r/Visiblemending • u/Fun_Swan_5363 • 5d ago
DARNING Stitched up cracking vinyl in my Costco shoes
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u/DoubleMikeNoShoot 5d ago
Fabric, time to cover the sections. Cut out different colored pieces and stitch them over the repairs you’ve done. Great job at not just throwing out the shoes like the company who made them intended you to do.
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u/ruadhbran 5d ago
These look delightfully chaotic! Well done, and I hope they serve you well for a long time still!
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u/invisiblefigleaf 4d ago
I was going to say the same thing! The chaos is really cute and works well
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u/Fun_Swan_5363 3d ago
Thanks to both. I'm a guy with zero training, that's probably why. And I've never seen anyone do this, so I'm like, hmm, what may work? I was just popping around to different cracks, really.
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u/Fun_Swan_5363 5d ago
Then I put fabric glue over the dollar store thread to protect it.
But I may put mink oil now because the fabric glue really stiffened up the threads. This pic is before the glue.
Cloth gloves with a somewhat thick rubber coating on the fingers, let you push a needle through without tearing up your fingers.
My sewing repairs are always sort of chaotic, until I looked on here I didn't realize they can be nice-looking. Ha ha
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u/QuietVariety6089 5d ago
If the shoes are vinyl, mink oil won't soak in, will just make a mess. I don't think it would penetrate the fabric glue regardless.
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u/Fun_Swan_5363 5d ago
That's fine if it isn't absorbed, but it might still waterproof. The fabric glue says it is machine washable but I wear these while working in the pasture so I'm interested in waterproofing as well.
I went off two results in googling which indicated you can put mink oil on vinyl, because I also thought you shouldn't. And I didn't actually visit those sites, just looked at the list of results. One was JobSite Brand's Mink Oil Paste and the other was Mermac Mink Oil's FAQ, where they say it can be put on both.
I've put mink oil on basketball shoes before and you're right it will make a mess by attracting dirt, especially if they're white. Not sure as to absorption time but these other ones were vinyl-leather combos and at some point I just started chucking them into the closet shoe pile again rather than setting them down separate, due to either actual absorption or mink oil removal due to snow.
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u/QuietVariety6089 5d ago
Vinyl will not absorb an oil product like mink oil, and it will make a mess of the fabric parts. Vinyl is waterproof by design, and yes, you've poked extra holes in it - it's the holes that will let moisture in, not the vinyl. You could look for some kind of wax containing waterproofer that states it works on fabric - that seems to be the component of the products you've mentioned that would coat vinyl (note, products will not 'penetrate' vinyl - it's plastic).
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u/Fun_Swan_5363 2d ago edited 2d ago
Hi just to comment a bit of data. My two results on google IIRC said their mink oil could be put on 'fine vinyl.' Well earlier I had put Huberd's shoe oil on these shoes, as well as on a pair of Reeboks (both leather-vinyl combos.) So the next morning on the Reeboks: no oily residue to be found, while on the Costco shoes the vinyl parts were still shiny from the Huberd's. So perhaps high quality vinyl can absorb (or at least become coated without having a noticeable residue) wax-enfused shoe oil better than cheap vinyl can.
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u/QuietVariety6089 2d ago
The information I'm always looking for is information that is NOT part of the website of a company that makes a product - they have a vested interest in selling as much X as they can. So, just because you CAN use something doesn't mean the thing is benefitting you.
The info I've found on Huberd's suggest that they use beeswax, pine tar and most likely linseed oil. Both pine tar and linseed oil will dissolve many types of plastic, so I would be wary of using them on synthetic materials in shoes.
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u/wh4t_1s_a_s0u1 4d ago
This haphazard scribbled-on look gives me so much joy :D
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u/Fun_Swan_5363 3d ago edited 3d ago
Thanks! Just trying to cinch together the tiny cracks which are forming. And didn't feel like using a single color.
If I darn socks I get a similar haphazard result. I never realized until recently that you're supposed to make it look woven.
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u/MuchChampionship6630 2d ago
The stitching reminds me of a heartbeat on a monitor . Myyyy heartbeat watching the news lol Great job !
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u/Used-Client-9334 5d ago
Just make sure you’ve got good support inside and plenty of sole left. Your feet are more important.