Quieter boots

[Rockpup]

Well, last night I superglued 1/4" thick rubber to the heels of my Tommy Hilfigur boots, and you can feel the increase from 4 to 4-1/4 inches. There is also a -very- noticable reduction in noise. I tested them out last night a bit by wandering around my neighborhood. I plan to test out their durability at the Sawgrass Mills mall in Ft Lauderdale in a couple hours. I may look into getting the heels profesionally replaced if these do not hold up well. Seeya Jim

[Firefox]

See how the bond holds up. Superglue isn't always the most flexilbe over time. You can always reinforce them with small screws driven in hard so they are countersunk below the rubber or small lost head pins again with the heads embedded. You'll find professionally fixed rubber tops can be held on with a combination of glue and pins/staples too.

[hoverfly]

Here in the U.S. we have something call Flash Black, it's a rubber based super glue that is semi flexible. I have use it with success and have had no problems with it gluing rubber on to the heels on some of my boots.

[Rockpup]

Well, it was mostly an exercise in theory anyways. The boots are much quieter, with only a tiny amount of noise when the ball of the foot hits the ground. Unfortunatly the extra 1/4" was definatly noticed. After about a mile or so of walking (Largest mall in Florida, laid out in a straight line, horrible parking) I was feeling it in my feet.. I'd gotten a couple of confused looks from those who were 'people watching', but thats about it. I'd originally gone in to go shopping for jeans with a little more room at the bottom.. After trying a few pairs, I'm considering wearing these boots out with jeans that end around the ankle area.. Although, I may only do so when with people I know.. I will get the heel tips profesionally replaced first I may also try some distance walking in 3-3.5 inch heels first, since 2.5" heels seem to be no problem. I'll keep you posted if I find boots that fit the bill. Have fun everyone Jim

[hart88]

I get alot of customers who also ask me how to quiet their noisy heels. Many times the noise is from the very hollow heels, with hard plastic heels on the bottom...(we call the rubber piece at the bottom of the heel- the heel lift in usa) some people call them tips. I usually ask them If I can pull the heel lift off, and see how hollow the heel is, then if so, I cut up pieces of the crepe rubber scraps I have and cut them in strips and cover them with glue, and stuff them into the heel cavity...Then I usually put a newer, more rubberier heel lift on, sometimes I put a thicker one on, like Jim C said, but maybe only up to 1.0 cm or 3/8 at most. Also the thickness of the outside wall of the heel block determines how or what kind of heel lift I can replace the original with... The Flash black product I agree can work, but we in the shoe repair business have a spray that hardens the super glue quicker, but I don't think it is availible to the public at this time. The Flash Black also because it is more rubberier, I use for toe tips on the very pointed shoes and boots that have black rubber or plastic soles...The toes are too pointed to nail any toe plate on, so the Flash Black works real good to make a coating that works like a toe plate or toe protector.

[Dawn HH]

Hart88:-) I have a pair of female boots in a western style that have a 4" heel that tapers to a much smaller heel at the bottom. Is it possible to have those heels changed to a block heel as I need that for sturdiness in my walking? I cannot find anyone around my area that does that job as they say that they don't do that anymore as they can't get the heels to do it. If you like, you can PM me on this. If you don't do this, could you advise who does? Thanks. Cheers--- Dawn HH

[hart88]

To fit a new heel to a boot, first we need measurements The first measurement and most critical is across the width of the heel, the part that is facing the sole- the straight line...that is the first measurement. The rest of the measurement is just basically the shape of the heel where it is attached to the boot. The second challenge is the way the heel is nailed, or attached Some heels are attached with a Big Staple, and those are harder to remove because the staple is a substitue for a quality job, and sometimes the rest of inside of the heel is cheap and difficult to work with. The 3rd challenge that I have, because I am a small shoe shop, and the jobber has changed their small order process. That means it is more difficult to purchase heel blocks in a small order. (few at a time) One of the companies that I deal with is called SoleTech.com (USA) On their website they don't show many heels like yours, but I do have some older styles on hand that are somewhat cowboy and wider at the bottom where the heel meets the pavement. If you still might be interested, you can email me and then I could take a picture of the heels, or you could email me with a jpg and I could tell you if the heels might work, (and price) Gene

[onyourtoes]

I've been using contact cement for decades for modifications like that.

[Priscilla]

Excuse me, but why quieten heels? Isn't the music they make part of the mystique?

[bigj3650]

each to their own...if they want to quieten heels then its their choice

[bladerunner]

Noisy heels are great but not if you don't want to attract attention! Theres a time and place for every thing,and for me silenced heels can be a blessing.

[Dawn HH]

When I first started to street-heel, the noise of my heels on the pavements or Mall floors was deafening to my ears and I replaced the heel tips with rubber for a quieter ride. Then, after a while, I just said, "To heck with that" and I wear them right out of the box noisy or not. Some are not and some are quieter than others, but I think that I noticed it more than others passing me in public at the time. Now I'm just me, noisy tips or not, going about my business and enjoying my boots and street-heeling. Cheers--- Dawn HH