Ugg boots are comfy and fashionable, but why, oh why, do they break so easily? Let’s look at some of the common points of failure and find out how to repair them and which adhesives will give you a strong, permanent bond.
Table of Contents
Before you try to repair your Ugg Boots:
Before you rush to try to repair your Uggs, check your warranty information.
All Ugg footwear comes with a full year of warranty against any defective materials or manufacturing errors, guaranteed by the manufacturer.
If you’ve not had your boots for long and you notice a defect or they are starting to fall apart, contact the manufacturer first as they may be able to sort you out with a replacement.
If they are definitely broken and out of warranty, read on and I’ll show you how best to fix them.
In a rush?
No time to read? No problem! If your Uggs are coming apart at the soles, use Shoe Goo to fix them, as it’s strong, waterproof, and much more flexible than other glues. If the uppers are damaged you will want to sew them closed or use a suede repair patch with E6000 adhesive to stop them from coming apart again.
Best glue for Ugg boot soles
The sole is the most common point of failure in Ugg boots.
The problem with gluing Boots in general, but especially Ugg Boots is how flexible they are.
If you use a regular polyurethane adhesive like Gorilla glue for this, it’s going to crack and break apart when you start walking in them.
Instead, I recommend you use Shoe Goo, from Eclectic products. It’s specially designed to be used for this exact purpose.
It sticks to rubber, leather, and suede so strongly that once you’ve repaired them, they are never coming apart again.
Shoe Goo remains fully flexible once it’s cured, like a very strong, but stretchy rubber. This means when you walk and your Uggs flex and move, the glue won’t crack or break but instead flex and stretch with your boots.
Shoe goo resists extreme temperatures (both hot and cold) too, so whether you’re wearing your boots in the sun-drenched beaches or the frigid, snow-covered mountains your soles will remain strong and firmly attached.
Check out some other customer reviews of Shoe Goo here at Amazon.
How to repair your Ugg boot soles:
- Wash the soles as best you can to ensure there is as little dust and dirt on them as possible.
- You don’t need to fully remove the soles to make the repair.
- Make sure you’re in a well ventilated area. Shoe Goo really stinks!
- Apply the Shoe Goo to the soles and press them together with the uppers.
- Add some pressure to the boots and leave them for 24h to dry.
- To apply pressure to the boots you can put something heavy like a bottle inside them, or wrap some tape around the toe part. It doesn’t need to be a lot, just enough to stop them coming apart until the glue is dry.
- After 24h, your Uggs will be strong and flexible and ready to wear again.
Why you shouldn’t use Gorilla Glue:
While I was researching this article, I found a number of blogs advising people to use Gorilla Glue on their Uggs. From a Glue point of view, this is one of the worst things you could use.
Gorilla glue is NOT flexible. If you use it on anything that will flex or bend (like shoes, clothes, plastic, etc) it will crack and come apart.
Best glue for Ugg Boots (uppers/fabric)
If the fabric is damaged, the best bet is to sew the hole closed if it’s just a small hole or use a suede repair patch if the hole is larger.
The best glue for this purpose is E6000 Adhesive. It’s just as durable as Shoe Goo but is less viscous – allowing it to be spread on the back of your repair patch more easily.
Cut your replacement suede to the desired size, and position it on your boots to check it fits.
If the hole is very large, put some duct tape inside your boots, to stop any glue from going through.
Apply E6000 adhesive to the back of the suede, and press it in place, covering the hole in your boots.
E6000 is similar to Shoe Goo, but with less viscosity, making it more appropriate for upper repairs (which are even more flexible than the soles).
Tape the suede in place while the glue has a chance to dry. It can take up to 24 hours for E6000 to fully cure.
After 24h you can remove the tape from the inside of your boots, as the glue will have cured and will not leak.
Conclusion
To sum up, the best way to repair your Ugg soles is to use Shoe Goo, because of its flexibility and versatility. It won’t crack like other glues as your boots flex and move and will ensure a permanent repair.
The best bet for repairing the uppers is with a suede patch, however, with small holes you have the option to patch them by sewing them closed.
Hope this helped, and I hope you manage to save your precious Uggs!
-Bill
