My name's Julie Derrick.
I'm a cobbler, and I am about to refurbish
a pair of heavily damaged Dr. Marten boots.
The main issues with this pair of boots
were the sole and the heel areas
have worn through the tread,
so they were getting really slippery.
So, with this particular pair of boots,
where the soles were coming apart,
it just really gives us our opening.
We're going to put them on our jack stand
and carefully cut that sole away.
With the Doc Martens, we can cut off
the main body of the worn-out part,
but then we have to use
the belt sander to level it,
to make sure everything is the same thickness.
We're gonna remove that
interior foam padding and replace it,
because that material gets compressed over time,
and we want everything to be fresh.
This is invisible to the wearer,
but they're going to feel so good
with this little memory foam
layer in there.
We'll glue a midsole.
It's also called a slipsole.
You kinda hit it into place with your hammer.
[banging]
We'll trim it out along the edges
so everything's matched up.
And then we'll stitch that midsole layer on.
So then once we get that done,
we have made a stable base for the new outsoles.
We use almost exclusively Vibram soles.
It's one we end up using a lot
with the Doc Martens, actually,
'cause it's kind of comparable
in weight and density to
what the wearer is used to.
[hammering]
And then you press it with the machine.
That really solidifies that connection.
[machine hisses]
[machine whirring]
Sometimes I think about, like,
your boots being at a spa weekend.
This kinda solders any lose ends.
And then I will dye our stitches
so they're not visible
and the original yellow Doc Martin stitches
are all you see.
Some people don't care if the white ones show,
and I'm fine with that too.
I can't overestimate the value
of conditioning your uppers.
It really will take them so far for you.
You can overcondition your boots
if you're using a petroleum-based product.
That will break down your leather over time.
I always have to tell my customers
that we're not manufactures.
You know, we're not makers, we're menders.
Nobody's expecting their boots to look original.
Things look cool, you know,
things look good when they've been fixed,
and they're stronger and they're more unique.