Old red wing boots full#

This cork layer is very important for heritage footwear. You don’t want to put a new sole on when it’s still soggy because it’ll compress when you put your foot into it and won’t provide a solid base.

After you do this, you’ll have to wait for the cork to cool and harden. Now we need to replace the old, compressed cork with fresh cork. Tricker’s Cork Filler, Image Division Road So you want to pull all the stitches: use the awl to pull up some of the thread and then just grab those stitches with pliers and pick them out. You need a sewing awl and you want to make sure you have an experienced cobbler because when you remove the stitching it’s easy to poke new holes in the welt, which will drastically decrease its lifespan. Removing the stitches is pretty tedious work. If you’re wondering where the shank is on this Red Wing Moc Toe, they don’t have one, the other popular Red Wing boots do - the Iron Ranger and the Blacksmith do but because the sole is flat, a shank hasn’t been added to help with stability. We still have these the old stitches in the welt, so we have to pull all those out. After you scrape off the cork filler, you can see the hollow cavity, and that needs to be filled with fresh cork. To remove the rest of cork, you spray a glue thinner to dissolve the glue mixed in with the cork in order to loosen it up. It’s a strong and very tough material and holds up well against the friction from your foot and flexing when you walk.īut we’re not changing the insole we’re adding a new layer of cork underneath it. When we mention veg tan insoles, this is the part we’re talking about. This is the same part that your foot is on top of when you slip them on. You can also see the leather insole peeking through the cork. A basic diagram of Goodyear welt construction This gemming was stitched to the upper and welt. You can also see a canvas rib attached to the bottom of the insole leather with glue (this is known as gemming). The filling is made of cork and glue and is intended to provide some shock absorption and enhance comfort. Then, we’re going to pull out all the old cork filling and replace it with fresh cork. There’s still a bit of glue, so Heath used a tool to grip the outsole and provide some leverage as he peeled the outsole from the rubber midsole. Next, you cut the stitching with a box knife.

After you unseal the glue that holds outsole to the midsole, you can see that the stitches are doing their job and holding the midsole in place. You take a sharp knife and place the blade between the rubber midsole and the outsole. I’m going to take you through the process step by step, starting with cutting up the boots all the way to the final product.įirst, we have to cut open the boots. This reinforced my belief that buying a good pair of boots is worth the extra investment and it also gave a much deeper insight into the passion that companies like Red Wing and cobblers like Trenton and Heath put into their craft. I was lucky enough to get hands on with this process, and it was a cool experience being able to give my beloved boots a second life. Lastly, of course, we’re changing out the thread in the welt - I’ve decided to go with red.

Old red wing boots full#

I’m going to replace the stock rubber midsole with full leather midsole as well, and we’re replacing the old cork with new. These have a vegetable tanned leather insole, a layer of cork, a rubber midsole, and a “Traction Tred” crepe rubber wedge sole.įor the resole, I’m going to change a few things and customize these a bit: we’re replacing Red Wing’s sole with a Vibram branded 4014 Christy Wedge sole. You can see in the image that they’re pretty ground down when you live in New York City, you walk everywhere and your footwear gets pretty worn out. These are the Red Wing 8890, also known as Charcoal Rough & Tough Classic Moc Toes. They are the reason I started my YouTube channel and this blog - I ‌have an emotional connection to these boots. The Boots: My 6-year-old Red Wing Classic MocsĪ bit about my boots: These were the first Goodyear welted boots I ever bought.

Step 9: Attach the Outsole to the Midsole.

Step 8: Add the Goodyear Welt Stitching.

The Boots: My 6-year-old Red Wing Classic Mocs.