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03 December 2007

Sexy (but lethal) boots? (Paging Paulsc! Help!!) [More:]So this is what a girl does to cheer herself up, right, she buys shoes?? BUT these have completely smooth soles. So in work (marble floors) and in play ( London streets) these'll be lethal.

So what to do? Sandpaper, scoring with sharp knives, whaaaat?
I have had success with the foot pedals product for this problem, but there are probably cheaper DIY solutions.
posted by crush-onastick 03 December | 15:42
You should be able to take them to a good shoe repair place and have non-skid lifts put on the soles--I've had to do this with a few pairs of boots/shoes, and it's worked quite well for not much money.

(*whistles* Niiiiiice boots!)
posted by elizard 03 December | 15:44
How likely those boots will be to contribute to a slip or fall depends as much on the material the soling is made of, as any pattern it may have. Leather soles are often finished in waxes or oils to improve selling appeal, but quickly develop wear spots that are fairly effective in providing traction on most flooring. But, you can certainly rough them a bit with coarse sand paper, or (lightly!) a rasp, to break the surface a bit.

Composition soling may look like leather, but is generally made from composition rubber sheets, which contains rubber, and various fillers and mineral additives like talc. It can wear better than leather soling, but can also have a lot less resistance to slipping on surface deposits of water. If you can't tell by labeling, smell, or feel, you can test whether you have composition soling by cutting away a tiny, tiny bit of it, and testing it in an open flame. If it burns, or changes the flame color substantially, it's probably composition. You can score composition soling with power tools like a circular saw, set for a very thin cut, easily.

Or, recognize that shoe repair shops can put 1/2 soles on such boots, regardless of their soling material, that will have very high friction for all types of flooring. 1/2 soles may add a bit of thickness at the sole edge, but the process of half-soling is first to sand away most of the existing sole, before cementing on a new half-sole. So, your boots will look much the same, thereafter. Over here, American Biltrite makes a wide range of shoe repair supplies, including such high traction half-soles, but I don't know whether their products are readily avaiable on your side of the pond. Lifts are the bits that cap your heel. They're critical to wear safety, and wear fast, in such high fashion, narrow styles as are on your boots. Keep them replaced as needed! About 75% of injury cases submitted to suit against the shoe manufacturers I've worked for, have been due to lift wear and related heel defects.

Go ahead, you don't have to wait 'til they're worn! You love the boots, and we don't want you to fall.
posted by paulsc 03 December | 16:04
Wow, those are some kick-arse boots indeed (likewise the legs they encase).

Be careful about making the soles of boots like that too non-slip, though - you may find they become difficult to walk in. Because they encase your ankles so tightly, they may rely on being able to slip slightly (particularly to rotate a tiny bit as your leg comes over your foot) to allow your foot to work in them. If you make it so that the sole won't slip at all, you may end up walking like an arthritic giraffe. I think you need to take lots more photos of the legs boots in different situations and show them to us so we can provide further advice.
posted by dg 03 December | 16:16
Thank you all so much, from your (paulsc) info the soles are composition. The heels have good traction but are such a small surface area I don't think they'll be safe on their own. I'll ask for a cap to be put on though because of your advice.
So I've simply scored the soles diagonally now with a sharp knife and I'll put them in at the weekend for a 1/2 sole. (Luckily it's not too frosty yet here, hoping it won't be wet when I wear them Wednesday.)

DG, thanks but I actually cropped the photo to make it SFW

thanks everyone!
posted by Wilder 03 December | 16:34
On the plus side if you do fall I predict a near riot amongst the men nearby in a bid to pick you up.
posted by oh pollo! 03 December | 16:35
*waits for oh pollo to trip wilder up at the next meetup*
posted by essexjan 03 December | 16:48
paulsc--right, it's half-soles I was referring to. Oops.
posted by elizard 03 December | 16:59
Oi! I can't wear these at the next meet-up! these are Bootie-call boots!
At the next meet-up I'll be wearing comfie Uggs (Although Armoured Ant has promised to wear a garter, so who knows what levels of debauchery the advent of the Turtles may predicate)
posted by Wilder 03 December | 18:30
If they're leather, scrape them a bit against the sidewalk.
posted by brujita 03 December | 19:02
I have this creepy habit of checking out other pics on someone's flickr when they post a pic and all I have to say is Ali is teh HAWT.

And I hope those shoes can be made safe!
posted by Doohickie 04 December | 00:19
Jeez, you guys coming in with useful information! Don't you realise this post has got nothing to do with how to make soles non-slip?
posted by essexjan 04 December | 02:47
you're only half wrong EssexJan, this post has fulfilled both it's functions, (with a great bonus from Doohickie!)
Quite a lot of composite came off with the diagonal scoring, and they certainly feel a bit less slippy against that tile, but they'll still need 1/2 soles put on.
posted by Wilder 04 December | 03:08
What a coincidence; "Sexy but lethal" is what it says on my business card.













In Bizarro World.
posted by bmarkey 04 December | 03:29
'Tis the season || 'Blade Runner': Original version with internal monologue or director's cut?

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