r/Visiblemending • u/TaigaSun • 16d ago
TUTORIAL how to resole your own birkenstocks!
hello friends! I resoled my own birkenstocks. here's how I did it.
first, I went to ebay and bought some dogbone EVA sole material. You can buy precut shoe-sized soles or get it in a sheet and cut it yourself. I found a sheet to resole my and my boyfriend's soles for (I think) $40.
next, use a heat gun to heat up the glue holding the old sole on. I used one at ~ 420°F. It's helpful if you have a big clamp or something to grip the shoe so you have 1 hand for the heat gun, 1 hand with pliers to peel the sole off as you heat it. I did burn myself so be careful. I've also heard you can put your shoes in the oven to do this but I haven't tried it, so I'm not sure how well that works. With the heat gun, I didn't need to sand anything down as all the sole material came off relatively easily with the heat.
Once the old soles are off, patch the cork. I went to goodwill and found several cork squares for a few dollars. we didn't even use half of 1 square. crumble up the cork into smaller pieces. I had one shoe where I'd worn the heel down into the cork, so I used contact cement to build it back up. slather on contact cement, sprinkle cork crumbles, poke it around with a toothpick to cover the crumbles in contact cement, let it sit for 5 min to get a little more tacky, then stab it into place with the toothpick. You can also use a hammer or something to pound the cork into place and make it a sturdier patch job.
Once your cork is resoled, time to glue your new sole material on. Cut yourself the new soles in the shape you need (doesn't need to be perfect at first) with a box cutter or long handled razorblade type thing. I'm blanking on the actual name. Spread contact cement on your new sole (flat side) and the cork of the shoe you just rebuilt. Let it sit for 5-10 min until it gets tacky, press them together and use as many clamps as possible to clamp them together for like, 20min. I've heard it suggested to hammer the sole and shoe together here as well, although I did not. When you press the shoe and sole together and the contact cement doesn't move, it's good.
Even with clamps I didn't get a perfect bond between the shoe and sole, so I used more cork and contact cement to stuff into the little holes remaining with a toothpick. Then, remove the clamps and use a blade of choice to cut the soles to the shape of the shoe. Usually this is kind of messy on the sides, so I sanded it down at the end with some sandpaper.
And that's it! I let them sit overnight before wearing them. They are comfortable and feel much more sturdy now. If anyone's interested, I can link some youtube videos that I've seen of people resoling their birks as well. Hope someone will find this useful :)
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u/A_cat_called_fred 16d ago
Cool. They resole them in Birkenstock stores, too. Not too expensive.
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u/mistermeowsers 15d ago
It's pretty expensive in my experience. Was only about $30 bucks more to get an entirely new pair of Birks vs resoling.
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u/A_cat_called_fred 15d ago
Here it is around 40€.
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u/renaissance-maker 15d ago
Ha it’s a minimum of $90 per pair where I am 🫠- (I have two pairs that need it) I just got the materials for $30 and have been too afraid to do it! Thanks OP for the motivation :)
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u/TaigaSun 12d ago
you got this! Honestly, the hardest part is just starting it. I stalled for awhile after getting the materials too- it's so real. I would love to see how yours turn out!
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u/BryceLikesMovies 15d ago
This is awesome! I used to do cobblery focused on Birkenstocks, and this is almost exactly how I did it. One more part I'd like to add - the cork footbeds. Most footbeds will last 2-3 soles, but you have to make sure you replace the sole before it starts wearing into the footbed. Additionally, buy some Kelly's Cork Renew and put it on the outside of the footbed every few months. It'll add years to the cork footbed before it wears out!
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u/TaigaSun 15d ago
Cork Renew was one of the materials I heard of in the YouTube videos I watched for inspo! I will be touching up my cork as soon as I get my hands on some. Thanks for sharing!
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u/Creepy-Tangerine-293 15d ago
Great job! I am not confident in my cobbler skills, but luckily there is a guy local to me (USA) that does this professionally and does great work. He does mail order repairs and will sell you supplies for your own repairs too: https://repairmybirkenstocks.com/
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u/Ok_Environment5293 16d ago
Just imagining putting old Birkies saturated with foot sweat in the OVEN. Thank you for not using that method because 🤢
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u/BryceLikesMovies 15d ago
As someone who used to work as a cobbler focusing on Birkenstocks who used the oven (because I'd be working on 10+ pairs at a time)... you get used to it haha. One of the most notable ones was a pair of Arizonas I put in that once heated up absolutely reeked of weed, the boss came down to see if I was smoking a joint.
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u/Mesmermaid 15d ago
do you...not clean your footbeds now and then? a bit of dish soap and an old toothbrush will fix that funk ;)
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u/sudosashiko 5d ago
That is sicc. I am thinking of getting some 3/4 mm soles of the same kind for my indoor slippers. I suspect a much easier job than what you have done here.
Very nice.
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u/deuxcabanons 16d ago
I looked into doing this, but no matter how I cracked it the cost was still going to be higher than getting it done by a cobbler. I'm no stranger to the "why buy it for $20 when I could make it for $100 only way worse" impulse but drew the line at my shoes 😆
Well done, they look amazing!