Interesting Failure

Most of these boots have moulded soles which are attached to the uppers using specialied machinery posssibly involving heat. Its not possible for ordinary repairers to repair them and its uneconomic for manufacturers to set up a repair line using the necessary machinery as many are made in China nowadays anyway. Clarks shoes used to maintain a repair facility in Somerset accessed via their stockists but that went out the window years ago for that very reason.

I had a pair of 8ish yr old unworn boots disintegrate in this way the box.

Googling "disintegrating soles boots" shows this to be quite a common problem - on expensive Timberland boots , even on upmarket Ecco dress shoes - one guy had his dress shoes disintegrating on him at a function, noticeable by the fact he was leaving trails of black runbber across the carpet.

michael adams

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