I have a pair of Columbia boots that the leather uppers have torn away from the rubber lower. The rubber has actually ripped away at the stitching. These boots saw a lot of use for the past few years and ripped since I did a lot of walking in them. I have a pair of Kamiks, but these are easier to walk and drive in. They owe me nothing, so I figured a tube of goop and see how it goes. I was thinking of putting a piece of fiberglass mesh behind the repair to give it strength. Anyone have a recommendation of a product that is strong and flexible? Looks don't matter if I need to add some to the outside.
You might have to actually stitch the leather back to the rubber and then use the mesh and goop to stabilize it. your stitching won't be the leather on top of the rubber as it would change the size of the shoe. You would have to butt them together and the stitching would be more of a figure eight around the leather and then around the rubber. there might be a sail repair shop near you that would carry some heavier cotton thread. Seeing as we had a sailboat and no repair shop near by, I would pick up that kind of thread when I found it.
For that type of repair, I haven't found anything to beat Shoe Goo. For repairing soles that are coming off, I use a good quality contact cement, like the 3M product.
Hmm, almost like a suture. I have heavy nylon thread for tying saltwater fishing flies and heavy thread for eyelet repairs on fishing rods. So I could melt small holes down along the rubber and use a heavy needle to pierce the leather, I can pre thread then suture, goop it up and snug it in place. This sounds like a good plan. I need to make a little curved heavy needle. Than you for the idea.
Decent reviews on the shoe goo. I think the Woodwidow might be the ticket. I have plenty of leather scraps for backing too.
There used to be a leather awl that had a sharp triangle tip for piercing leather. Upholster workman use curved needles a lot. You might even find one at the nearest Fabric store. I know, I know - the foundryman in you just thought, I will curve one myself.
I already bent a needle with my Mapp torch. A little overkill. Almost melted it down to nothing. I have micro drills on a foredom tool for the leather holes. The ripped rubber is still stitched to the leather upper, so there will be a little more strength there. I will use a leather patch under the repair to keep goop off the insulation layer.
I saw that post not too far back and was trying to think of where it was. I'll take a look see on that.
I ended up going with the Tear Mender. I picked up some curved needles to. I drilled holes opposite of each other. I used a long piece of nylon thread with a hooked needle on each end. Each hole got two passes across and crossed like shoelaces underneath. This is just before gluing and snugging up. I'll put the finish picture up tomorrow. One thing I did not like was as I glued, the thread picked up some glue and made it difficult to snug up. I put a bit of glue down the middle and blew on it to get it under the repair.
I do a lot of wade fishing in rocky rivers and my wading boots take a beating. Over the years I have used Shoe Goo, contact cement, Lexel etc and nothing comes close to this stuff: $6.00 per tube at Homies or Lowes. Plan on taping off any parts of the boot that you want to keep clean. Its curing time is also VERY long with 7 days being optimal. However, once this stuff is cured, it won't come off. It remains flexible regardless of temperature and is absolutely weather and waterproof. It comes in only one color, black.
That looks pretty durable. Nothing worse that leaky waders in a cold springtime river. I used the boots in yesterday's snow, sleet and rain. They held up great and did not leak. Here is the final patch up. I'll see how far these will last. The adhesive is pulling away from the lower rubber, but clinging to the stitching. Another product may need to be used in time. Thanks for all the ideas.
Goop is great! I use it for many repairs. There may be better ways of mending your boots but if cheap and dirty is ok - goop works. I use it on muck boots where they fail at the place the neoprene joins the boot part and can squeeze an extra winter out of them that way.
