Accessories Fixing or remaking old shoes?

If the sole comes off easily, you could take it off and gently sand or scrape off the glue with an xacto blade, then re-glue. The old doll shoes I've had were always quite fragile so the less you do with them the better, though.

I would avoid spraying paint as it will end up looking messier than it was before and the paint might degrade the materials used in the shoe (foams can easily melt with the wrong type of paint, and it can speed up old pleather peeling etc). If you find something safe to use, brushing a small amount on the yellowed bits with a small brush is probably a safer route.

 

Years back I got a pair of black boots that had a white line around the top of the sole. I guess it was a design feature but just looked odd to me. So I took a sharpie and colored over it. Is there such a thing as a white sharpie? If it's mostly the orange discoloration that's bothering you maybe using a fine brush to detail paint over that would be possible.

 

When the sole comes off from an old boot (while just trying to remove a boot that's been on the doll for years in storage, sadly) can you use hot glue to glue it back on or do you need some kind of superglue or epoxy?

And not to subvert the original topic, is there ANYTHING to be done to fix it when old pleather starts cracking and is about to shed? I have a beautiful pair of expensive tan boots for one of my guys that are 15 years old and have begun to deteriorate.

 

Hot glue creates bulk and won't bind materials like super glue will, it peels off very easily when taking shoes off/ putting them on again. Contact cement is used a lot in shoemaking if you want to try an alternative.

As for the peeling - there is no way to stop it. I tried covering the peeling spots with glue, paint and varnish and all of them just made the pleather peel even more. I've managed to save two pairs of shoes by peeling everything off myself so they are still useable - they do leave residue and might stain after, though, so dark socks and regular checking is necessary. They won't have the same finish any more but can still be used if you like them that way.

 

I have used black epoxy on my really old tap shoes and it worked really well at putting the sole back on. I don't see why it wouldn't work for doll shoes as well. I would suggest maybe an old paint brush to try and brush on an even thin coat instead of directly applying so it's not bumpy in between the 2 parts.

 

Angelus Leather Paints are a special type of acrylic paint and can be used to help patch up peeling pleather, cover discolored spots, or change the color of shoes.

 

my go-to to fix shoes in a situation like this is to use foam safe glue to carefully reglue the soles, if you don't want to remove the entire sole to reglue it you can use something with a fine tip like a toothpick, and use white leather or pleather paint on a fine tip brush to carefully cover up the yellow

 

Funny, was just scrolling through Tik Tok the other day and saw a lady from London refurbishing old shoes and leather jackets with foils. I looked through a few pics to see the origional shoes before foil, didn't get any clear views, but several said they didn't think there was hope to restore them as some were cracking and pealing. Also saw a Santa themed custom leather jacket foiled. Just an idea as I know several of us have older shoes that we are not willing to part with.

 

I actually am repairing a jacket using this method! I've had to experiment since you lose the primary layer with fabric and need the glue/foils to adhere to something. It is a viable method, but the finished item cannot be washed since I used Liquitex gloss that's water-based/flexible. It beats throwing it out, but it's soooo much work.

 

I repair my doll boots by scraping off the peeling material and filling in the spots with acrylic paint markers. If something is really damaged, I usually make it into more of a punk look and decorate with new designs and recycled materials.