Shoe goo

[cricketclub]

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I have been very sparingly using E6000. I wait until it is evident on the shoe where the abrasion contact points are and apply juuust a little bit and spread it well with a scrap of cardstock or something like that. It seems to have great grip and it is very durable. It takes 24-48 hrs for it to cure fully so it is not a last minute option. It does dry to the touch pretty fast though.

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Interesting! Does it have a rubbery feel when it dries, or is it harder like crazy glue?

It is not hard and brittle but it is strong. It bends and flexes well. The best of all worlds except appearance. When I'm skating I never notice it.  It seems to have the same friction level as the suede. It does not seem to affect the way the shoe performs but definitely makes the shoes last longer.

[moneen]

shoe goo does work, so does a roll of masking tape wrapped around the end of your foot. both have been employed to continue skating.

[Sundaynuggets]

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I have been very sparingly using E6000. I wait until it is evident on the shoe where the abrasion contact points are and apply juuust a little bit and spread it well with a scrap of cardstock or something like that. It seems to have great grip and it is very durable. It takes 24-48 hrs for it to cure fully so it is not a last minute option. It does dry to the touch pretty fast though.

[close]

Interesting! Does it have a rubbery feel when it dries, or is it harder like crazy glue?

[close]

It is not hard and brittle but it is strong. It bends and flexes well. The best of all worlds except appearance. When I'm skating I never notice it.  It seems to have the same friction level as the suede. It does not seem to affect the way the shoe performs but definitely makes the shoes last longer.

Perfect, thanks a lot!

[arrbee]

In all my years of skating I've never used Shoe Goo and am legitimately unaware of any friends who use it regularly.

Even when I was a broke teenager who couldn't afford new shoes very often, I'd still rather my shoes get torn up than have hideous globules of rubber patched all over them. I have applied a 1-2 drops of super glue to the wear area of new laces, but that is absolutely it.

THIS! I had a buddy back in high school try to use it and we just clown him.

[eranka]

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In all my years of skating I've never used Shoe Goo and am legitimately unaware of any friends who use it regularly.

Even when I was a broke teenager who couldn't afford new shoes very often, I'd still rather my shoes get torn up than have hideous globules of rubber patched all over them. I have applied a 1-2 drops of super glue to the wear area of new laces, but that is absolutely it.

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THIS! I had a buddy back in high school try to use it and we just clown him.

Not here. havent used shoe goo in years but just reading about shoe goo and i can imagine the smell. now i use super glue on seams around the ankle and around the toe, its not visible after the first session if you just soak the thread and not the suede and it adds weeks to shoes

[redcurb12]

i prefer a little super glue for laces or the ollie hole.. i don't really fuck with shoe goo cause it's way to grippy and just feels weird to slide. i just stock up on shoes when i can get them cheap

[Hmmmm Nice Bike]

Are you supposed to store your shoe goo in the freezer so it doesn't cure and dry up? I just bought two tubes for the first time since like mid 2000's.

[Frank]

Are you supposed to store your shoe goo in the freezer so it doesn't cure and dry up? I just bought two tubes for the first time since like mid 2000's.

no, just keep it sealed airtight.

you can use an ice cube though to apply it and it becomes a little easier to apply for whatever reason. like less dollopy, smoother finish.

i haven't fucked with shoe goo in a while, but i mainly used it to glue loose panels back on and give them sort of a second gum layer.

my main problem with shoe goo is that it's disgusting to handle, stinks up your whole place and also looks horrible most the time. i also remember that whenever i shoegooed my upper, that shoe goo patch would often just straight up fall off or something.

that stuff isn't even meant to stuff holes in the upper, it's for sole repair. it's useful to have around as sort of all purpose glue for leather and fabric i guess but i'm kind of baffled how it's still the number one product when it comes to shoe repair among skaters.

also shoe goo hands are horrible. i'd rather dip my hands in bitumen.

[GardenSkater77]

I recall the original formula was much better but was better for huffing than fixing shoes so Shoe Goo 2 came out and sucked.

Looks like the company went back to the original formula.

Just looked at the SDS for Shoe Goo and it contains 25%~50% toluene.

If you use it on shoes open a window or you will be floating.

[Mr. Stinky]

I use it because my kickflip area is very pointy and tends to wear my shoes right where the upper meets the actual bottom of the sole after the midsole/bumper gets worn away. It looks like ass (not as bad with white shoes, which I usually skate anyway) but I can get 2-3 months out of a pair of shoes instead of 3-4 weeks.  This suits me, as a 90s kid who came up with the "skate your gear to death and then keep skating it" ethos.

[manysnakes]

I use it regularly, because I can't imagine throwing an otherwise perfectly good pair of shoes into the trash simple because I wore one hole in the side. A little dab, applied with a plastic butter knife, then out to the back porch to cure for a few days where I don't have to smell anything. I usually wear my shoes until either the sole develops a hole or loses all grip. Shoe Goo lets me get an extra few weeks or even month out of my shoes

As for storage, as long as the lid is tight, you should be fine. I had one tube where a crack developed in the tube itself and the whole thing dried up, but other than that, storing it in a plastic ziploc bag seems to work fine

[Lloyd Braun]

Don’t need it that much these days as I’m skating new balance and the uppers usually outlast the sole. However I did have to goo a pair when I switched to the grippier Jessup. Did the ole tape on the inside goo on the outside. Also when I skated vans authentics I’d tape off the Ollie area and goo it before I’d even skate them to make them last longer.

As with most adhesives, if you just wet your finger you can smooth it out real nice and doesn’t look as terrible.

[Croquet temper]

I use receipt paper to smooth out shoe goo.

Also, Gorilla Glue Clear Grip is about the same as tha Goo.

[Urtripping]

I really, really hate how shoe goo looks when it's patched onto an ollie area, but I have a fix that works for me.

Every couple of years, I buy a pair of suede vans pro slip on's when they go on sale, typically looking for all black. When a shoe I'm skating is starting to wear thin in the ollie area, I'll remove the laces and, from the inside, find where it's going to wear out.

Then, I take some scissors to the upper of one of the slip-ons and cut out a patch roughly the size of the ollie hole/area of wear, usually just a tad bigger. The slip on pro's have that duracap underneath the suede, and usually I use shoe goo to glue the suede and duracap cutout pieces together to form a double layer, vans-slip-on-thick patch. It's actually more like a triple layer, with the shoe goo being the third layer between suede and duracap.

Then, I take the little patch and glue it to the inside of the sidewall where that ollie hole is coming in, suede layer facing in because the shoe goo tends to make the duracap side stiff and uncomfortable (but very durable). When my ollie hole comes through the shoe's actual suede or leather, boom... griptape runs into the nearly impenetrable little secret weapon.

One slip on pro usually lasts a year's worth of skate shoes, so a pair will provide patches for two years if you wear ollie holes like me (I fucking hop over every little sewer cap or plastic bag I encounter). I haven't tried it yet, but I wanna buy a gigantic size to get the most patch material for my dollar.

[Hyliannightmare]

been using this for years instead. just once I see a little wear and in high contact areas. which for me is only my ollie area and the laces near there. extends the life of shoes a couple weeks for me and it costs 1 dollar for the tube and I'll get 3 or 4 shoes outta that

[drinny]

Always used shoe goo... first bit of wear I “feel” skating a shoe is when the toe-edge sidewall thins out from above and below. If the fit isn’t so great it’s progressively more awful and floppy from that point on.

Masking tape off a discreet line couple mm all along where toecap meets rubber (fill over it) and it will stop the rubber catching/ripping down on grip immediately and add a lot more time that your shoe has that original structure. No need to add giant blobs. Can hardly see it.

YMMV - hot glue/lighter for shoelaces is a great tip, easier easy to crack off and readjust if laces need to go a bit tighter after break-in unlike superglue.

Some skate shops in UK have started selling “Ripcare” as an alternative... initial experience, easier to put on, less mess, dries to touch very quick. Seems very similar find out how well it wears this week. Patched up a beaten up shoe and a new one getting a micro hole on the toe with it.

[pointandclick]

this stuff came from the dental industry. not as durable or burley as shoe goo in the long term, but it cures in seconds which is good if you forgot to repair a shoe right before you are going to skate.
http://notaglue.com/

[IpathCats]

Shoe goo and ice cubes keep my shoe bill down for sure.

[OldCandy]

sounds like alot of people dont let their shoe goo dry overnight... the grip/flick is amazing imo.

heres my method: im skating maranas right now, i worse down my toecap till its point/before the hole starts and i fingerpaint the area with shoegoo making it smooth and flush, kinda like how nyjah uses sands down his shoes. By that time, the ollie suede panel will have gone a little fuzzy so i fingerpaint that area and make it flush, frankly i think it looks pretty good if you do it right. Also atleast let it dry overnight if your putting on a fat layer. Shoe goo gets consistently solid after 48hours..

[Mbrimson88]

When we were kids we would end up with shoe goo from the toe to the heel on the ollie side which looked terrible.

As an adult, I would try to only put the smallest amount on and only where the shoe was wearing down, but well before there were holes in the shoes that couldn't easily be fixed.

I see so many people who have half the side of the shoe all goo'd up who probably do not need it but there are also equal numbers of people who come in with bleeding feet because they didn't do anything until it was too late.


Nowdays too, I only put super glue on the stitches as new which prevents a lot of the wear areas having more problems and stops the shoe coming apart in those stitched spots.

I got in the small four "single serve" packs on the card, that I separate out and sell as individuals which works well for some people too, as I would never go through a full size shoe goo and they would go off, no matter how well they were sealed or stored.

[drinny]

After a solid testing afternoon, can definitely say that Ripcare does just as good a job, shoe still held together, still flicks, so will be getting that from now on...

[Mbrimson88]

After a solid testing afternoon, can definitely say that Ripcare does just as good a job, shoe still held together, still flicks, so will be getting that from now on...

https://ripcare.com/

Never heard of it, but it looks good.

Based in Germany, so more a European thing I guess.

[Dummklaus]

in my experience ripcare is easier to apply than shoe goo, but only holds up for two or three sessions. my recommendation - not to be recommended

[Maccat]

E6000 is that shit. Shoe Goo but on another level entirely. Put up a fight trimming excess off with a razor. 

These days it’s just krazy glue on the top side of the shoe, E6000 for the sole. I can’t stand goo’d up shoes.

It’s kinda of a rite of passage ain’t it? I know my shoes never wear 50/50 and I’m a canvas guy so it’s part of the deal.

[Masshole]

I always goo my shoes at least once and ride them till the soles wear through. One thing I've noticed is that leather holds a lot better, as when you goo over your flick holes you're then only flicking off the goo. In contrast, when I've goo'd my flick holes on thinner suede shoes I notice the area around the goo area starts wearing away, like the shoe itself gets more stretched out. This requires some pre-emptive gooing around the flick holes, rather than just filling the holes as I do on leather shoes.
Also, a few weeks ago the top of my tube was all crusty, so I was only getting a small squirt out of it. I ended up squeezing too hard and the back of the tube blew out. Shoe goo DOES NOT mix well with carpet.

[ok boomer]

About 20 years ago, I wore a lot of eS Accels. I would skate 1 session to basically mark my spots on the shoes, then goo the upper lace for heelflips, a smear on the ollie part and cake up the toe for kickflips. I would keep this up until I started wearing through the bottom of the shoes. Then I would just shred the remaining life out of the shoes, goo-less. I felt like the goo stiffened the toe for flips, but it didn't really effect it overall, but I was also skating so much back then I was never rusty. Also, shameless plug that the eS Accel was a great fucking shoe to skate in (especially when I would get to that 'end of life' period, they were perfect). I was renting a house at the time, my first taste of "real bills" (as in, not a cheap ass apartment, overpaying to be in a certain area) so I wasn't able to be purchasing Accels on the reg during this period, hence the goo.

[ish_wav]

I used shoe goo growing up. Would put a layer on flick area until I skated it off, rinse and repeat. Nowadays, I’m so anal about how my shoe feels, I think I’d get in my head that the shoe goo “wasnt gripping” and ruin any session. I do superglue my seams, though.

[drinny]

in my experience ripcare is easier to apply than shoe goo, but only holds up for two or three sessions. my recommendation - not to be recommended

Yeah might be right... still good to have options, topped up my high wear spots with goo now I found the tube I’d lost lol

[MysticalTypeExperience]

Goo is a fucking godsend if you're on a budget. $6 to double the life of like 6 pairs of shoes? Sweet. Don't really give a fuck if it looks like someone jizzed all over my kicks. I have freshies that I don't skate if I'm really trying to look good or whatever.

[Urtripping]

Running black goo on black leather shoes right now. Hardly noticable!