Worth resoling.
I take the old sole off, stitch a new one onto the welt, and give you back the boot you already broke in.
Send me a bootNew boots are cheaper.
Said to me most weeks, and it is true of most boots. It stops being true the moment a boot is welted, because then the sole is a part rather than the whole thing.
£95A full resole and heel
Only the part that wore out.
- The outsole, ground back to the welt
- The heel block and its top piece
- Whatever cork has flattened underfoot
Some boots I send back.
If the sole is glued straight to the upper there is nothing to stitch to, and a cheap boot resoled costs more than a cheap boot.
I say so before I start, not after
A third of the boot, and the boot is already yours.
The uppers on a good welted boot outlast four or five soles. Buying the boot again to replace one of them is the expensive way round.
Why it comes apart at all.
Scroll and the boot comes apart. The welt is the reason it can: a strip stitched to the upper and the insole, with the outsole stitched to that.
- 01
Upper
The leather you bought, and the only part I cannot replace.
- 02
Insole
A rib is cut into the underside of it. Everything is stitched to that rib.
- 03
Welt
A strip of leather running the length of the boot. Sewn to the insole rib on the inside, to the outsole on the outside.
- 04
Cork
Ground cork and paste, filling the gap. It takes the shape of your foot and stays there.
- 05
Outsole
The part that wears out. Stitched, never glued, which is why it can come off.
One bench, one machine, one pair at a time.
I do the stitching myself.
A sole goes on through the welt or on a Blake, depending on how the boot was made. The machines do the pulling. Deciding which seam to open is the part that took the years.
The rest of the reasons not to.
Will it be the same boot afterwards?
It will be the boot you broke in with a new bottom on it. The upper keeps its creases and the fit it has learned. Most people say the first week feels stiffer underfoot and then it goes back to normal.
Can you match the original sole?
Usually. I keep the common commando and leather patterns, and if the maker sells its own units I will order one in. If I cannot match it I say so and offer the nearest, with a photograph before I stitch.
What if the welt itself has gone?
Then it is a rewelt, which is a bigger job: the boot comes off the last, the old welt is stripped and a new one sewn to the rib. That is £180 and about three weeks. I only recommend it on a boot worth it.
Do you do anything other than boots?
Welted shoes, yes. Trainers and glued fashion boots, no. There is nothing in them for a stitch to hold onto and I would be taking your money to make you a worse shoe.
Post them, or bring them in.
Tell me the maker and roughly how old they are and I will tell you what it needs before you send anything. Photographs of the sole and the welt help most.