# Leather Sole Cracking



## M Go Crimson (Aug 20, 2011)

My AE Waldens have developed a large network of fine cracks in the sole after walking on wet pavement after a rain shower yesterday. This is the maybe the 5th or 6th time over their 8 month lifespan that the soles have come into contact with water of any form(other than the occasional droplet). Shoe trees were inserted as always and the shoes left on newsprint away from heat.

A search on the forum said topys would prevent the cracks from enlarging but I don't want to take any chances of further damage to the shoe. Is there anything I can do other than having the shoes resoled? Any advice is appreciated, thank you.

Also, how do I prevent this in the future? Saw a few posts about conditioning leather soles with oil and various dressings.


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## cmacey (May 3, 2009)

M Go Crimson said:


> My AE Waldens have developed a large network of fine cracks in the sole after walking on wet pavement after a rain shower yesterday. This is the maybe the 5th or 6th time over their 8 month lifespan that the soles have come into contact with water of any form(other than the occasional droplet). Shoe trees were inserted as always and the shoes left on newsprint away from heat.
> 
> A search on the forum said topys would prevent the cracks from enlarging but I don't want to take any chances of further damage to the shoe. Is there anything I can do other than having the shoes resoled? Any advice is appreciated, thank you.
> 
> Also, how do I prevent this in the future? Saw a few posts about conditioning leather soles with oil and various dressings.


Photos?


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## M Go Crimson (Aug 20, 2011)

Apologies for the cell phone photo. It's hard to see and hopefully I can figure out how to resize soon. I'll try to highlight the cracks in photoshop..


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## M Go Crimson (Aug 20, 2011)

There are a lot more cracks in the indicated area but I gave up trying to highlight all of them.



http://imgur.com/guZU3


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## Bandit44 (Oct 1, 2010)

It's been a long time since I've seen that happen to a sole. Back in the 90s, I had a pair of Crown Aristocrafts do the same thing, but I was harder on shoes back then.

Throw in the towel and have them re-soled. Might have been a flaw in the soles or you might have stepped on something that put undue stress on the leather. Hard to tell.


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## hookem12387 (Dec 29, 2009)

AE would likely replace them, and I'd take them up on the offer. I don't believe that should be happening.


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## RM Bantista (May 30, 2009)

Sir,
Perhaps the real question is what would AE recommend. Mr. Paul is a friend of the forum.
Don't ask us. Ask him.
He controls the store and the vast resources for resolution of any problem. Always check in with the chief when other resources have failed. But the incidence raises the question that you may have not exhausted all closer sources for relief. It may also be a question of whether this should be warranted work or on your own dime. Just saying. Should these be not a new out of the box one owner purchase, then your issue is with the seller, not the maker. And the seller will say that all items are sold as is without return nor refund.
Therefore, super prime soles, topeys, toe taps, Vibram heels, and you will never have another problem, except for possibly slipping on tile floors. If you can handle that risk, not a negligible consideration, you have your answer. If not: super prime soles and hard rubber heels will last, but the heels will need watching. Topeys are optional, but not a wrong headed consideration, even with super prime soles.
The shoes may be suitable for your grandsons should they fit them. You are speaking about high quality made in the USA shoes with a great effort made to ensure that quality and customer satisfaction is the ideal situation with every purchase.
Your move, what is the back-story?
Live long and prosper,
rudy


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## M Go Crimson (Aug 20, 2011)

Thanks for the responses, gentlemen. 

@Bandit I think resoling is the way to go. I did step on some very small(1-2mm^3) shards of glass about a month ago from a broken glass at a bar. The shards were removed with a needle. That's the only-out-of-the ordinary event I can think of. Otherwise it's mostly carpet, cement, and blacktop.

@hookem I've had them for 7 months and while this is very disappointing, my other AEs are holding up well and as a set they've all pretty much experienced the same conditions. The cracking in the right shoe is less severe than the left and whatever I walked in did not stain the sole of the right shoe as much. I'm thinking there must have been some sort of chemical on the ground in the 30 ft I walked from my office building to my car that caused this. While a replacement would be fantastic I can't imagine AE replacing them unless it is the result of an obvious manufacturer defect.

@RM Bantista I wouldn't contact the CEO of AE for something like this. He is incredibly generous with his time and this is probably an issue that would fall under "user error." The shoes were purchased online from AE on 10/10/11 and received on 10/19/11, worn sparingly for the first few months of ownership and then wear increased to 1-2 times a week for the bulk of the 7 months I've had them. In the past 3 weeks I've been wearing them 3x a week with at least a day's rest in between as the weather and season has turned and I'm in "warm weather mode" aka break out the loafers mode. I've always used shoe trees, at first a pair from AE that I ordered with the shoe, then JAB trees as my number of shoes started exceeding the number of trees. The uppers are in great shape and from afar and in the dark I sometimes confuse them with the pair of shell LHS I picked up from the thrift exchange.


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## arkirshner (May 10, 2005)

This thread prompted me to do something I never did before, that is to take a close look at the soles of a few of my shoes. It was much like going to what looks like a flat field, getting down on hands and knees, and taking a very close look at the soil. From up close, what one thinks of a flat ground really is a mountain range populated by ants, and the soles of my shoes looked like a maze of lines cracks and the like.

IMO it doesn't matter what the bottom of the sole looks like so long as there it isn't a hole in the middle.


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## Nick V (May 8, 2007)

Hard to tell from the picture but, what you see may be veins in the leather rather than cracks.


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## smmrfld (May 22, 2007)

arkirshner said:


> IMO it doesn't matter what the bottom of the sole looks like so long as there it isn't a hole in the middle.


Agree completely...nothing out of the ordinary here. And I certainly wouldn't whine to the CEO about a simple perceived QC issue.


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## challer (Sep 4, 2008)

A lot of my shoes look like that, all Alden or European shell. I can tell you if you try to condition your soles, they can become lethal the next time you get them wet. I just had Nick convert an old pair of shoes into my rain shoes by resoling with Dainite soles. They work great.


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## M Go Crimson (Aug 20, 2011)

Thanks again for the replies. I was worried because these showed up overnight. They weren't there when I took the shoes off(yes, I check my soles every time when I remove my shoes) and are visible at arm's length.



Nick V said:


> Hard to tell from the picture but, what you see may be veins in the leather rather than cracks.


If they are indeed cracks, is there any chance of damage if I continue wearing them? I'm having mental pictures of a piece of the sole falling off as I walk.


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## Nick V (May 8, 2007)

M Go Crimson said:


> Thanks again for the replies. I was worried because these showed up overnight. They weren't there when I took the shoes off(yes, I check my soles every time when I remove my shoes) and are visible at arm's length.
> 
> If they are indeed cracks, is there any chance of damage if I continue wearing them? I'm having mental pictures of a piece of the sole falling off as I walk.


That won't happen. The soles are cemented and stitched on. Keep an eye on them chances are it's more cosmetic than anything else.


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## M Go Crimson (Aug 20, 2011)

Thanks you all for you input and for putting my mind at ease.


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