has anyone ever taken out the insoles of Vans or Converse shoes and put in the good insoles from a pro model inside? would that actually work? just use an exacto knife to rip the old one out? or should i just leave it... got a bunch of pairs in mint condition from thrift store Vans Era, Old Skool, and One Stars that I have pro soles for.
Yes, that is my go to in the shoe department.
I always get the Classic Vans range, then remove the glued in footbed and put in pro insoles, but in general they tend not to want to come out easily. Some are so thoroughly glued in I am sure I am going to wreck the shoes trying to get them out, others come out like they never seemed glued down at all.
The main thing is to leave the bottom cardboard or fibre material there and get out the two upper parts, usually blue or white foam layer and the heel rubber part, sometimes black, sometimes white, natural or other colour.
A butter knife or something flat but not sharp works best, from my experience, cause most other things will gouge into the lower layer which is best left in the shoe. Also getting in between the layered bits can sometimes be super easy, other times almost impossible, but older shoes that have been left out in the sun tend to come up a lot more easily than newer ones.
I made a half dozen posts about it too, whether or not they help: