper. Really pack them tight. Get some Aquaseal, or Barge Cement or other waterproof cement and fill in the areas where the sole is peeling back. Use a popsicle stick or some scrap wood to force the glue all the way into the seperated area. Cover the boot with wax paper and wrap the boot tightly with duct tape. Really mummify the thing. Set it aside in a warm room for a day or two. Cut off the duct tape, clean off the wax paper and remove the stuffing and they will be good as new.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

[kengore]

I like using a high strength contact adhesive such as 'Plio-Bond' or 'Barge Cement'. Peel back the loose felt and clean both surfaces. Let them dry completely, then coat both sides. Let the adhesive dry until doesn't feel tacky then press both surfaces together for a permnant bond. If the felt side is very porus it may take several coats before it holds enough glue for a good bond. The whole procces might take 20 minutes or so.

[djo]

I have used GOOP the last few times and the repairs outlasted the soles.

David

[ducksterman]

You can also reinforce the glue or goop[I really like goop for a lot of things] with screws of the appropriate length...I have used both aluminum and regular metal screws.

[fcch]

If the soles are worn a bit, it's much easier to buy replacement felts.

I use the contact cemient in the kit AND Marine Goop the whole lot a day later.

For heavy use stuff, I had a shoemaker sew the relacements on my redBalls.

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Christopher Chin
Jonquiere Quebec

[sjh]

Thanks for your suggestions, folks.

[Saltamontes]

SJH, been there done that. Maybe I just didn't do it properly, but for me it just did not work. I now ONLY buy wading boots where the felts are glued AND stitched. True, the stitching does wear out eventually, but I believe that stitched and glued soles help the glue cure and thus attach better to the sole. <-- does this make sense?. Just my opinion.
Saltamontes

[Breeze]

I used Gorilla Glue and it works.

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Breeze