The biggest advantage of welted shoes is that they can easily be resoled several times, and thus you get a clearly increased lifespan. Here we go through how you know when it's time to resole your shoes (often much later than you think), and provide info about the factory resole and refurbishment service we offer for all TLB Mallorca shoes.
All the shoes we sell are Goodyear welted on Mallorca (except the sneakers, they are sidewall stitched though, which means they also can be resoled, but in another way). This means that a leather insole is attached to the upper leather and a welt, a kind of leather strip, this is done with a welt seam. The outsole is then sewn to the welt with a sole stitch. It’s only this seam that you then touch when you resole the shoes, the welt stich and thus the shoe itself is completely intact. When the shoes are made of quality materials such as full grain calf leather, completely lined in leather, insoles in leather, and so on, you have all the conditions required to have shoes that can last many, many years. Not only is the sole made to be repairable, but the heels are easily replaced, a shoemaker can easily put new leather lining in the heel if needed, and so on. These are shoes that are both durable and sustainable.
So, how do you know when it's time to resole your shoes? Of course, it varies greatly depending on how often and in what conditions they are used, quality of the leather sole or if you have a rubber sole, how you walk, and so on. But there are a number of things you can look at to determine when it's time to resole your welted footwear.
A pair of TLB Mallorca that's seen a lot of use, and clearly are in need of a resole.
We start with leather-soled shoes, and there it’s good to know that the outer layer of the sole will wear down quickly and a matt more rough surface will appear, however, this is more durable and it’s this that will handle all the wear. The leather soles our shoes have are of good quality and last longer than standard leather soles. If you are a person who walks in a way that wears on the tip of the toe a lot, it can wear quite quickly here anyway, and you might start to wear on the seam underneath. However, there is no danger in this, since the sole stitch is made with a so-called "lock stitch" where each stitch is locked separately, and you also have glue that helps to hold it all together. However, you don’t want to start tearing on the welt, the upper layer of leather if you see the sole edge from the side. If you cause a lot of wear on the toes, it can be good to let a shoemaker apply, for example, a sunken toe rubber toe tap if the rest of the sole is in good condition, it’s often good to re-heel the shoe in connection with this, and then when the heel and toe rubber are worn down also the rest of the sole is, and it's time for a resole when both heel and sole are replaced.
A sign that the sole is starting to get so worn that it should be replaced is that you begin to feel, for example, gravel and other things on the ground more clearly when you walk. If you pick up the shoe and press in the middle of the outsole, it also feels thin and flexes a lot. If it goes so far that there are holes, you should immediately stop using the shoes until you’ve had them resoled.
This far you should not let things go before you resole them. As you can see the customer have had a cobbler apply rubber toe taps.
You can then choose to go to a cobbler and make a half sole replacement, when the upper part of the heel and the front part of the sole is changed, or a full resole where the heel and the entire sole are replaced. Or you can, if the manufacturer offers it, send the shoes back to the factory for resole and refurbishment, for example we offer this with shoes from TLB Mallorca (more about that below).
For rubber soles, the same applies as for leather soles, with the difference that they generally last longer, and that it is usually not possible to add reinforcement for just the toe or to make a half sole replacement, you make a full resole immediately.
Factory resole and refurbishment of welted shoes
For those of you who bought a pair of shoes from TLB Mallorca, either their standard range or the top range Artista, we offer the opportunity to send the shoes back to the factory in Mallorca for a complete resole and refurbishment. It costs €150 including VAT (about $148 excl. VAT for those outside EU) plus the shipping fee to us. Especially Artista shoes with the narrow waists can be difficult for some cobblers to resole, then this is the only option. TLB accept also shoes that have been worked on by a cobbler, as long as the job is done well.
At the factory, the heel is removed, the sole seam is torn and the outsole is removed. The condition of the cork filling and other parts of the inside of the shoe is checked and changed if necessary, the welt is also changed if needed. Then a new outsole is stitched on, new heel is put in place and the same finish as when the shoes were new is carried out. You get back a pair of shoes in excellent condition, ready to use for many new days on your feet.
This is what the shoes look like after factory resole and refurbishment. Here, the customer also chose oak bark tanned JR soles, which you have the option of for at an extra cost. You can even choose to change from a leather sole to a rubber sole or vice versa in connection with the resole.
Some more photos.
Contact us at ktj@skolyx.se if you want to resole your TLB shoes, or if you have other questions about resoling and repairs.