Torn Boot

[Luke Hatley]

LEATHER BUM. NO NOT MASTERS EITHER, IT IS CONTAC CEMENT ALSO.

I STILL CAIN'T THINK OF THE NAME OF THE GLUE. THIS I DO KNOW IT IS A FORM

OF "SUPER GLUE". YOU'LL HAVE TO ASK A SHOE REPAIRMAN FOR THE NAME.

[celticleather]

You'll need to get all the old glue off the sole and the upper, and roughen the surfaces (with heavy-grade sandpaper) before you stick the sole back. Use a rubber or polyurethane cement (depending on whether the sole is rubber or plastic).

Whatever you do, DON'T use any form of superglue. It will soak into the leather and turn it to concrete, and it will snap off like a dry biscuit! Believe me . . . I've been fixing these problems for 35 years!

[Leather Bum]

I appreciate the help.

Luke, could it be any of the Renia products, or perhaps a cyanoacrylate glue called Fast Fix?

Use a rubber or polyurethane cement (depending on whether the sole is rubber or plastic).

I think the sole is rubber, but apparently there are several different materials used for shoe soles, so I'm not entirely certain. . . Would something like Shoe Goo or E6000 work?

Some suggestions for gluing gum rubber soles (here) recommended applying super glue to the rubber, and then regular contact cement after that had dried. . . and also heating the contact cement before adhering. . .

Thanks again.

[celticleather]

We use Renia Tek 95 for rubber soles (or rubber solution would work), and Bostik PA5050 for polyurethane or plastic soles. The cyanoacrylate family of glues are mostly the 'superglue' types, and whilst they will stick to the sole material, they will probably solidify the leather and make it liable to cracking.