Damned Soles

Damned Soles Custom roller skate boots, skate boot rebuilds and repairs, shoe repairs, sage advice. Be excellent to each other.

Gluing the heel strap back into these DM "Blaire" sandals: advertised as "made to last" but only 5mm of the strap gets g...
30/07/2026

Gluing the heel strap back into these DM "Blaire" sandals: advertised as "made to last" but only 5mm of the strap gets glued under the footbed, with a smidge more (disintegrated) cloth tape. Warranty details v v limited and opaque.

Do people expect their shoes to fall apart within a season? What a waste.

Tools: painters blue tape to block off around the area to be glued, old scratch awl, snips, handy dandy hooknose pliers.

Consumables: trialling Renia Syntic-total (PU the majority component in the footbed and strap, but the quantity of shoes I'm repairing does not warrant purchasing a bottle of PUR primer for CDC, my standard cement).

These Pendragons were thoroughly thrashed at Brisvegas medieval faires in days of old. BUT. Mostly dead is slighly alive...
10/07/2026

These Pendragons were thoroughly thrashed at Brisvegas medieval faires in days of old. BUT. Mostly dead is slighly alive.

The PVC soles of Docs are notoriously tricky to work with - being vulcanised, they pretty much say "f**k off" to priming...
07/07/2026

The PVC soles of Docs are notoriously tricky to work with - being vulcanised, they pretty much say "f**k off" to priming::bonding chemicals.

The sole of this pair had separated a smidge at the black::brown line bonding line, and I'm taking this opportunity to test Renia Syntic Total glue before I resole them.

And yes, the leather is v shabby. Not from lack of care, but lack of functional capacity to attend to these sorts of things. I may fill the cracks in, or patch as the leather splits completely. But first, soles.

Dead Meat's boots were not doing what skate boots were meant to do.Holes get patched*, rips sewn closed + patched. Somet...
16/06/2026

Dead Meat's boots were not doing what skate boots were meant to do.

Holes get patched*, rips sewn closed + patched. Sometimes it can be a smallish spot with the patch a smidgen larger than the damage, but leather that's been thrashed requires full area treatment. *(tho sometimes filled, like the red Moonrakers I recently restored.)

1. The whole area is prepared by wiping w acetone
2. I'll make a paper template + check that it fits, then double check that it fits
3. The patch is cut from scrap kangaroo leather, matching leather type as needed (flexibility, weight)
4. Next I'll mask off the boot's surrounding edges with blue painters' tape (bc low tack) + apply a thin coat of Renia Colle de Cologne to both the boot area + the patch (aka CDC, this my fav contact cement as it kinda smells like cloves)
5. After a few minutes for the cement to cure, I'll heat both the boot + patch with my heat gun then gently set + press in place

I have a dwindling stash of roo leather (

Dead Meat's boots were not doing what skate boots were meant to do.The first step is always cleaning. ALWAYS. Typically ...
14/06/2026

Dead Meat's boots were not doing what skate boots were meant to do.

The first step is always cleaning. ALWAYS. Typically it's homebrand baby wipes from the supermarket, but saddle soap (w warm water + toothbrush) is the best for dirty boots.

1. It destankifies boots (though the stank is usually not that terrible and I've smelt far worse)
2. I can work on the boots without getting grimey
3. It gives me a chance to look closely at the boots + find everything that needs repairing

I know it can feel v cool to roll around in boots that clearly show their use (they are worn + filthy) but not caring about your boots is not cool. Cleaning your boots is v punk. Choose life, choose punk.

Dead Meat's boots were not doing what skate boots were meant to do.Broken stitching, massive rips in quarters, delaminat...
10/06/2026

Dead Meat's boots were not doing what skate boots were meant to do.

Broken stitching, massive rips in quarters, delaminated soles... not fantastic, but fixable. I think they came back for a few times of the years (as different stitches would break etc).

Thinking of having your skates repaired or restored? Are the straps on your knee etc pads a bit f**ked? Most things can ...
07/06/2026

Thinking of having your skates repaired or restored? Are the straps on your knee etc pads a bit f**ked? Most things can be fixed.

I've simplified the price list and included the "can you fix this" process:

It starts with sending me photos of what needs fixing, we'll work out a price, I'll confirm when I've got the boots in front of me, sending them back within the month.

Rollerskating warms my little black heart , and I enjoy restoring old Altamuras. It's always a surprise to find how many...
17/05/2026

Rollerskating warms my little black heart , and I enjoy restoring old Altamuras. It's always a surprise to find how many tacks are still embedded the sole.
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I see red: the enamel took for f-ing ever to remove, but at least now I'm pretty quick at the task. It's a to do while listening to audio books.

Back to black: 2 different dyes, and then leather paint, were applied to achieve this deep black.
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If you're unsure of what the first step in caring for::restoring your Altamuras, send me a message. See less

I f**king love DIY videos. I note the methods + tools used then find low cost* options + workarounds.I’ve never really n...
20/04/2026

I f**king love DIY videos. I note the methods + tools used then find low cost* options + workarounds.

I’ve never really needed to solder before, but the o-ring between my sh*tty loupe** and a snap hook kept opening. So.

Failing to find a soldering iron on community noticeboards etc, I ended up at Hammerbarn, then ended up there again to get an iron with >10W along with general purpose solder and flux (kits don’t lable the solder included, so it’s a bit hit’n’miss). I figure this will do me a while, and I can now solder close zip head o-rings. DIY vids also show “helping hands” that hold small items in position while soldering, but random pinchnose pliers + elastic band work just as well, and damp paper towel is just as good as the sponges sold alongside soldering gear.

Borrow what you can, buy secondhand if needed and new at last resort. Find different options for tools and methods. Save your slave tokens, the world is full of enough stuff for everyone.

* Yes, I fully understand the cost of “I can just make it myself” mindsets
** Fun on mushroom forays

$life

I rarely post photos of finished work… bc it induced panic attacks. I _know_ this sounds wild, that I’m a bit dramatic a...
18/02/2026

I rarely post photos of finished work… bc it induced panic attacks. I _know_ this sounds wild, that I’m a bit dramatic about regular worries. But no, connecting with my work felt like I’m putting my hand in the box of pain and the Gom Jabbar is at my neck. There are Reasons for this, but the worst experience was trying to work through this for decades, get f**king _nowhere_, and have many folk decide it’s a flaw in my personality. This has been both heartbreaking and very, very boring. Now that I’m sleeping I can hold space for doomy panics, find a way past them and unlearn habitual disassociations. Anyway, this fancy-as photo is from James: menthol colourway boots with hardware from .h.brown and Scott Corey.

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Ulladulla, NSW

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