Does anyone know how to make this kind of shoe sole softer/tackier. They are hard and slick as delrin.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Man, I've Got A Hard Sole
- Thread starter GorillaToast
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Some people sand the sole with coarse sandpaper. Still hard, but not slick. Some people swear off Sperry altogether. There is a vendor at Annapolis and miami who offers to "resole" also may be in small classifieds in back of Sail, Cruising World. I have no personal experience with resoling
TopSliders used to use a different compound for the sole that remained soft. The new ones are hockey pucks and no amount of sanding changes them.
When some of these shoes get old, the soles become less flexible.
I generally have had better luck with Top Siders but they also age and become less adhesive.
I generally have had better luck with Top Siders but they also age and become less adhesive.
I've had Sperry and Rockport deck shoes, and the soles get hard. I recently took an electric sander to my current Rockports, and it did not help. I took them to a very good local shoe repair place, and the guy immediately told me you can't get the soles to replace them. Maybe a built-in "obsolescence"? I've actually used Crocks for the past couple of years with success.
I swear by Sperry "Spinnaker" boat shoes... in fact I wear them everywhear... never had a problem with them getting hard and slick, never. They occasionally come on sale, last time I purchased 3 pair at WM for about $35/pair. Still have the third pair in the box. I'm thinking they may have been discontinued... hope not.
Those shoes pictured in the original post don'l look like a boat shoe bottom, more like a general purpose shoe... it says "moccasin" in the tongue label... many boat shoes have the moccasin style, but having a moccasin style doesn't qualifiy the it as a boat shoe...
Those shoes pictured in the original post don'l look like a boat shoe bottom, more like a general purpose shoe... it says "moccasin" in the tongue label... many boat shoes have the moccasin style, but having a moccasin style doesn't qualifiy the it as a boat shoe...
I've noticed a LOT of shoes available now have very pliable soles with great grip when new, but after a while, sometimes only a few weeks, but normally month or so, the plasticizers start to evaporate and they become hard and slippery. No way to avoid it, and the best option is to return them and stay away from that brand.
I used to do high steel work, you don't want slippery shoes 12 stories up, and one of my tests when buying new boots or shoes is to put them on, then see how easily they slide around. If the floor is carpeted, I find a tiled area or clear off a low shelf and use that.
Really need to find a shoe review site that goes beyond initial fit and feel.
I used to do high steel work, you don't want slippery shoes 12 stories up, and one of my tests when buying new boots or shoes is to put them on, then see how easily they slide around. If the floor is carpeted, I find a tiled area or clear off a low shelf and use that.
Really need to find a shoe review site that goes beyond initial fit and feel.
The soles of the last two pairs of Sperry Top-siders (Mako) have failed. One pair became hard and shiny and very, very slippery. Have sanded them to increase their friction but to no avail. Not sure what I'll do with them. The other pair started to crack and soon began to fall apart. I removed all of the remaining sole within the stitching and applied a thick layer of 3M's 5200. Now I wear them to cut grass and other outdoor chores around the house.
Hit the send button too soon. As I said I complained to Sperry via email. They blew me off, saying the shoes were obsolete. Right now I am wearing Timberlands and after a year and a half they are still holding their own. Uppers are still all stitched together, the soles are wearing a little because I have used the as daily shoes, but they are only just beginning to show signs of hardening. The Sperry shoes as I stated had cracked all the way across the sole.
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