I sent a pair of shoes back for new soles the other day, and it struck me that shoe repair is one task that is blessedly infrequent in my life. A lot of that is due to high quality soles.
At the high end of the shoe business is the lightweight, extremely hard wearing, water-repellent and breathable oak bark sole. Perhaps the world's premier source for oak bark leather is the Joh. Rendenbach Jr Tannery which has been producing oak bark sole leather since 1871.
Rendenbach soles start as leather hides that spend nine to twelve months buried in oak lined pits while tanning agents from barks and fruits fuse with the protein structure of the skin, an odorous process that uses no energy and, unlike many 19th century indusrial processes, is completely biodegradeable.
Oak, spruce and mimosa bark as well as valonea fruit provide the active ingredients in the tanning procss. Oak bark possesses a pure tannin-content of 8-10%. Mimosa bark is 30-35% tannin, and spruce is used for its high sugar content. The valonea tree has fruit whose spines have a tannin-content of 30-35% and possess similar tanning properties to oak bark.
Thanks in large part to that sole food diet, the useful life of a high quality sole like Rendenbach's is several times that of lesser soles.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sole Food
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12 comments:
Excellent post and the link to the Rendencach site is informative too.
On the Rendenbach site they suggest:
"Afterwards, the hoe can be polished to a high shine using a horsehair brush. Pull a simple nylon stocking over the brush for even more gleam."
Will, can you elaborate on how to use a nylon on the brush as they suggest?
* Are you suppposed to turn the brusch upsidedown and run the nylon over the ends of the bristles, then brush the shoe uppers?
* Are you supposed to run the nylon accross the brush width or up and down its length?
Thanks!
Will,
Beautiful punch caps. Who is the maker?
Those are the Suitable City Shoes made by Gaziano & Girling.
Will,
I discovered your blog a few weeks ago and have become hooked reading back through all of your old posts. It’s been wonderful to find someone with your attention to detail for clothing and men’s furnishings. Thank you for your excellent blog.
I’m writing for help. I have three pairs of Italian and Spanish shoes that have served me well, but now require refurbishment. They are from small manufacturers that do not offer factory refurbishment programs. I have interviewed several cobblers in Atlanta, but haven’t found one that inspires confidence. Can you recommend a shop that can do a “generic” refurbishment by mail?
Thank you,
Demille
Demille, I don't know a particularly reliable source for generic refurbishment.
Will:
Always an interesting blog.
FWIW, all of the British Bespoke firms use oak-bark tanned leather for both insoles and outsoles from J &FJ Baker & Co of Devon, England (http://www.jfjbaker.co.uk/), rather than Rendenbach. The Baker leather is a bit more 'mellow' and considerably easier to sew by hand than the Rendenbach, which is very hard and 'flinty,'
As I assume the shoes shown are G&G RTW, they may well use Rendenbach for the RTW line, as I think E Green does as well.
Demille:
Try sending a private message to one of these cobbleers who go bythe following screen names:
Rider at www.stylefourm.net
or
Cobblestone at www.askandyaboutclothes.com
I'm delighted to learn the process used is environmentally "friendly", since tanning leathers and stuff is usually quite miserably bad for the natural environment (the place where we grow most of our food).
Hi Will,
I have a gorgeous, ancient pair of double soled, v-cleat, Florsheim Imperial longwings that need resoling. Do you have any recommendations for San Francisco, or do you think I should send them to B. Nelson in NYC?
Thanks!
Mark
Soles should ideally be replaced using the last that was used to make the shoe in the first place.
Have you called Florsheim to see if they can do the job?
Thanks for the quick reply. I hadn't thought of it! But I am suspicious that they can do a good job. I've emailed them and will report back. Thanks again for the suggestion.
This is their reply:
"Although we do not offer refurbishing services, we recommend:
www.nushoe.com
www.resole.com"
Prices are very good. If they don't have the lasts, which I doubt they do, I think I may try Anthony's here in town, unless they are to be avoided. Thanks again for the suggestion, Will.
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