hart88 Posted January 3, 2005 Posted January 3, 2005 Greetings, Happy New Year first of all, To prevent damage to your high heels try Heel shields. They are a heat shrink plastic sleeve that can be applied to stiletto heels. They are best for the tubular spike heels, not any of shaped heels, because the sleeve is cylindar shaped. We slide them on, and use a heat gun, or hair dryer to shrink them onto the heel. They come in Black, white, and Clear. They are about an inch and a half in length. I only install them. I still have them, but I don't know if they are still being made. (I see a few people who have used clear tape, and black tape to accomplish the same idea) It is best to apply them immediately before wearing your heels. They are usually applied to the heel tip area, sometimes we include the heel tip, and cut around the edge of the heel lift just about halfway up the heel lift, covering the gap between where the heel and the lift come together. I have a picture of black ones on black heels. They seem to work the best. the clear ones work for any color, but to be truthful, they don't age real well. they get cloudy and sand can eventually get underneath the plastic. Also when you decide to cut them off, sometimes the color of the leather heel can come off. (in this case, a bit of polish, or dye will make the heel look better right away). The white ones work great, but when you have black sole edges, and black heel tips, it changes the look somewhat. They can also be used as an ecomical repair for a slightyly damaged heel tip. Since they are only an inch and half, they won't repair a gouge that is on the upper part of the heel. Some shoe repairs also have stick on heel savers, that can be stuck onto the back of the heel, either straight up the back, or you can maybe apply it to where you are wearing the hee( like driving). I show a picture of the heel shields on my website: hartlandshoes.us go to the topic of high heels are back... the link is at the end of the topic. Gene
xaphod Posted January 4, 2005 Posted January 4, 2005 What a good idea ! Even if you can't buy the commercial article, ordinary clear heatshrink sleeving is available in various unshrunk diameters up to about 50mm, so any old length could be cut and shrunk on heels, not necessarily stilettos. If any of the UK guys want to try it, I can provide the sleeving from my electrical engineering kit. A pukka heatshrinker is not necesary as a hot-air paint stripper used carefully ! works well (sometimes too damn well ! ). Xa
hart88 Posted January 5, 2005 Author Posted January 5, 2005 I wouldn't object to you trying, just be sure about the heat, the tubing isn't that expensive, to try it out. Make sure that you know if the heel covering is leather or vinyl. If it is vinyl, you may ruin the heel covering real quick. as they say over here, measure twice, cut once, inother words, work your way up on the heat, to make sure. You can use a knife and cut it on the inside of the heel where it doesn't show, so you can try again. good luck Gene
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