My son Buddy is HARD on his shoes. He has this inexplicable talent for separating the sole of his sneaker from the rest of the shoe–usually long before the rest of the shoe has worn out.
I guess that’s just part of being a 9yr old boy.
And while of course I don’t mind buying my kiddos anything that they truly need-I hate having to replace a pair of sneakers right before “flip flop” weather kicks off. By the time he starts wearing sneakers again it will be time to buy a size up.
Sigh.
What’s a mom to do? Well it’s Shoe Goo to the rescue! For around a quarter of the price of a new pair of kids sneakers I can buy enough Shoe Goo for multiple repairs.
For this repair all I did was spread a decent layer of the glue (maybe quarter sized) onto the sole of the shoe. To keep it together while it dried I used a few rubber bands.
A couple of hours later we were ready to rock and roll.
While they aren’t perfect, they are fine for now. And let’s face it, Buddy would have a brand new pair of sneakers looking pretty much this way after about 2 weeks anyway. I swear that kid drags his toes along the pavement just for fun.
Next time you’ve got a problem (like a messed up sneaker) where your first impulse is to run out an buy a replacement remember the old depression era jingle “Use it Up, Wear it Out Make it Do or Do Without” and see if you can find a more frugal solution!

YES! Thank you! It just saves so much time and money to make the repairs you can and to extend the use of things. Especially considering how much sneakers go for these days.
I like shoo goo but it’s pretty much the same as e6ooo glue. Thanks for all you do Jen!
Good to know! We just bought sandals for the (almost) six-year-old this weekend, and I had a sinking feeling as she began wearing them everywhere about their durability — especially after our conversation about not getting to pick more than one pair.
Thank you so much for the tip I have never seen anone do that to his shoes except my 11 yr old son. Now I know this money saving tip beats buying new shoes every three weeks
What is it with boys and their shoes?!? I’m glad this tip will help you get a bit more life out of his sneakers–it gets expensive replacing them!