Best Shoe Glue: Explore Selleys Footwear Adhesives

What is the best glue for repairing shoes, and how long does it take to hold?

Shoes are a harder gluing problem than they look. Most shoe materials are soft, porous and flexible, and the joint has to survive being bent several thousand times a week. That combination defeats a lot of general-purpose adhesives, which is why a shoe repair needs a glue that is both strong and permanently flexible — a rigid bond will crack along the flex line within days.

Selleys makes two products for the job: Selleys Shoe Fix and Selleys Fix & Go Shoe Repair. Both are solvent-based adhesives designed to bond footwear materials and to stay flexible and impact resistant once cured.

The one expectation to correct up front: this is not a seconds job. Fix & Go Shoe Repair reaches an initial bond at 24 hours and maximum bond strength after three days, with a maximum bond time of 72 hours from application. The shoe is ready for practical use after one day. Plan the repair for a pair you are not wearing tomorrow.

What these adhesives bond

The shoe repair range is designed to bond the materials footwear is actually made of:

• Leather
• Rubber
• Canvas
• Cork
• EVA foam
• Fabric
• Most plastics

Typical repairs include soles, tongues, straps and inner soles, and attaching decorative items. The products suit school shoes, dress shoes, high heels, wedges, sporting shoes and outdoor shoes.

Because leather and similar materials are porous and flexible, you need a glue that penetrates and then bends. That is the design brief these products are built to.

How to repair a shoe

1. Clean and dry the materials first. Removing debris, dirt and grease lets the adhesive form a stronger bond that lasts longer. This is the step people skip and then wonder why the sole lifted again.
2. For very porous surfaces, prime the surface with the adhesive. Apply a thin coating layer first and allow it to dry, then apply a second coat to form the bond. A single coat on an absorbent material largely disappears into it.
3. Bring the surfaces together and hold or clamp them in position.
4. Leave it alone. Fix & Go Shoe Repair gives an initial bond at 24 hours and is ready for practical use after one day, with maximum bond strength after three days and a maximum bond time of 72 hours.

What the cure figures mean for a shoe you actually wear

The gap between "initial bond" and "maximum bond strength" is where most repairs are lost. At 24 hours the joint holds; at 72 hours it is at full strength. A sole repair that gets a 10km walk on day one is being tested at a third of the bond it will eventually have, on the joint that flexes most.

The practical rule that follows: glue the shoe, leave it three days, then wear it. If you only have one day, wear it gently.

The flexibility claim matters just as much as the strength claim. A strong but rigid adhesive will hold a static test and then fail in service, because the failure mode on a shoe is fatigue from repeated bending rather than a single overload.

Limitations — where these adhesives should NOT be used

• Polyethylene and polypropylene plastics. Neither product bonds them. Selleys nominates Selleys All Plastics for those materials.
• Some vinyl and plastics may discolour or harden. If you are in any doubt, test on a small hidden area first — inside the heel counter, for example, rather than on the toe cap.
• Continuous water exposure. Selleys Shoe Fix will not resist continuous water exposure applications. This is the limitation worth being clear about: a repaired shoe will handle ordinary weather and puddles, but it is not the product for footwear that is submerged or permanently wet — waders, dive booties, work boots standing in water.

That last point is worth stating plainly because it is easy to over-read a shoe glue's durability. These adhesives are built for flexibility and impact resistance in normal wear, not for immersion.

When a shoe is not worth gluing

A loose sole, a lifting sole edge, a detached strap or a split seam are all repairable. What glue will not fix is a sole that has worn through, a leather upper that has torn along a crease, or a heel where the internal structure has broken — those are cobbler jobs, or the end of the shoe. Gluing over rotten or crumbling material only wastes the adhesive, because the bond can only be as strong as what it is stuck to.

Safety: a shoe repair is done at floor level, and so is the vapour

Both shoe adhesives carry the signal word Danger, on the same classifications. Selleys Shoe Fix and Fix & Go Shoe Repair are both H225, highly flammable liquid and vapour; H319, causes serious eye irritation; and H336, may cause drowsiness or dizziness. Both are Dangerous Goods Class 3, UN 1133. Shoe Fix additionally carries Poison Schedule S5. All Plastics, the fallback for polyethylene and polypropylene, carries the same three.

The geometry of this job is the problem. Shoe repairs are done sitting on the floor or at a low table, indoors, usually in the cold months when a sole has given way in the wet — which means the heater is on. H225 vapour is what ignites, it is heavier than air, and it pools and travels at floor level. A bar heater, a gas heater or a pilot light two metres away and low down is directly in the path of the vapour, and there is nothing about the size of the job that makes that less true. Open a window, and turn the heater off while the adhesive is wet.

The priming step doubles the solvent. Step 2 above — a thin coat on porous leather, allowed to dry, then a second coat — is the right technique and it is also twice the product evaporating in the room. So is the 24 to 72 hour cure that follows. Leave the shoe somewhere ventilated to cure, not in a hall cupboard or a closed laundry, which is where a drying shoe naturally gets put.

Shoe Fix is Poison Schedule S5. Put the tube away when you stop, rather than leaving it on the floor beside the shoe, which is where a child or a dog finds it.

The substitution worth knowing. If you cannot ventilate — a small flat, a bedsit, a shared laundry with no window — Power Grip carries no flammability classification at all and is not Dangerous Goods, and it is already used for exactly this repair in the sentimental items guide, which clamps a loose sole with it. That is a genuine trade rather than a free win: Power Grip carries H318, causes serious eye damage (Category 1, permanent) and H317, may cause an allergic skin reaction (Category 1A), where the shoe adhesives carry the milder H319. Eye protection makes that trade a sound one in a room you cannot air out.

Poisons Information Centre — 131 126 in Australia, 0800 764 766 in New Zealand.

Common questions about shoe glue

How long does shoe glue take to dry?

Fix & Go Shoe Repair gives an initial bond at 24 hours and is ready for practical use after one day. Maximum bond strength comes after three days, with a maximum bond time of 72 hours from application.

Can I wear the shoes the same day?

No. Give the repair 24 hours before wearing, and three days before anything demanding.

Will it stick to leather?

Yes. Leather is one of the materials both products are designed for, along with rubber, canvas, cork, EVA foam and most plastics.

Will it stay flexible?

Yes — a strong and flexible bond is the key feature of Fix & Go Shoe Repair, which is what allows it to withstand stress and impact in a joint that bends constantly.

Is a repaired shoe waterproof?

Selleys Shoe Fix will not resist continuous water exposure. Ordinary wear in the wet is one thing; submersion or permanently wet conditions are outside what the product is rated for.

What plastics will it not bond?

Polyethylene and polypropylene. Use Selleys All Plastics for those.

Will it mark my shoes?

It may cause some vinyl and plastics to discolour or harden. Test a small hidden area first if you are unsure.

My sole is very absorbent — how do I get a strong bond?

Prime it. For very porous surfaces, apply the adhesive as a thin coating layer first, let it dry, then apply a second coat to make the bond.

Do I need to clamp the repair?

Hold or clamp the surfaces together while the bond develops. A firm, even pressure across the joint is more useful than a heavy clamp in one spot.

What preparation matters most?

Cleaning and drying. Removing debris and grease from the shoe lets the adhesive form a stronger bond and last longer — it is the highest-return minute in the whole repair.

Is this the same as super glue?

No. The shoe repair products are solvent-based adhesives formulated to stay flexible. Cyanoacrylate super glues set far faster but cure rigid, which is the wrong property for a joint that flexes with every step.

Where can I read the step-by-step?

See how to repair shoes for the full guide.