:::OFFICIAL SNEAKER CARE/MAINTENANCE POST::: (It's back!)

[jpena0306]

wow come on you guys let's get back on track and not get this thread locked
i'm pretty sure we're all mature here

but all i can say is "man, are you that self-conscious about yourself to walk into a hardware store with shoes?!"
anyways...seriously is anybody good at sole swapping?! please pm with past sole swapping work and pricing thanks

 

[pimpjobu]

^good luck on finding someone who's going to do a sole swap for you. i haven't even finished trying to sole swap my white/cement iv's due to a lackof time and effort on my part. only thing i can say if you want to attempt to do this is get the following tools and materials- shoe goo or epoxy gluedepending on what kind of soles you're trying to swap, a shoe knife, a dremmel to constantly sharpen the shoe knife, a clamp for securing the sole to theshoe, and a whole lot of time and patience. the simplest sole swap is the xi's if it's only the soles. everything else is a lot of work imo. also keepin mind that some shoes tend to run smaller than the og or earlier retro's, so you might need to go up 1/2 size for the donor sole. good luck and i hopeyou do find someone who's willing to do the work for you.

 

[3dgarfly23]

ok this was my fist time at doin dis not done but so far pretty happy

2003 Air Jordan 8 (VIII)

BEFORE...................

AFTER...........

 

[fpsee]

Originally Posted by 3dgarfly23

ok this was my fist time at doin dis not done but so far pretty happy

2003 Air Jordan 8 (VIII)

good job on those. looks pretty good. you used angelus paint?

 

[fpsee]

Originally Posted by cberr

What Angelus paints should i buy to mix together to fill a crack in the blue part of the AJ aqua viii's?

oh and cberr, IF ITS REALLY THAT SERIOUS, THAT YOUR EMBARRASSED TO BRING A SHOE IN. just print out a large picture of the Aqua's and just bring it intohome depot.

 

[3dgarfly23]

thnx homie and yea i used angelus paint

 

[jpena0306]

Originally Posted by pimpjobu

^good luck on finding someone who's going to do a sole swap for you. i haven't even finished trying to sole swap my white/cement iv's due to a lack of time and effort on my part. only thing i can say if you want to attempt to do this is get the following tools and materials- shoe goo or epoxy glue depending on what kind of soles you're trying to swap, a shoe knife, a dremmel to constantly sharpen the shoe knife, a clamp for securing the sole to the shoe, and a whole lot of time and patience. the simplest sole swap is the xi's if it's only the soles. everything else is a lot of work imo. also keep in mind that some shoes tend to run smaller than the og or earlier retro's, so you might need to go up 1/2 size for the donor sole. good luck and i hope you do find someone who's willing to do the work for you.

ouch not what i wanted to hear lol i just got some '94 white/cement 3s. the sole's are super soft, the foam's slowly coming off nearthe air bubble, and i'm too scared to try and remove the soles myself. i was thinking of caulking the areas where the foam came off and repainting it itbut is there an alternative to sole swapping?

 

[pimpjobu]

Originally Posted by jpena0306

Originally Posted by pimpjobu

^good luck on finding someone who's going to do a sole swap for you. i haven't even finished trying to sole swap my white/cement iv's due to a lack of time and effort on my part. only thing i can say if you want to attempt to do this is get the following tools and materials- shoe goo or epoxy glue depending on what kind of soles you're trying to swap, a shoe knife, a dremmel to constantly sharpen the shoe knife, a clamp for securing the sole to the shoe, and a whole lot of time and patience. the simplest sole swap is the xi's if it's only the soles. everything else is a lot of work imo. also keep in mind that some shoes tend to run smaller than the og or earlier retro's, so you might need to go up 1/2 size for the donor sole. good luck and i hope you do find someone who's willing to do the work for you.

ouch not what i wanted to hear lol i just got some '94 white/cement 3s. the sole's are super soft, the foam's slowly coming off near the air bubble, and i'm too scared to try and remove the soles myself. i was thinking of caulking the areas where the foam came off and repainting it it but is there an alternative to sole swapping?

i'm gonna tell you right now don't even bother with the caulking idea. the foam midsoles are already soft and coming apart on your pair.the caulking seems like it would work but all it does is fill in the cracks and gaps and then dries up. it's not a hard enought substance and when it driesup and you repaint it's only good for appearance purposes only. as soon as you decide to rock them and start to walk all the pressure will push thecaulking out from the areas that were treated and your shoes will start crumbling a lot faster. i'm speaking on experience from doing this kind ofrestoration on my white/infared vi's. i filled all the cracks and gaps from the sole falling apart and let it dry for a week. after scrapping off anyexcess caulking after it dried out i made it all smooth and perfect to be ready for a paint job. i decide to walk in them to see how good it would hold up.unfortunately my pair ended up just all busted and coming apart after a walk around the block. i also own a pair of white/cement iii's with the "nikeair" on the back and want to do a sole swap on these, too. if you ever want to wear them your only choice really is the sole swap. if you haven'tfound a donor sole for them yet and want the 'nike' logo on the bottom get a pair of air assault's. same sole and true to size and a cheapalternative for a donor pair. sorry to bust your bubble but this process is a b*tch to do but is rewarding if done correctly.

 

[jpena0306]

^^^ yea i didn't think there was any other good alternative than sole swapping. i might just go to the nike outlet and grab a pair of the air assaults likeyou said cuz i remember they were $40 minus 20% off. i'll definitely make this a project for when i have a month off for winter break. thanks for all yourhelp and insight it's without a doubt really appreciated. and just wondering where would you get a shoe knife? would an exacto knife be as good?

 

[eltouha]

so i got the angelus paints, and am wondering: how difficult would it be to change my fire red 3's into katrina auction 3's? all one would need to dowith shorten the red on the midsole and whitened the grey tongue and red collar. what do you think?

 

[3dgarfly23]

Air Jordan Retro 9 Flint Grey, Air Jordan Retro IX French Blue,
not done but so far pretty happy

BEFORE......

AFTER........

 

[pimpjobu]

Originally Posted by eltouha

so i got the angelus paints, and am wondering: how difficult would it be to change my fire red 3's into katrina auction 3's? all one would need to do with shorten the red on the midsole and whitened the grey tongue and red collar. what do you think?

i'm not too familiar with the katrina auction iii's. but i think all you would need to strip the midsole paint, which will be simple sincethis paint easily cracks because of being so crappy quality. as far as the whitening, your best bet would get some angelus dye for this job. good luck.

 

[pimpjobu]

Originally Posted by jpena0306

^^^ yea i didn't think there was any other good alternative than sole swapping. i might just go to the nike outlet and grab a pair of the air assaults like you said cuz i remember they were $40 minus 20% off. i'll definitely make this a project for when i have a month off for winter break. thanks for all your help and insight it's without a doubt really appreciated. and just wondering where would you get a shoe knife? would an exacto knife be as good?

the shoe knife i got off of amazon.com. the exacto knife won't work because of all the pressure your going to put on the blade when cuttinginto the shoes. the exacto blade is very thin compared to the shoe knife blade. you might want to keep both on hand and use the shoe knife for a majority ofthe cutting and use the exacto knife for areas that are tricky to cut. just make sure when you get the soles off the donor shoe to clean off all of the sole ofany remaining glue. post some pics when you do this work to show how your efforts are going. trust me, you're going to get frustrated doing this so justhave a lot of patience and time on your hands.

 

[jpena0306]

^^^alright thanks i checked out ISS's thread on sole swapping and i found a knife that kind of looks somewhat similar to the knife they used. but soo fartoday i bought the air assault's and took the midsoles off them and i also took the midsoles off my 3's. taking the midsoles off the 3s was A LOTHARDER than taking them off the air assaults let me tell you lol. but sometime over the weekend i'm going to clean the foam off the 3s and clean up the airassault's so i can fit the 3s in. all of this took about 3 hours soo far. i honestly should be writing this term paper but oh well, this is a lot moreinteresting. as far as pics i'll post some up sooner or later. i'll keep you posted pimpjobu. btw this is my first time sole swapping so we'll bothsee how this goes. again thanks for the help.

 

[jontheedon]

Make sure to pst that project jpena0306

 

[sosmoove]

We should get a sole-swap directional post going

 

[baller23217]

Is there anyone in the atlanta area that I could pay to restore my XI's? They just need some glue for the sole, seaglow treatment, and the Barkeeper'sFriend treatment.

Would also consider shipping them to someone to do it...

anyone have a lot of experience and would be willing to do this for me for some cash? PM me.

 

[baller23217]

Is there anyone in the atlanta area that I could pay to restore my XI's? They just need some glue for the sole, seaglow treatment, and the Barkeeper'sFriend treatment.

Would also consider shipping them to someone to do it...

anyone have a lot of experience and would be willing to do this for me for some cash? PM me.

 

[jpena0306]

for those of you interested this is my first real sole swap project

i'm going off what pimpjobu said and looking off the ISS sole swap guide. yea i'm going to breakdown mentally if this doesn't work out lol. idon't have before pictures because i'm ******ed and was in a hurry to start this project. although, the midsoles were really soft, squishy, and thefoam was falling off and it wasn't a good look. but sooo far as sole swapping, i removed the crumbling midsoles off my 94 3's and the donor midsolesfrom some nike air assaults. right now i'm trying to remove the foam residue off the bottom of 3s. after that i'm planning on purchasing a dremel tosmooth out the edges of the donor midsoles soo that my 3s uppers fit in. as far as tools i used so far, all i've used are a steak knife

and exacto knife. on to the pictures.....

Uppers from 1994 Cement 3s








Nike Air Assaults (Donor Midsole & yes i know they are blue. i plan on painting over it)




The gray is the area where i need to remove excess leather so the the uppers fit.






any other tips or advice? i'm open minded i'll try anything

 

[sosmoove]

I guess you have to figure out some type of way to keep enough weight on the shoe so it will actually stick to the sole as one piece. Maybe you can divide theshoe by glueing the first half of the shoe then the second half after because I can see glueing at the same time might be harder. Just a thought though.

 

[backyardrsx]

The print on my 01 true blue 3's are fading a bit. What are you guys using to make the print look dark again?

 

[pimpjobu]

jpena- it looks like your doing a great job so far. i wish my midsoles off my white/cement iv's would come off as easy as your iii's. i spent like 2hours just doing 1 shoe and i got frustrated and tired so i haven't resumed the rest of the project. as far as the glueing of the shoes, my suggestionwould be to work from the front of the shoes to the back. i figure the front would give you the most difficult time and the back of the shoes should be theeasiest. the epoxy glue works pretty good but you might want to check out other glues to see if there is anything stronger if available. just make sure when itdries out it is flexible and not hard in touch for the glue. i'm suprised you went with the blue air assaults. i got the white air assaults figuring itwould be less of a problem painting over it. keep up the good work and love the use of the steak knife! if it's good for your dinner then it's good forthe shoes!

 

[fpsee]

Originally Posted by backyardrsx

The print on my 01 true blue 3's are fading a bit. What are you guys using to make the print look dark again?

wood burning pen works best.

 

[fpsee]

Originally Posted by pimpjobu

jpena- it looks like your doing a great job so far. i wish my midsoles off my white/cement iv's would come off as easy as your iii's. i spent like 2 hours just doing 1 shoe and i got frustrated and tired so i haven't resumed the rest of the project. as far as the glueing of the shoes, my suggestion would be to work from the front of the shoes to the back. i figure the front would give you the most difficult time and the back of the shoes should be the easiest. the epoxy glue works pretty good but you might want to check out other glues to see if there is anything stronger if available. just make sure when it dries out it is flexible and not hard in touch for the glue. i'm suprised you went with the blue air assaults. i got the white air assaults figuring it would be less of a problem painting over it. keep up the good work and love the use of the steak knife! if it's good for your dinner then it's good for the shoes!

as for the glue also, you can also try gorilla glue. SHlT is a BlTCH when it gets on your fingers sticks like crazy. its flexible also.

 

[jpena0306]

thanks guys for the input! yea i wanted to get the all white air assaults but i saw the blue ones over at the nike outlet for $29.99 and plus i didn't wantto wait for shipping and pay more. i'm not really sure what glue i'm going to use i'm probably going to try two different glues like epoxy down themiddle of the soles and gorilla glue along the edging of the midsoles. i thought my dad would have a dremel lying around the house but unfortunately hedoesn't. do you guys know an alternative to the dremel? and another thing is there an easier way to remove the excess foam? cuz i swear i'm going toend up losing a finger or two over these shoes lol