raw leather shoelaces

I think this will help. Tie the knot, then devise a way to soak the knot in water, or let it stay wet for 30 minutes or so. That will make the leather pliable and somewhat elastic. At that point, you should be able to pull the knot a bit tighter. When it dries, the know will tend to shrink and bind on itself.

Native Americans used to used wet leather for assorted tasks.

Whatever it takes.

You can rub the laces with some beeswax. If you have a beeswax candle, you can use that. The wax gives them a little "bite" and keeps them from becoming untied.

Tie them on with a square knot. Tie the lose ends in a bow.

Bow knots are not the strongest knot.

That's good if they don't need to be untied. If they need to be untied, one trick is to use a square not and tuck the ends into the shoe. Another is to shorten the laces so the loops and ends are small. With less flopping weight, they won't work loose as readily.

Choreboy

That sounds like a good idea. Thanks a lot. I think there was even a box of beeswax here, when I moved in 22 years ago. I think I know where it is. It wasn't marked but it was sticks about a half inch by

(I told the guy I bought my house from that he didn't have to remove things he didn't want. That I would appreciate them, and any I didn't want I would give to people or take to Goodwill. So he left lots of good stuff, garden tools, books, beeswax, etc.)

Meirman

-- If emailing, please let me know whether or not you are posting the same letter. Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.

That sounds like a good idea. Thanks a lot.

As I said, I think of the laces as mostly decorative. So I didn't plan on untieing (sp??) them. Certainly not the slippers, but in the process of retying the loafers, I did pull them tighter and maybe the shoe fit better then.

Strangely, if I try coating the laces with beeswax, that will probably make them much harder to wet if I want to wet them after all.

They're already short, and I want them to look right, for dress casual, but thanks. It might be needed when the shoes are older.

Meirman

-- If emailing, please let me know whether or not you are posting the same letter. Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.

I have some like that. I soak them in water for a little while and THEN tie the knot. It works loose eventually, but I can wear them several times before it does.

Cindy

That sounds even better. Easier to do than wetting afterwards.

I haven't found the beeswax yet (I haven't even remembered to look when I'm in the basement), but it bothered me that once I used it, it would be hard to try the wetting suggestion.

I tend to work on all my projects at the same time, in turn, and it will be days or weeks before my shoes and slippers come to the top of the list again. I'll try to remember to do it, and to let you know how it works out.

Meirman

-- If emailing, please let me know whether or not you are posting the same letter. Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.