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!
Safety Shoes, Problem Solved
You probably don’t think about this much, but there’s a unique problem that plagues the business world. It is something that everyone in manufacturing has experienced from one time or another. The worst part is that the people dealing with it may not even know there is a solution. The problem I speak of is the dreaded switch from your ‘normal’ shoes into Safety Shoes.
Picture this, you’ve just wrapped up a great discussion with a new manufacturing client, vendor, customer, Kaizen team, etc., and now it’s time to head out to the production floor.
You have several options:
- Wear a pair that the plant has for visitors (no thanks!)
- Slip on a pair of over-shoes (ok, but aren’t these going to scrape up my shoes?)
- Change into the pair you brought (I forgot to pack mine so I ran to the store & got a cheap pair, and I’m pretty sure my socks are in good shape?!)
- Wear the pair of Safety Shoes you wore to the meeting (oh yeah, I didn’t – back to #1 – guess I’m staying behind to catch up on emails)
Let’s face it, none of these options are really that appealing to anyone, but we choose one, deal with it and pick up where we left off when the production floor visit is over. And if you’re not a visitor, you either deal with this ‘switch’ at work or before & after.
The good news is that there are several stylish options for Safety Shoes that eliminate all of the awkwardness above. Now you can seamlessly transition from the meeting to the production floor without skipping a beat.
One example is the Martino from Emma Safety Shoes – a great looking shoe that doesn’t look any part of a traditional steel toe. A shoe that you can wear to dinner after work & not feel as though you need to change your shoes.
Same thing with the Blues Low from FTG. A casual option with a retro look that gets mistaken for a non-Safety Shoe all the time. Wear it to work and then grab a bite or see a concert without skipping a beat.
These examples fit into the genre of unique & stylish safety shoes celebrated at Modern Safety Shoes. Check out the full selection now, and stay tuned for future additions.
Ridiculously Comfortable Steel Toe Shoes
When I first saw the Business Line of shoes from Emma Safety Shoes, I was immediately drawn to the style. The fact that they were steel toe shoes only made it better since I could wear them for work. When I got my first pair, the Martino, I continued to like the style, and when I put them on they felt great.
Leaving it there would be impressive enough as it is, but the main reason for this post is what happened after I wore them for the first time. Right after getting them I had a trade show to attend and I had to decide if I would wear them to the show, knowing that there would be a lot of walking. When you buy a pair shoes you expect a little time to pass while you break them in, and you usually don’t jump right in on a several mile, several hour day on your feet.
However, these were my new Emmas, I actually liked their style more than any of my other shoes and I figured they needed to be broken in at one point or another, so why not all at once. Keep in mind that this is one of those huge convention centers that always seem to have the booths you’re looking for on opposite ends & floors of each other. I did have this in mind, but seemingly against my better judgement I took the plunge & wore them to the show.
On my way from parking the car my feet were feeling really good, and I was hoping that this wasn’t just a false sense of confidence before things changed. Luckily it continued to go well as I entered the building and navigated the trade show. This is where I’m guessing you’re thinking that things started to go south and I had to push my way through the rest of the show, cut it short & regret my over-confident decision all the way to an ice pack.
That’s just the thing, after the first few minutes of thinking about my feet I kept visiting booths, talking to companies & getting into the groove of the show. All the while my feet felt fine and continued to feel fine throughout the hours I spent there, the ride home & throughout the night. They even felt great the next day!
I knew that the styling of the Emma shoes couldn’t be matched in a steel toe safety shoe, and it was this experience with a new pair of shoes that solidified my interest in starting this company. I had to let others have access to these great shoes & enjoy them as much as I have.
Here we are over a year into almost daily use of these shoes and they feel as comfortable as day one, ridiculously comfortable steel toe shoes for sure.
