Irons, skates, resoling: how to keep your shoes longer?

A central element of any good wardrobe, city shoes require rigorous and daily maintenance. But bad practices persist and we often receive calls for help about shoes that are in poor condition or even at the end of their life.

However, a few precautions to protect them, as well as simple actions, can allow us to keep them longer. This is what we are going to see together today.

Disclaimer: SoyezBCBG is a start-up specializing in shoe repair and dry cleaning at home in Paris. After dry cleaning a suit , they look with us at the best practices to adopt with your shoes. To do this, they opened the doors of one of their craftsmen-shoemakers to us. The floor is theirs!

A Brief History of Shoes

Far be it from us to give you an ultra-detailed retrospective of the history of shoes! But if current shoes are undoubtedly the most accomplished in terms of comfort, more complex designs have come before.

• 8th - 3rd millennium BC : the first leather shoes appeared in Europe and Asia, based on the Areni-1 shoe model, discovered in Armenia in 2008.

• 3rd – 2nd millennium BC : in ancient Egypt, sandals were now made from leather, woven straw, with straps of palm leaves or papyrus. They were unisex and a sign of social distinction: the poorest walked barefoot while the rich wore sandals sometimes covered in gold. Slaves, on the other hand, were literally not allowed to wear shoes (nice...).

• 5th century BC : Ancient Greece saw the appearance of sandals made entirely of leather: leather soles and straps allowing the sandal to be held on the foot. The famous Spartans that we still wear today!

• 5th century : the Roman Empire extends over a multitude of regions and includes as many climates. In the warmer regions, Roman sandals do not present any major evolution compared to Greek ones, except sometimes a debauchery of luxury . In the cold regions of the empire, citizens wear boots or closed shoes. To relax, all these people wear slippers.

• Under the Christian empire , clothing evolved with morals. Christian morality required that one no longer reveal one's body. Shoes were no exception and must now cover the feet. .

• In the Middle Ages : the craftsmen of the kingdom of France sourced their leather from abroad. They used in particular goat leather from Cordoba in Spain. The users of this leather were now called "cordouannier" or "cordouennier" From the 11th century onwards, shoes became more widespread, but it was not until the 15th century that leather shoes replaced wooden shoes.

• 15th century : social status was measured by the size of one's shoes! "Poulaines" were all the rage and competed in originality and length.

• 16th century : the boot leaves the battlefield and is now invited into the living room. Ankle boots sometimes reveal the ankle - a great liberation of morals! - and thigh boots often go up to the waist.

• 17th century : borrowed from the boots of horsemen, heels now equip ankle boots and city shoes . Shoes become more refined and buckles and ribbons appear.

• 20th century : in the first half of the century, shoes and footwear became more widely available to all social classes, even if clogs were still worn in certain regions, particularly agricultural ones.

• In the second half of the century , the rise of the fashion industry did not leave aside the shoe, which became an icon in its own right. Mass production and mass distribution standardized styles and trends.

It is interesting to note that the generalization of the shoe in its modern form is ultimately quite recent, barely a century ago!

Apply the precautionary principle

Millennia of evolution have resulted in the variety of styles, shapes, and colors we know today. So please, don't ruin it! Before you can safely wear your favorite shoes, you'll need to visit your shoemaker for some "first aid."

Review...

Anti-slip pads

What is the point of installing a skate?

Fitting skates is THE first operation to be carried out on any new pair of shoes with leather soles. Above all, it helps prevent slipping : the sole of a new shoe is smooth, so it skids on a wet surface.

The second reason is to protect your shoes from humidity and water infiltration , and therefore from premature wear of the sole. Skating therefore has a real impact on the lifespan of your precious shoes and on the health of your bank account!

To avoid abnormal deformation of the shoe , it is preferable to wait until you have done it on your foot before putting on a skate. This is generally a matter of 5 to 10 ports.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not to make the glue adhere better. In any case, your shoemaker will have to "scrape" your sole with specialized tools and abrasives, in order to ensure ideal gluing of the skate. This is called glazing.

How to choose your skate?

You then have two options: the classic skate called "Topy" and the natural skate called "crepe". The first is a little less expensive but the natural skate is on the other hand more flexible and more aesthetic.

You will need to replace your skates when they are worn out. The lifespan of a skate will vary depending on how often you wear your shoes. The key word is precaution: so don't wait until you have "attacked" the sole before taking action.

One last piece of advice before entrusting your shoes to your shoemaker: ask him to show you an example of a shoe insert that he has done . If he has not just glued the shoe but has taken the time to thin it at the joint with the sole, then he knows what he is doing!

The irons, almost inseparable from the skates

Most shoemakers recommend fitting shoes with irons at the same time as fitting skates. Firstly because it is much more practical to do both at the same time, but more importantly for the sake of your shoes.

Irons are the first line of defense against friction, knocks and impacts of all kinds that your shoes undergo on a daily basis.

Here again, two types of products are available to you:

• The "bean irons", which are fixed over the skate and thus add a slight extra thickness to your sole. An inexpensive solution but which may hinder the gait of some people.

• Embedded irons which - as their name suggests - are embedded and screwed into the sole, thus not adding any extra thickness. They will be more resistant and more aesthetic . A slightly higher price too, due to the work time for your shoemaker.

Heels, not to be neglected!

The term "heel" is a generic term, often misused because it can refer to two things:

• the heel block : we are talking here about the heel as a whole, composed of several layers, the last of which is called the “top”,

• the toe cap : this is the last layer of the heel, in contact with the ground, which therefore serves to protect the other layers.

We will first focus on the toe cap. While we are increasingly seeing the systematic fitting of a rubber or half-rubber toe cap on new shoes, some of them are still sold with a leather toe cap.

On the same principle as for the skate, you will need to call your shoemaker so that he replaces it with a rubber tip. This will avoid the same inconveniences as with a new sole: slipping, humidity and various aggressions.

Fitting a heel block is a quick and inexpensive operation which, if repeated regularly, will save you from having to change the entire heel block. .

The slide

The slider is the piece of leather located at the back of the shoe, on the inside. In contact with your heel, it is therefore subject to continuous friction. Who says friction says wear: of the slider first, then of your foot!

To avoid having to wear double skins, we invite you to go to the shoemaker as soon as your slide shows signs of wear. Your craftsman will be able to find a leather of a similar color to the original leather and will replace it in a few days.

The art of taking good care of shoes

How you wear your shoes, as well as how you care for them, has a huge impact on their health and lifespan.

Cleaning shoes, nourishing leather, good practices (shoe trees, alternating wearing, etc.)... We tell you everything here !

Zoom: the importance of shoe polish

We can never say it enough: polishing your shoes regularly extends their lifespan. The frequency between two polishes will depend on your frequency of use, but we generally recommend doing it at least once a month, on shoes that have been cleaned, nourished, protected and polished.

There are two types of products:

• shoe polish paste, the most "common" product, which "makes up" and nourishes,

• the superfine cream which, while nourishing, allows you to play more on the color of the leather.

Please note that colorless creams are very practical for maintaining certain light colors or patinated areas, but they tend to change the appearance of the leathers and gradually whiten them .

Furthermore, we generally choose a shade "one notch darker" than the actual color of the leather, to maintain a uniform appearance and avoid having areas lighter than others.

Leather is never kept in an identical appearance to the original, especially for the color. Successive polishing as well as wearing and wear cause the color to evolve... And that is precisely what is originally called "patina"!

A second life for your shoes

Are the first signs of aging appearing on your favorite shoes? Has an unfortunate accident left them with deep scars? It may not be too late! Your shoemaker has the means to heal the most serious wounds, or even to resuscitate shoes at the end of their life.

Focus on the most common last-chance interventions.

The big clean-up

Your shoes sometimes suffer seemingly irreversible damage: grease stains, red fruit stains , motorcycle grease, stains from rubbing against raw jeans, etc. You can rub, clean, wax as much as you like... nothing will work!

All is not lost, your artisan shoemaker can save your shoes by carrying out a deep cleaning of the leather . Using products adapted to each type of stain, technique and a lot of patience, he will often be able to overcome the most stubborn dirt.

Be careful, this operation is quite aggressive with leather. To be reserved as a last resort!

Change color with patina

Have your shoes been through a lot and the successive polishes seem less effective than before? Have you simply grown tired of their original colour? On the contrary, has time darkened their shade? You can ask your shoemaker to apply a new patina to your favourite pair.

We are talking here about an artificial patina which consists of giving a new shade to your pair of shoes. To put it simply: your leather is stripped, dyed and shaded (or even drawn) to transform its appearance. Even if the game is worth the candle, the operation weakens the leather. It is therefore necessary to do it with full knowledge of the facts.

The possibilities are almost endless, but keep in mind that it is very complicated and sometimes impossible to go from a dark shade to a lighter one.

Achieving a beautiful patina requires know-how and a lot of experience . It is an operation carried out entirely by hand which requires between 7 and 10 days of work from your craftsman. Prices will start at around €60 for a simple patina and can exceed €100 if you are looking for originality.

Install a new heel block

We talked about the heel block at the beginning of the article. It is possible that with age, it begins to show signs of weakness and gradually detaches from the sole. You may also not have followed our previous advice and have forgotten to change the tips of your shoes, which will have worn out to the point of no return...

Whatever the reason, the wear of your heel blocks does not mean the end of your precious shoes . Your artisan shoemaker will be able to replace them with new blocks that he will know how to cut to the shape of your sole, and color according to the shade of your leather.

The famous resoling

The ultimate repair that a shoemaker can carry out to breathe new life into worn-out shoes, resoling consists of – as its name suggests – completely replacing worn soles with new soles.

How do you know if your pair needs resoling? Here are some symptoms that will alert you:

• broken mounting wire - often due to missing or worn pads, or even insufficient lubrication of the mounting wire,

• sole gaping at the front – an exacerbated version of the previous symptom, which can also appear if your irons are worn or absent,

• hole in the sole – here too, the absence or advanced wear of skates is the cause.

You will have to count between 110 and 160€ following the assembly of your shoes. This price will include the change of the toe caps. Your shoemaker may sometimes offer to change only the half-sole, if he thinks that the part under the heel block can still hold up. The bill will be reduced.

The final word...

The history of shoes is almost as old as that of Man. However, it is only since the beginning of the last century that leather shoes have definitively replaced wooden ones. Ready-to-wear, which appeared about fifty years later, helped to standardize styles and trends.

When buying a new pair, a few precautions will help keep them longer, from fitting the skate and irons to the heel tip. Then, it's up to you! Small habits and regular maintenance will maximize their lifespan.

Finally, in case of major problems, your shoemaker is never far away. Good shoes can be repaired, so ask your craftsman for advice before replacing them!

To learn more about the subject, don't hesitate to (re)read our articles on shoe care as well as our interview with artisan shoemakers .