Fox Valley Shoe Repair - photos

The shoe is a 2006 Merrell, model: "World Leader."

The top image is what the shoes looked like in their brand-new, original, never-polished condition, with their original soles. The manufacturer soles were thinner and of lighter rubber than the new ones. They also had an engraving of the Earth's continents serving as the tread, so they left a very cool artsy footprint.

The remaining photos are of the shoe that needed the most work; the toe had about 4" of stitching that had come undone, and the sole had a hole the size of a quarter worn through it. This is the finished result, including the new sole.

These shoes were bought new in Fall, 2006. This is their condition after re-stitch and re-sole by:

Fox Valley Shoe Repair
1036 Fox Valley Center
Aurora, IL 60504
630-898-1919

The other shoe looks even better, as it had no stitching problem at the toe.

See my post immediately prior to this one for greater detail and review with rating of the shop and their work.

TIP: The polish work on the shoes was done by me. I use Kiwi "parade gloss" brown for the polish, and a 20-minute process: Cover both shoes polish thoroughly. Using a standard cotton shine cloth, buff one shoe, set down. Buff the other shoe, set down. Alternate shoes between buffs, and buff with the lightest pressure possible. Use the most polish-infused portion of the shine cloth for the first buff, and roll to the least polish-infused portion of the shine cloth successively after each buffing of both of the shoes. After the fifth buff of the pair, use a cotton-polyester blend cloth from a used undershirt to do a final buff. You can do a light buff with this cloth daily before wearing the shoes for about one week before the shoes will need to be re-polished. Winter salt will take the polish completely off the leather, and must be wiped off the shoes with a damp cloth before re-polishing. Polishing may be required daily or every other day in very snowy or icy winter weather periods due to all the salt used to keep streets and sidewalks safe for travel.

I expect these shoes to last several more years with proper care. The shoes initially cost $100.00 - the resole was $50.00. Shoe polish is about three dollars every six months. Compare that with anywhere from $80.00 - $100.00 per pair for tennis shoes every six months, and these beautiful leather shoes are a great bargain, and a much "greener" option.

Thank you for reading.

Dan Stafford