5. Attaching heels

Why do you need a heel?

1. Heeling repeatedly extends the life of heels made from various materials.
2. The new heel promotes correct foot placement and prevents it from falling in or out.
3. Walking around with unevenly worn heels is bad manners for both men and women.
4. Not a single man has ever been left indifferent to the clicking sound of women's heels. This sound effect makes the heel more muffled and less irritating to the ear.

Replacing heels is more correctly called prevention rather than repair. Heel repair is required if replacement is not made on time. We are accustomed to heels being placed on heels, but shoe repair specialists also make heels on the toes of shoes, especially men’s ones.

Heel material

Heels are divided into two types, depending on the place of their attachment - on the toe of the shoe or on the heel. Here we will look at the most common ones, i.e. those that are attached to the heel. It is impossible to give uniform advice on choosing heels that would be suitable for all occasions. It is necessary to take into account the season for which the shoes are designed, as well as not only the parameters of the shoe model, but also its owner.

If a woman is overweight and needs heeling for stiletto heels with a diameter of up to 5 mm, then the choice should be made on the most durable material - metal. Thin girls can also choose polyurethane for such a heel; it is softer, and the choice is determined by your taste. Polyurethane is also suitable for women of any weight category for larger heels, which have a diameter of 4-5 cm.

Well, for wide heels, the choice is limited only by the season of the year for which the shoes are designed, the price of the material and your preferences. Men have a much wider choice - any heel will suit them. All that remains is to choose the method of attaching the heels and the material. Heels can be made from a wide variety of materials - rubber, plastic, metal, wood, leather. How to choose the right one?

• Heels will last longer if you choose a strong attachment to the sole.
• Heels will wear off less if you choose a more durable material.
• The heels won't click if you choose a softer material.

§ 2. Fastening leather heels

Fastening a leather heel with the manual method of sewing shoes is carried out as follows: prepare the heel parts of the sole, attach the fender, fleeces, heel, cut off the front and side surface of the heel, secure the heel with pins.

Preparing the heel part of the sole . Before attaching the heel, the heel part of the sole is cut with a shoe knife along the edge of the heel or along the cut welt, and the cut must be strictly vertical and even. After this, the heel part of the sole is hammered over the entire area in order to compact, level the surface, and ensure a tight fit of the edge to the tightening edge or welt. The heel part of the sole should be flat and smooth.

Fender attachment. The prepared heel part of the sole is smeared along the edge to a width of 20-25 mm with glue and a fender (a strip of leather 18-20 mm wide) is placed on it, after which it is secured with wooden pins No. 12-14. The fender is placed with its end on the heel part of the sole at the front and secured with a wooden pin at a distance of 10-12 mm from the end of the fender. Fastening with studs continues along the entire contour so that its fender necessarily coincides with the edge of the sole. The distance of the studs from the edge and between their centers should be 6-8 mm. Then the fender is lowered, thinned to the center of the heel, the pins are cut off with a knife and the fender is processed to give the heel a smooth, flat surface.

Attaching fleeces . There are two methods of attaching fleeces: the extension method and the method of pre-assembling the fleeces and then attaching them in assembled form.

According to the first method, the fleeces are sequentially glued one on top of the other and each fleece is attached to the shoes with pins. The first fleece is attached directly to the heel part of the sole and the fender, for which the heel part together with the fender is lubricated with glue and, having placed the first fleece on it, also lubricated with glue, it is secured with wooden pins No. 12 around the entire perimeter. The studs must go through the fleece, fender, sole, blank, heel and insole. The distance of the pins from the edge of the fleece and the sole should be 6-8 mm when the welt is closed; when the fleece is open, they are attached in the same way as the first one, with the only difference that it does not come into contact with the sole and welt, but with the first fleece. In this way, all the fleeks that make up the heel are attached.

According to the second method, leather fleeces are pre-assembled (glued) together, after which, in assembled form, they are attached to the heel of the sole and insole with studs No. 18-20.

Flicks are collected on glue by pressing in presses or on a board under a load. The distance of the studs from the edge for a blind welt should be 6-8 mm, and for a circular one - 10-12 mm. The distance between the centers of the studs is 6-8 mm.

With both the first and second methods of fastening, the fleeces are prepared, i.e. they are selected in pairs, moistened and dried, after which the melon side is planed to the required thickness and then compacted by laying out. Loose fleeces cause greater shrinkage, which leads to the formation of crevices in the heels of finished shoes.

The flicks must ensure the required height of the assembled heel, and their contour must strictly correspond to the contour of the heel part of the sole, so they are cut with a knife along the indicated contour. There should be no crevices between the flicks.

Heel fastening (preliminary). The surface of the last fleece should be leveled with a knife and hammered, after which the heel is attached. Heels are selected in pairs according to thickness and density, pre-moistened, dried, leveled in thickness, punched on the tile and cut according to the model. The surface of the upper fleece is smeared with an even layer of glue, a heel is carefully placed on it from the side of the heel and secured with four studs (three studs are driven in at the front of the heel with a distance from the front of the heel of 10-15 mm and a distance between the studs of 10-12 mm) and one stud – in the rounded part of the heel with a distance from the edge of 15-20 mm).

Trimming the side surface of the heel . The heel and fleeces are leveled with a knife along the heel of the sole, leaving the necessary allowance for final processing of the heel. Trimming is facilitated by correct attachment of the heel (final). The side surface of the heel should be trimmed evenly. The cut should be perpendicular to the plane of the sole. The front of the heel should also be cut perpendicular to the plane of the heel with a notch along the plane of the front of 7-8 mm.

Heel fastening . Using studs along the entire perimeter of the heel, with the exception of the front side, a line (landmark) is drawn with the tip of a knife for nailing the studs. The line is drawn at a distance of 8-10 mm from the edge of the heel, after which the heel is secured with one row of iron pins No. 3. Number of studs per

half-pair: 14-16 on each side and 5-7 studs in the rounded part. In Fig. 164 shows different types of stud arrangements.

The studs must be driven in vertically and exactly along the drawn line. The distance between the studs on the sides is 5-6 mm, the distance between the studs in the rounded part of the heel is 3-4 mm.

Replacing heels

The procedure for replacing heels is not complicated. In exceptional cases, you can replace the heels yourself if the material does not require special equipment, but the master, of course, will make a much more durable and high-quality heel. First of all, the old heel is removed. If necessary, the heels are leveled (in the workshop - on a special machine).

Next, take the material for the heel (most often, polyurethane) and cut out a piece slightly larger than the size of the heel. The surfaces of the heel and the prepared material are smeared with heated glue (the glue is better fixed when heated) and connected, and nailed down with nails for strength. The material is cut (or ground, depending on the material) to the shape of the heel and polished, sometimes with wax, sometimes with some other polishing material. The process is not complicated.

Heels are a short-lived item; they have no guarantees or expiration dates; heels can easily be classified as consumables. The service life of heels mainly depends on the intensity of use by the owner of the shoes. Do you have shoes that don't rub your feet, don't leak, that you simply love for their appearance and comfort? Take care of it - replace the heels in a timely manner, and your shoes will last you much longer!

We recommend reading: What to wear to a workout: New Balance women's sneakers

How to change spare heels.

Now we begin to prepare the heel replacement.

First of all, you need to carefully remove the old worn heel.

And this is where problems most often arise.

People came to my workshop with a request to remove the pin, with the help of which the heel itself is directly held in place. Customers have complained that they or their husbands spent an hour trying to remove the pin, only to end up with a mangled heel.

And seeing how I took it out in five seconds, they were amazed at this trick. But in fact, anyone who has a certain skill can do this and the main thing is to know how to do it.

I’ll tell you exactly this, and then you’ll see the video.

So, we take shoes in one hand and pliers in the other.

Using the ends of the pliers, we try to pull out the old heel, slightly twisting it around its axis.

It happens that the heel is pulled out quite easily and then you just have to install a new heel.

But most often the plastic comes off, but the pin remains motionless. And here the difficulty begins, how to get him out?

If you try to do this with pliers, then most often the pin will remain motionless, and everything that was sticking out, that could be caught on before, simply licks off. If you continue to operate in this way, you can ruin the plane of the heel, and in the future, even if you manage to pull out this pin, it will not be possible to install a spare heel, since the surface of the bottom of the heel will be damaged.

For this case, side cutters or nippers are needed.

The pins always have caps, of course, if the heel is not worn to such an extent. That the bushing is already visible.

It is necessary to lift the pin using the plane of the side cutters, gently pressing them.

This is the main point in removing a stuck pin.

Then, twisting it slightly, take it out.

The main thing you need to pay attention to is that the plane of the heel remains undamaged. That is, smooth. This way, in the future, the new heel will install correctly and will not come off.

Next, you need to try on spare heels. Naturally, they should be the same shape as the previous ones.

But also the heel pin must fit tightly into the heel sleeve.

If the heel fails. It is necessary to ensure that all rules are followed. In the video you can see this in more detail.

Next, we proceed to install the heel.

It is necessary to somehow find a stop on which the heel part of the shoe (that is, the base of the heel) will rest so that the heel can be hammered in. If you suddenly happen to have a shoe’s foot, then this would be an ideal option.

Think for yourself what could serve them in your home. Maybe a leg from an overturned chair, some kind of block or something else.

Insert a new heel into the bushing and tap lightly with a hammer.

Do not hammer the heel straight in as it may unravel as it goes down.

That is, this moment must be controlled and if this happens, then carefully adjust it with pliers so that the heel is installed correctly.

Then finish the heel to the end.

Remember that as the pin deepens into the bushing, it will be more difficult to turn the heel. And if the heel is turned tightly, it may happen that it may break off the base of the pin.

For more reliable fastening of the heel, you can lubricate the pin at the base of the heel with glue. Before this, the surface of the heel can be cleaned with sandpaper.

If you take all this into account, then changing the spare heel will be very simple.

I will be glad to receive your feedback, which you can leave below.

For those who decide to repair their shoes themselves,

be sure to visit the page

PROFESSIONAL SHOES REPAIR

The second method for restoring the sole: preparation

In the case when the damaged sole of the shoe is equipped with a tread, then quick repair is impossible and, after performing the above series of actions, it will also be necessary to apply a sole to the deformed area. Such an addition is necessary to prevent future damage and divergence of the seam already applied to the sole. To perform specific actions, or rather, to apply a sole, you will need the following list of additional tools:

1. The material to be used for the outsole.
2. Specialized shoe glue.
3. The heating element is a construction or powerful hair dryer.

Unlike the first described method, you will have to carefully cut off the tread layer from the sole of the damaged shoe - this is necessary for better access to the existing crack and for better execution of the shoe restoration project as a whole. After the tread base of the shoe sole has been removed, you should follow all the steps from the first method that were used to restore flat-soled shoes.

Read how to stretch leather shoes quickly and safely.

And also about what is the best shoe to choose for a child up to one year old and older.

The process of restoring shoes with tread

After it has been verified that the adhesive substance is fully suitable for its intended purpose, it is necessary to perform a number of actions that are not required in the case of non-tread shoe samples:

• A pattern of the future tread is made - the restored product is applied to the outsole material, then its contours are outlined. The material must be selected in such a way as to best match the thickness of the already used outsole;
• The inner side of the future outsole is degreased and covered with an adhesive base. Also, the sole of the shoe being restored is also covered with an adhesive base. It is necessary to coat thoroughly, without unnecessary omissions, since then diffusion between the layers may be insufficient;
• The two components (the shoe and its future protector) are pressed tightly against each other, pressed and heated when using a hair dryer. Heating should be approximately 70-80 degrees. If the device you are using does not provide such an opportunity, you can try to adapt an electric stove for the required work;
• While the joints are still quite hot, it is necessary to fix them in a tightly pressed state and leave them there for the period required for the adhesive base to dry. Once drying is complete, the repaired shoes are ready to be worn again. It is important to remember that it is advisable to cut off the protector immediately from the pair, since otherwise a significant difference may be noticeable between the right and left elements of the wardrobe;

Thus, it is possible to restore damaged soles on shoes on your own without contacting a shoemaker. However, it is better to use this for the first time only on those shoes that you don’t mind at all, since there is a high probability of not only not achieving the desired effect and result, but also ruining good shoes so that they will no longer be subject to further restoration. Even if it is not possible to contact a shoemaker, it is better to wait for repairs - sooner or later, such an opportunity will present itself and then you will not have to be nervous because it was ruined much earlier due to ineptitude or inexperience.

Share your secrets and tips for shoe repair in the comments, and also watch a video of how shoe repair takes place.