SoleHeeled offers convenient and affordable Dr. Martens boot repairs by Australia’s best craftsmen, with free shipping to your door. This case study outlines how we recently repaired a customer’s Dr. Martens boots.
The boots
These Dr Martens 1460 Mono boots were in desperate need some attention, with large tears in the uppers, and the soles almost falling off. When the customer reached out to us for a free diagnosis/quote, we offered to repair the tears, perform a full resole and polish the leather uppers.
Resole
We began by removing the original soles, up to just below the midsole (with the black thread visible around the top of the soles). We then installed a new pair of Vibram lugged soles, adhering them into place against the original midsoles. Unlike the original soles, which are plastic (rather than rubber) in composition and hollow (rather than solid), the Vibram soles we used in this case are highly durable and yet remain lightweight and flexible enough to bear the brunt of a worn into pair of Dr Martens repeatedly hitting the ground.
Dr Martens boots are not as easily resole-able, because the outer soles are heat-fused into place. This means that worn out soles cannot simply be removed and replaced by pulling them off or unstitching them from a welt — rather the outer part of the original sole needs to be sliced off and replaced.
Tear repair
We repaired tears beside the outer toes on each boot, using this leather patches around the tears, on the interior of the boots. Once those patches were firmly adhered in place against the inner lining, we glued down the loose leather on the outside of the boots as cleanly as possible. This allowed us to seal up the tears as cleanly as possible and reinforce the leather against further tearing in these areas.
It is reasonably common for the leather around the toes, where the boots flex with each step, to form creases that turn into cracks and eventually tears. This is primarily a consequence of the leather becoming too dry.
Leather polishing
The leather uppers on these boots were looking heavily worn and faded, particularly around the toes where some of the colour had been completely scuffed off. We used a pigmented black polish to buff away the lighter scratches on the surface, restore some of the faded colour, and get the boots looking much fresher.
Have a pair of Dr Martens boots needing repair or restoration?
Our experienced craftsmen have been trusted by not only generations of Australians but also local and international brands (including RM Williams, NET-A-PORTER and Gucci) with the repair and restoration of boots since 1955. If you have a beloved pair of Dr Martens boots in need of repair or restoration, ask us for a free diagnosis/quote by completing our online order form — where you can upload photos of the boots and let us know exactly what you would like done to them, or let us advise you on what the boots need based on the photos.
SoleHeeled serves all of Australia through its free 2-way shipping service:
Order online: Answer a few questions to get an instant quote and complete your order.
Send your boots: Drop your boots off at a local post office for free packaging and shipping to us.
We repair: A team of experienced craftsmen will carefully repair your boots.
We return: We'll deliver your repaired boots to you, wherever you are in Australia.
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