'Kickin’ It' with The Plank

Shoes get worn through extremely quickly for skateboarders who rub and slide their shoes against griptape and pavement on a daily basis. Instead of skating in a way that to minimizes the erosion of your shoes, like skating switch once you’ve blown out your front show or minimizing toe drag, you can reconstruct beaten down-footwear. With quality skate shoes ranging from $40-$100+, the ability to mend shoes and stretch out their skateable life is crucial to any skater who doesn’t get free merch. As usual, the Plank is going to help you keep your shoes alive and kicking as long as they can.

Shoe Goo

It’s a mess, but Shoo Goo has held together skaters shoes the longest and most reliably.  Use a wooden applicator like a Popsicle-stick to apply the gel to a worn surface or surface you’re looking to protect. Slightly wet the applicator before applying the Shoe Goo to allow it to easily come off. Inversely, make sure your shoes are dry and clean. Shoe Goo will not bond properly to overly dirty fabrics. You may want to rub the area you’re going to applying the gel to with griptape right before applying the Shoe Goo. This will get rid of some dirt as well as creating a porous surface for the gel to bond to. Combine Shoe Goo with small pieces of fabric to make patches for any holes in the shoe.

Duct Tape

The modern proverb stating “Duct tape can fix anything” certainly holds true for skateboard shoes. Patching up holes in your shoes with Duct tape is easy. Just apply a sheet on the inside of the shoes where the hole is as well as the outside. Also, you can also fix broken shoelaces by connecting them with this versatile tape.

Duct is a brand name that produces this fabric-based silver tape, but you don’t necessarily need the brand name to get high-quality results. While Duct tape is cheaper than buying new shoes, you can still save about the price of admission to an indoor skatepark by taking the time to look around dollar-stores for knockoffs instead of buying name brand Duct tape.

Fire

WARNING: Fire is dangerous. If your under the age of 18, ask your parents to do this one for you. If not, spark it up and burn with The Plank.

Singeing broken laces together with an open flame has proved to be the cheapest, easiest, and longest lasting way to extend the life of shoelaces. Borrowing a lighter at the skatepark is easier than riding a longboard. Just ignite where the lace has broken, blow it out, and then hold the laces together (without touching the super-hot and melted part). Laces that are melted together last extra long because the burn part becomes hardened. Griptape will rip a different part of your laces before the original break reappears. Once this occurs, simply reapply the technique and you’ll have laces for life.