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Buying shoelaces - an exercise in futility


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Old 03-01-2017, 20:14
swingaleg
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Talking of shoe laces............

After years of buying shoes at M&S and finally realising they were now rubbish I splashed out on a £150 pair of Dr Marten's Shoes

Beautiful shoes, fit like a glove, big thick sole.......... but the shoelaces are not long enough.

The shoes have 3 pairs of eyelets but I've had to miss out the first pair and just thread the laces through two pairs in order to have long enough ends to tie a double bow

Felt a bit miffed that for the sake of a few pence worth of shoelace my opinion of £150 shoes was diminished............
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Old 03-01-2017, 20:23
RobinOfLoxley
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Aglet repair ideas https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ag...utf-8&oe=utf-8
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Old 03-01-2017, 20:40
muggins14
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Old 03-01-2017, 20:43
zoepaulpenny
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Length of laces depends on how many eyes the shoe has, more eye holes the longer the lace. If you cut a lace at the ends it is ruined it will be ruddy hard to thread through the eyes cleanly
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Old 03-01-2017, 21:39
DPS
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There's a good online shop that has hundreds of choices:

http://www.biglaces.com/
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Old 03-01-2017, 21:46
tiacat
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OP, what is the name (model) of your shoes at Clarks. I will find the laces, I love looking for shoes etc.

Im not allowed to buy any shoes this year so it will give me the thrill of the chase.
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Old 04-01-2017, 01:35
Sifter22
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Had to pull some old laces out my shoes today and was wondering where to buy them. Good thread!
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Old 04-01-2017, 02:27
puffenstuff
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I do know how you feel on the subject of shoes sundries. I had a pair of expensive navy blue shoes and the toe area scuffed white

I still haven't found a decent navy blue shoe polish, all I can find is a navy cream in a glass jar, which when applied just colours the toe area a pale blue and not a deep navy blue.

I would also like a liquid Polish in a bottle with a sponge applicator, to stain the toe area a deep navy blue, does anybody have any idea where I could buy this, thank you in advance, sorry to hijack the thread.
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Old 04-01-2017, 02:43
WhatJoeThinks
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Navy blue shoe polish and shoe laces for the OP.

Shocking that Clarks don't even sell laces online.
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Old 04-01-2017, 09:03
Radiomaniac
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Although I know there are the other places to get laces, it's always annoyed and amazed me just why most shoe shops don't stock them.
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Old 04-01-2017, 09:21
Ashenden
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Going slightly off topic;

Do many people lace their shoes in the military fashion; that is, the visible lace going horizontal to the directly opposite lace hole?

I guess it's something that once done, becomes a habit.

The majority of people do of course lace their shoes in a herringbone fashion - lacing into the next-above hole.
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Old 04-01-2017, 09:24
Soundbox
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Just thinking that someone should invent an aglet-fixer so the wearer can fine tune the lace length to their own preference then add a new aglet on the cut end. Or replace the aglets with custom ones (eg death heads ).
As an experiment I tried using heat shrink tubing and also super glue. Sadly nothing worked as well as the original end material whatever that is. All my attempts looked a right mess!
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Old 04-01-2017, 09:43
gdjman68wasdigi
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Some rather fetching slip on Lonsdales from Sports Direct will solve this problem.
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Old 04-01-2017, 09:48
skinj
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Going slightly off topic;

Do many people lace their shoes in the military fashion; that is, the visible lace going horizontal to the directly opposite lace hole?

I guess it's something that once done, becomes a habit.

The majority of people do of course lace their shoes in a herringbone fashion - lacing into the next-above hole.
Was amazed to discover that there are right/wrong ways to thread your laces, depending on the physical shape/condition of your feet, rather than just a fashion choice!
http://protips.dickssportinggoods.co...QUES_DICKS.jpg
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Old 04-01-2017, 10:02
njp
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As an experiment I tried using heat shrink tubing and also super glue. Sadly nothing worked as well as the original end material whatever that is. All my attempts looked a right mess!
A quick look on ebay reveals a wide selection of alternative methods for repairing shoelaces. You can get metal aglets (in a variety of colours) that you crimp on to the shoelace, for example. These can be ridiculously cheap (e.g 99p for 20, including postage) if you are prepared to wait a long time for them to be delivered from Malaysia, somewhat dearer if you want them from a UK supplier in a hurry.

Needless to say, you can also source shoelaces!
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Old 04-01-2017, 10:08
Welsh-lad
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Quick look at amazon and ebay reveals an abundance of laces in all colours, lengths and thicknesses,
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Old 04-01-2017, 10:22
stud u like
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Looking through the window of the shoe repair shop I saw something called "Easy Tie" shoe laces.
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Old 04-01-2017, 10:32
LakieLady
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Going slightly off topic;

Do many people lace their shoes in the military fashion; that is, the visible lace going horizontal to the directly opposite lace hole?

I guess it's something that once done, becomes a habit.

The majority of people do of course lace their shoes in a herringbone fashion - lacing into the next-above hole.
Shoes laced "herringbone fashion" just look wrong to me. I always do it the other way.
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Old 04-01-2017, 10:39
Soundbox
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OP, what is the name (model) of your shoes at Clarks. I will find the laces, I love looking for shoes etc.

Im not allowed to buy any shoes this year so it will give me the thrill of the chase.
Thanks for the offer - they are the same laces as this http://www.clarks.co.uk/p/20356568

However the laces that Clark's supply in the shoes are a bit unusual in that they don't stretch when you pull them, meaning that they do the shoe up firm and all the eylets pull up evenly. Many flat aftermarket laces seem 'nylony' so go thin when you pull them rather than pull the shoe tight. I did heat that the genuine ones used to be for sale at over £5, but no longer - although the shoes are still for sale.
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Old 04-01-2017, 11:24
MrQuike
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Was amazed to discover that there are right/wrong ways to thread your laces, depending on the physical shape/condition of your feet, rather than just a fashion choice!
http://protips.dickssportinggoods.co...QUES_DICKS.jpg
Thanks, that is interesting.

I used Amazon recently to replace the laces in my walking boots. They were great.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:42
muggins14
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Looking through the window of the shoe repair shop I saw something called "Easy Tie" shoe laces.
Fantastic for disabled people, or the elderly. I used them with my daughter before we started buying velcro shoes.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:59
duckylucky
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I have cream laced shoes and it was impossible to find any in shops . I got them online , any colour any length all on Amazon . While I was rhere I ordered others and all arrived and were exactly what we needed
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:12
duckylucky
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Was amazed to discover that there are right/wrong ways to thread your laces, depending on the physical shape/condition of your feet, rather than just a fashion choice!
http://protips.dickssportinggoods.co...QUES_DICKS.jpg
Thanks for that .one shoe always feels loose on my heel . Will try that
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:18
muggins14
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Of course, you could always go to a website dedicated to shoe laces, any kind, any length, colour, whatever you require

http://www.biglaces.com/
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Old 04-01-2017, 14:05
Soundbox
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Of course, you could always go to a website dedicated to shoe laces, any kind, any length, colour, whatever you require

http://www.biglaces.com/
Yes, thanks - may end up doing this yet, but I could not help thinking that the shop that sells the shoes should also sell (or at least be able to order) the laces fitted to the shoes that they are selling. I am making a bit of an effort to use physical shops as much as possible, help keep them open.
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