Making Shoe Goo, Barge Cement, etc. more durable?

[Query]

I know this is a bit off-topic, because it isn't unique to skate boots, but those of you who play with skate boots may have wondered about the same thing.

I've been looking up online why these shoe/boot glues sometimes fail.

Various things are mentioned, like poor surface prep, temperature, improper moisture (did you know Super Glue requires moisture to set right?), failing to clean and roughen the surface, insufficient clamped set time, layers of glue that are too thick - people say to apply multiple thin layers and let them each cure before application. But I haven't seen mentioned one of my pet theories:

I think that in some cases the old glue has failed, for one reason or another (too much wear, the glue got too old, too much force, etc.). In which case it makes sense to remove the old glue, rather than sticking to old glue that has failed. So I want to apply a solvent, specifically isopropyl alcohol (I found a 91% bottle at Dollar Tree, cheap), and then deliberately remove as much of the old glue as I can. Wait for it to dry. And then apply the glue right. (BTW, acetone isn't also a solvent for many adhesives - but it can soften and otherwise damage some of the materials one might wish to glue an outsole or heel too.)

Also, for shoes, instead of a clamp, I would like to wrap the shoes with tape. Either painter's tape, which comes off easily, followed by tightly stretched duct tape, or duct tape with the inner layer applied sticky side out. But duct tape isn't completely stable. Would it be good enough? (Not suitable for the heels of old skate boots - they are too high - I guess a suitable shape long arm clamp is the only answer.

Also, they usually say to let the glue set for 24 hours. Would more time be a little better?

Do these things make sense?

In the case of skate boots, which in recent years sometimes are remarkably short lived, does re-attaching outsoles or heels make sense at all - or are skates that have failed anywhere a lost cause?

 

[Diana Delafield]

In the case of skate boots, which in recent years sometimes are remarkably short lived, does re-attaching outsoles or heels make sense at all - or are skates that have failed anywhere a lost cause?

I certainly wouldn't wear cobbled boots, but that may be a "pairs girls" thing. We have to have 100% trust in whatever's holding us up. Mainly that's our partners, but the principle extends then to equipment.

I know nothing about glues for boots. The only glue I have to worry about is what holds on my false nails for ballroom dance. You really don't want to litter the floor with dropped nails as you dance, but you also want to be able to remove them after the competition without ripping your own nails off at the same time!

And that is definitely , sorry!

 

[Query]

And I certainly wouldn't want dropped nails to appear all over my boots as a result of gluing them.

I still have a Graf Edmonton Special whose heel broke apart after my using them a few weeks or months. They were unused but had sat in a store for a few years at least, so, for complicated reasons, I got them free. Graf suggested I bolt them back together (the glue they had originally used required industrial level equipment to use - very toxic and had to bake at elevated temperatures for a long time to cure and set), and someone else online said they had successfully done that with another Edmonton Special boot. But between the fact that they were very much higher level boots than I need, and the fact that they didn't fit perfectly, and are quite heavy (perhaps because they were overbooting and they were too large), I haven't bothered to repair them. But if I can make proper gluing work, that would be an interesting experiment. In case you haven't figured this out, I am just as interested in running experiments as in skating. But that is very different from what a serious competitive skater seeks. And I can easily understand why a pairs skater would be extremely worried about every thing they have to rely on. Pairs skating is crazy. But it looks like fun.

 

[tarmac]

Ohh crafting! I love experiments!

I think isopropyl alcohol won't do much to contact cement (even though it is one of my favourite solutions for life's problems). You can probably figure that out with a spot test. I'd probably start out warming up (heatgun at 50°C?) and mechanically cleaning the residue as first pass. But before applying glue, wipe it down with alcohol anyway because adhesives love a degreased, dust-free surface. If the material permits, some mild sanding prior for more surface area to bond to might also help?

I second masking/painter's tape as sticking very cleanly and firmly, yet easy to get off (if you get a good brand..!). As for the outer wrapping, I've never gotten my hands on actual shrink wrap (as in the one that... shrinks when heat is applied) but I have seen it successfully used to wrap freshly baked hockey skates with feet inside to force them into accepting the contour. Is that an idea? (Maybe with one of those wooden foot inserts to retain shape from the inside?)

Anecdotically - from having working with similar adhesives in elastic things that were thrown around a lot - I've found that giving it 48 hours to cure can make a difference in strength but it pretty much taps out after that. However, that's indoors at room temperature. Less-than-ideal conditions might benefit from longer times although IIRC the curing process might actually stall out below a certain temp.

 

[Query]

So far, on a pair of old tennis shoes, isopropyl did a little. Sanding did a bit more. A heat gun sounds like a really good idea - but on skates, 50 - deg C might undo any heat molding. So one would really want to localize the heat application. Also, relatively few heat guns can go that low, especially if you are close enough to localize. But great idea!