DIY Leather Shoe Repair
To be completely honest, up until the time I owned a pair of steel toes from EMMA (Martino), I really didn’t put too much thought into keeping my steel toes looking good. After all, they were meant to serve a purpose and if they looked beat up, oh well. This was my thought for a long time, until I came across the business line from EMMA Safety Footwear. These shoes are different. They not only do a great of protecting my feet, but they look awesome doing it. So I felt it necessary to learn about leather shoe repair to maintain them.
There are shops out there practicing the time honored tradition of shoe repair, and I have no doubt in their ability to do a wonderful job at their craft. As an admitted DIY’er though, I wanted to see what I could do myself. From a little online research I found that simple repairs weren’t overly complicated so decided to give it a try.
It turns out that with a few simple supplies you can take a pair of scuffed up shoes and bring them closer to looking new again.
These are steel toes after all, so they were bound to get some scuffs and unfortunately the occasional gouge. Here are how my shoes looked before starting my repair efforts.
Before – Right 
Before – Left
Supplies Needed
- Fine Grit Sandpaper – 400 grit worked well
- Super Glue (to repair gouges)
- Toothpick (to repair gouges)
- Shoe Polish
- Cloth Rag
Getting Started
Take the sandpaper and gently rub the scuff marks until they’re smoothed out. You want to do a little at a time and check the results frequently to make sure you’re not taking off too much. It was a little scary taking sandpaper to my shoes, but it really wasn’t too bad once I started.
If you have a gouge that leaves a flap of leather like I had, add a little super glue to a toothpick and apply the superglue into the gouge. Then press the flap closed with the other end of the toothpick to keep it in place while the glue sets up.
Once the glue dries you can hit the gouge again with a little sand paper to smooth it out. This step didn’t work too great for me, as the flap wanted to open up again. Maybe with a little practice I could master this, but it still looked a little better than it did originally.
In-Process – Right 
In-Process – Left
Finishing Up
At this point I was beginning to question my decision to tackle this myself because, while smoother, I actually had more scuffs on my shoes than before I started. Then the magic happened. Applying some shoe polish with a rag was nothing short of remarkable. One coat & it looked really good, and after letting it dry a few minutes and applying a second coat the shoes looked even better.
After – Right 
After – Left
Now I touch them up with a little shoe polish every once in a while to keep them looking good, and I have the confidence to tackle leather shoe repair if I ever need to!
How to Measure Your Shoe Size
If you’re ordering shoes online, you may want to increase your confidence that you’re going to receive a pair that fits. Measuring your foot to get your shoe size is a great way to build that confidence. If all shoe manufacturers used the same sizing for shoes this wouldn’t be needed, but there are slight differences from one manufacturer to another.
Below are two methods to measure your foot in order to determine your shoe size. Regardless of which method you use, there are some points that apply to each to help ensure an accurate measurement:
- It is best to measure both feet and take the larger of the two measurements to get a great fit.
- Measure your foot size in the evening, as your feet tend to swell during the day.
- Make sure you’re wearing the type of socks that you’ll be wearing with the shoes.
Determine Your Shoe Size by Ruler
- Place a ruler against a straight wall or other surface that is perpendicular to the ground.
- Place your heel against the wall so that is in contact with the floor and the wall. You can stand on your ruler if it’s comfortable to do so.
- Stand up straight & push your heel back to the wall as if it were the back of your shoe.
- Have a helper see where the end of your toe & sock lines up on the ruler.
Tip: If you’re measuring your foot by yourself, you can use a small box or something similar to place at the end of your toe, and use that to line up where the end of your toe lands on the ruler. Be careful not to move your toe when setting up the measurement.
Paper and a Tape Measure
If you can only find a tape measure, just grab a piece of printer paper or similar & a pen/pencil to get your foot size. If your foot is larger than a piece of paper you might need to tape another piece of paper to one end.
- Place the printer paper (original factory edge) against a straight wall or other surface that is perpendicular to the ground.
- Place your foot on the paper with your heel touching the wall & stand up straight.
- Reach down with a pen/pencil to mark on the paper where the end of your toe & sock is (be careful not to move your toe while bending down – a helper can mark the paper for you too).
- If you don’t have a helper, you can use a small box or similar item to place your toe against & mark your toe location after removing your foot.
- Measure from the edge of the paper to where your toe mark is.
Now that you know how to measure your shoe size, find the size you need from the charts below:
FTG Safety Shoes
| Size | Foot Measurement |
|---|---|
| 4 – Women’s | 8 7/8″ |
| 5 – Women’s | 9 1/8″ |
| 6 – Women’s | 9 5/16″ |
| 7 – Women’s | 9 3/4″ |
| 8 – Men’s | 10″ |
| 9 – Men’s | 10 1/4″ |
| 10 – Men’s | 10 13/16″ |
| 11 – Men’s | 11 1/16″ |
| 12 – Men’s | 11 3/8″ |
| 13 – Men’s | 11 5/8″ |
| 14 – Men’s | 11 15/16″ |
| 15 – Men’s | 12 3/16″ |
| 16 – Men’s | 12 7/16″ |
| 17 – Men’s | 12 11/16″ |
| 18 – Men’s | 12 15/16″ |
EMMA Safety Footwear
| Size | Foot Measurement |
|---|---|
| 7 – Men’s | 9 3/4″ |
| 8 – Men’s | 10″ |
| 8.5 – Men’s | 10 1/4″ |
| 9 – Men’s | 10 9/16″ |
| 10 – Men’s | 10 13/16″ |
| 11 – Men’s | 11 1/16″ |
| 12 – Men’s | 11 5/16″ |
| 13 – Men’s | 11 5/8″ |
| 14 – Men’s | 11 7/8″ |
| 15 – Men’s | 12 1/8″ |
Now you can use your newly determined shoe size to pick our your new pair of Safety Shoes!
