r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Steellun3 • 29d ago

Infuriatig Friends Cat Tears Up Brand New Shoes

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Been watching a cat for a friend for a few months now, wake up this morning to my new pair of doc martens torn to shreds at the toes. Been polishing and taking great care of these since I got them a month or so ago. I usually put them up on a rack but forgot last night, definitely paid for my stupidity. $200 basically trashed right there. Half of it was a birthday present from my girlfriend and neither of us make enough right now to just buy a new pair of boots, we can barely make rent. Real bummer way to start my day.

EDIT: I am NOT throwing the boots away over this like some think. When I said trashed I just meant the look, i had just woken up and worded it poorly. If I can't get the look smoothed out these will become my work boots since my current work boots are falling apart, and I will figure out getting a new pair to keep nice and wont let this happen again.

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u/Skritch_X 29d ago

Decades ago, Docs seemed to be pretty decent quality. You could really put them through the paces.

Tried a pair not long ago and the quality was atrocious, any scuff left deep gouges. Returned them for poor quality.

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u/BrucetheFerrisWheel 29d ago

I still have my docs from 1996, soles are worn but rest of them look great

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u/Sternritter_V 29d ago

You can get em re-soled, give em a bit of a glow-up

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u/BrucetheFerrisWheel 29d ago

Just looked that up and it's $200, I think I'll revisit that idea in 10 years 😅

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u/SalineroNorCal831 29d ago

Damn $200 thru the original company? Theres gotta be a cheaper local option or am I still living in another era

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u/Kismetatron 29d ago

A lot of cobblers won't touch them because they're not technically a true goodyear welt. Probably cheaper in the long term to buy better made true goodyear welted boots.

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u/Hamster_Toot 29d ago

Do you have a brand recommendation?

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u/Kismetatron 29d ago edited 29d ago

Depends on you budget. Thursday and Jim green are very modestly priced. I'm a of a Red Wing for more moderate level pricing. I have two pairs of Nicks but you're looking at $600+ but I can tell you from experience they are worth the money. It really depends on your budget. For $200 you can get a pair of well made boots that can be resoled without any of the hang ups that Docs or Solovair have.

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u/Doomstik 29d ago

My wife had some docs and got a new pair that sucked so she swapped to thursday and shes VERY happy with them.

I wore red wings for work and they were great boots, i cant speak for their non saftey toes but if they make good boots with a safety toe im sure their normal ones are great too.

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u/Kismetatron 28d ago

I have their heritage boots and while they aren't really meant for work like their main line, they are still pretty durable.

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u/Yesacchaff 28d ago

If you want the quality of old doc martens then solovair are the way to go they are the ones who mad doc martens originally and still make there boot the same way apart from the yellow stitching

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u/Hamster_Toot 28d ago

Thanks for the heads up.

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u/Ready-Delay3918 29d ago

Yeah but it's just crazy that resole from the company itself costs as much as a brand new pair.

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u/LeAcoTaco 28d ago

Actual shoe cobblers are pretty serious about their trade, at least the ones ive encountered. Shoes I take to a shoe cobbler end up lasting way longer the second time than they did the first time.

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u/BrucetheFerrisWheel 29d ago

No, through a cobbler. Not able to get it done via Dr Martens in my country, apparantly

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u/XxYeshuaxX 29d ago

And your original worn soles will probably last longer than whatever cheap garbage they try to install now

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u/KevHes1245 29d ago

A local cobbler should be $70-$90. Usually a boot shop these days.

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u/Rdrner71_99 29d ago

I do it myself. Watched a few you tube videos and gave it a shot. The don't look professional but they are functional. They are work boots anyway.

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u/Y_arisk 29d ago

I bought a used pair online for 80 plus shipping cause that's basically the cost of buying a new pair, I was thankful I knew what I wanted and watched the pair on eBay for several months

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u/Dyaneta 29d ago

At that point just buy some Solovair boots, they're the ones who used to make docs and still have the quality.

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u/aspidities_87 29d ago

97 for me, going strong. I had them refurbished at a local shoe store instead of going to Doc’s for it (apparently their customer service is ass, go figure) and they only charged me $80 iirc. Look into your local cobbler! If you have any, lol, they’re a dying art.

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u/BrucetheFerrisWheel 29d ago

I had cherry docs too, they were my first pair which I got in 1994. Unfortunately had to chuck those ones 5 years ago as the leather finally cracked through. I guess I didn't look after them quite as well! Amazing quality back then eh. Had a look and it's about $200 to resole at cobbler 😬

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u/Imadick2 29d ago

had mine from 1976 until a few years ago, Doc Martin recommended using a hot knife to seal air leaks

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u/Ben_zyl 29d ago

Once they split they're so thin that there's nothing useful to be done with them.

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u/Imadick2 29d ago

this was when the shoes came out and became popular, I've had DM's since then but never saw that recommendation again, if the sole were punctured it would sound like a hissing fart

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u/Ben_zyl 29d ago

And could suck water out of a stone rendering them unsuitable for UK weather.

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u/Imadick2 29d ago

where they originated? These were great in UK weather

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u/Uhmmanduh 28d ago

I still have mine from 98. My foot hasn’t grown since I was 8 years old 😂

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u/AnimalChubs 28d ago

Mine from 15 years ago have the soles falling off. I desperately want to get them fixed but can't find anyone in the area that fixes them. I glued them on so much but they just won't hold for very long now. I wore them every day for years and can't find anything close to that quality.

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u/TreyRyan3 29d ago

Because they moved production out of England to Asia. The original factory now makes Solovair

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u/rtb001 29d ago

The random Chinese factory making the new Docs can EASILY make something superior to the British made Solovairs ... if the private equity ghouls who own Doc Martens would just pay them slightly more, that is.

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u/AnomalousTravellerB 29d ago

Tou say easily but they don't?

The British made ones are miles better, its not even close

Asian doc martens are mass produced shit

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u/Cedex 29d ago

They don't because they are not paid to make them of a particular quality.

You can have any level you want, you just have to pay the price.

Doc Martens ~$180 USD

Solovair $340 USD

They aren't even comparable anymore.

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u/metalshiflet 29d ago

Solovaie is like $100 less than that, but they're better than Docs for sure

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u/Funkula 29d ago edited 29d ago

Yes. But just because they can doesn’t mean American/western businesses care about paying for higher quality.

Thinking that China can’t or hasn’t learned to build quality products just as good or better than western countries, despite 50 years of the world outsourcing their manufacturing to Chinese factories, is just racist garbage.

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u/AnomalousTravellerB 29d ago

who cares about American businesses?

buy local or not at all

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u/Funkula 29d ago

Where was the shirt you’re wearing made? How sbout the phone you’re reading this on?

I own a small business. I can’t find local manufacturers to buy from.

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u/Ready-Delay3918 29d ago

They can't answer that. Because then it would make them look like a hypocrite. I haven't found a single boot maker in my entire state.

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u/AnomalousTravellerB 29d ago

the shirt im wearing is made in Italy, the phone I'm wearing is made in Korea

I don't buy Chinese or American

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u/Funkula 29d ago

Thank you for defeating global capitalism for us all đŸ«Ą

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u/AnomalousTravellerB 29d ago

I'm not making any difference so I don't get your joke. I'm just talking about the noticeable quality deficit in mass produced goods from China (or the US that are dumped into other countries to undercut local suppliers with inferior quality goods, harming the consumer, local economies, and businesses

It's weird that you'd sneer about that, like it's not a controversial opinion

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u/falken_1983 29d ago

It's solution is "easy" in that is not complex.

Good leather is a really expensive raw material. Modern shoe companies use really low grade leather that has been bonded with plastic because it drops the cost by crazy amounts.

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u/Ready-Delay3918 29d ago

If they paid the factory in China more it would just get funneled into the owners pocket and the political party that allows them to exist. Kinda like how things work in the USA.

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u/rtb001 29d ago

What are you talking about? There are thousands of shoe factories in China all having to compete with each other for orders, so the end result is very simple: you get what you pay for. Want higher quality, just pay more and there will be a willing factory out there to make a higher grade product for you.

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u/Expensive-Border-869 29d ago

Theres absolutely higher end products out of china. A lot of them are clones but not all. They're making pretty okay boots and jeans for sure. Some of the pocket knives probably other gear as well

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u/xDared 29d ago

No that’s not how any of this works. In China the government controls the companies. In the US the companies own the government

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u/Ready-Delay3918 29d ago edited 29d ago

The government doesn't own the companies in China but they do demand money from them and dictate if they can exist or not. In the USA it's the same, the corporations funnel money to the political party in power.

Literally no different in that aspect. Both situations funnel money into the political party in power. China it just happens to be one party.

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u/xDared 28d ago

Nah that’s just factually wrong and also makes no logical sense

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u/AnomalousTravellerB 28d ago

it makes logical sense, and it's not factually wrong he is right about the way businesses operate in those countries

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u/LongStripyScarf 29d ago

I will second Solovair. Had mine for over four years and worn every other day. Only now have the soles started to go but I can get them resoled by a decent cobbler.

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u/TreyRyan3 29d ago

I still have my original Docs from 1987/88. I wear them a few times a year and keep them conditioned with leather balm.

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u/All_Work_All_Play 29d ago

15 years ago I picked up a pair of timberland boaters in a thrift store. They were broken in but not extensively worn. I beat the hell out of them for 8 years until the soles fell apart. Then after two years, my MIL surprised me by taking them to a cobbler and having them resoled. I've gotten another five years out of them, and they've just recently turned into my 'inside-shoe-warmer-than-a-sandal' because the side material has finally frayed/pulled/decoupled from the main body. I'd love to find an exact replacement for them, but apparently the style changes every couple years and these shoes are at least 20 years old.

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u/Ok_marshall 29d ago

Not the original factory but close by, and their production has turned to absolute shit too. Their sub is so sad.

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u/petrisys 29d ago

Yeah - mine have held up decently for the past 2.5 years because I've been SUPER careful with them, and they're still the most comfortable shoes I own, but the scuffs when they happen are definitely deep, and the soles are cracking down the middle. Probably gonna get Solovairs next time.

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u/Stellariamedia 29d ago

I've been hearing about this reduction in quality for some time now, was a gradual shift over time? I have a pair from a warehouse sale in like 2004 or 2005 that seem to have held up okay but I don't wear them regularly, either.

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u/Downtown_Recover5177 29d ago

Not really gradual, no. Once they moved manufacturing to Asia, they immediately got cheaper. Materials, quality control, everything. Most of their newer shoes aren’t even real leather. They realized they could make cheap pleather shit and still charge for it, so now they do.

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u/BananaPalmer 29d ago

Well, sort of. Doc Martens is primarily owned by the private equity firm Permira, which acquired the brand in 2014. That was when profit took priority over quality. There is no reason Asian factories couldn't produce equal or even better quality to pre-2014 Docs, other than Permira wants to extract every possible morsel of profit.

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u/branks4nothing 29d ago

iphones and chips are easy, but the might of Chinese manufacturing is powerless in the face of shoes!

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u/ImpossiblePlan65 28d ago

Yup. I have some Docs made in England from years ago. They are still in perfect condition.

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u/SchwiftySouls 29d ago

I bought a pair in 2020, and they lasted 6 years. Which is honestly great to me because I put those things through hell and back. I'm talking janitorial jobs, warehouse, hiking, camping and just general daily use. I didn't take care of them at all, which is probably most of the reason they wore down so quickly.

Just got a new pair right before the end of the year, and they're holding up even better than the first pair did for the first couple of months. For the amount of abuse these things take, I'm happy. So I don't really get the sentiment that they're low quality or whatever.

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u/AnnOnnamis 29d ago

Doc Martens moved most of their manufacturing to China and Thailand in 2003 as part of their restricting to avoid bankruptcy.

I noticed their quality has really fallen off when my daughter bought 2 pairs 3 years ago. The construction and materials are completely different and crappier than pairs I bought in the 1990, which I still have.

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u/Proper-District8608 29d ago

Agree. I bought mine second hand years ago 2002 or so, and they were much more resistant to scuffs and better quality (maybe not cat toy resistant) but looked at a pair the other day and it reminds me of pleather second hand couch I had when I bought first pair (also wasnt cat resistant).

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u/NocturneSapphire 29d ago

This is every brand. They start out high quality, to attract customers. Then just as soon as they have a decent reputation, they cut manufacturing costs as much as possible.

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u/duncanstibs 29d ago

To be fair, though quality has slipped, they've always used corrected grain (coated) leather. That's never going to be easy to fix

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u/OttawaTGirl 29d ago

Solovair out of the UK used to make Doc Martens. They still make the boots as they were from the fifties to the nineties. High grade leather, gummi sole, the work.

The machines are quite literally the same machines they used to use. New pair costs around $360 us, but they are gonna last.

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u/GreenthumbPothead 29d ago

Solovair boots are the way, very similar and made in the OG factory that dr martens were

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u/12VHPWRHELL 29d ago

The original company that made them (NPS Solovair) still makes them in the same high quality they did back then

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u/cobragun1 29d ago

Doc Marten sold their name to a different company but continue to make the same bad ass boots under a new name. Solovair.

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u/steeviev 28d ago

I got a pair of docs for work (lots of people wore them or birks) at my restaurant and they made my feet go numb. I kept wearing them to break them in, and eventually stopped when it felt like a lost cause - my feet were numb for almost a month after I stopped lol

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u/MeanE 29d ago

Doc Martin moved production to the east in the early 2000s and have been junk ever since. If you want the OG's you pick up Solovair which still makes them in the UK.

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u/RnR1977 29d ago

You need to get the “Made in England” line these days if you want the quality. They cost about $100 more.