Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Most of the 1 star reviews here don't understand what these are for or how to use them. Rubber half soles like these (or the Vibram ones) are designed to be nearly permanently attached to the sole. Therefore they don't have their own adhesive on them - you must use contact cement, like the one that Barge makes. Much much stronger than a peel-back adhesive. They are designed to be oversized - "one size fits all" is likely true for all but the very largest sizes. They are designed to be trimmed & sanded after bonding to the leather sole to match. I trimmed at least a half inch off all the way around on my size 11.5US dress shoes. The heel is designed to replace the rubber bottom of a men's dress shoe heel. Most shoe heels have a stack of leather until the very bottom 1/2 inch, which is typically rubber or some combination of leather and rubber. This is what gets worn down and needs to be removed from the old shoe, and replaced with these heels. To replace the old, I typically start w a chisel/hammer to separate the heel from the stack, and then use a pair of robogrip pliers to grip and rip the heel off. Couple tips: 1) use barge contact cement - the extra cost is worth it for the soles to stay attached. follow the directions - make sure both surfaces are roughed up (you can scuff it up, or use a belt sander like I have now to flatten/rough up), and use at least one application of cement. Let dry ~10 minutes till tacky before applying. 2) review youtube videos about how to attach a rubber half sole - it details everything you need to know for the sole and heel 3) buy a hooked razor blade and use that to trim as opposed to a regular box cutter blade. MUCH MUCH cleaner and a lot less rubber to sand down. If you have a belt sander, then this is less important. But I found the hooked blade to be a godsend when using a small dremel. 4) Make sure the two surfaces are roughed up. I now use an 80 grit bench belt sander (the Wen model - its cheap and effective) to both flatten the bottom (easier attachment) and to rough it up. If you don't do this, they won't stick well. 5) rubber soles are (mostly) rubber soles. I buy these (generic brand) instead of the vibram ones, since those are $15 for the half sole + heel as opposed to $10 for both here. Stay away from the Soletech sheets of rubber for soling, I've found those to be much cheaper quality rubber that wear out quickly. 6) once they are tacked on, you can nail the heels if you wish using 5/8" brads. I bought a cheap electric stanley brad driver to do this. 7) trim close to the original sole, and then I use a dremel w drum sander or bench belt sander (preferred) to even up the rubber w the original sole. This will remove the stain from the original sole, so you'll need sole stain (cheap, ~$7 for black and brown) for afterwards. 8) Do the sanding outside, it creates a fine dust of rubber/leather which I cant see being good for eyes/lungs. If doing inside, I create a pseudo-jig where I clamp down my shop-vac to the workbench or the belt sander => eliminates most of the dust.