My name is Derrick Winje from The Cobblers.
Today, I'm going to walk you through
how me and my team restored the midsole
of this Bred 2012 Jordan 4.
The shoe we're working on today specifically
is the Bred 12,
which is a nickname for black and red,
which is very common in what you find in Jordans.
The value of the shoe in the condition that it came in
is probably around $200 to $225.
If you're lucky enough to find a pair
that no one has worn in the last nine years,
you're looking at about $550
for the value of the shoe
if you have all the original accessories and the box.
We're going to be removing all the paint
from the midsole to prep the midsole for new paint.
We're then going to lay down
some base layers of white
and finish it up with a solid white coat.
Then we're going to go ahead and tape up that white
to add our second color, which is black,
so it looks original.
This shoe is nine years old,
which is another reason why
this shoe needs to be repainted,
because it's been worn a little bit
and the paint's starting to crack.
The most difficult part of this restoration
is keeping the midsoles looking
smooth and factory-clean.
The issue that we have as these shoes start to age
is that the EVA foam,
which is what the midsole is comprised of,
starts to break down.
It's our job to try and keep that looking original
and smooth by removing the paint safely,
depending on the type of shoe, the type of paint,
as well as the age of the shoe.
The paint on the midsole is starting to chip
on this shoe because it's from 2012.
So we're going to go ahead and
remove all this paint to get started.
We're actually using a dulled blade
to scrape away this paint carefully.
Depending on the year and the model of shoe,
they use different types of paints.
On these 2012 Bred 4s,
it's actually an acrylic paint.
You can tell because it's a little bit flaky,
and that's why we're going to be chipping away,
as opposed to using a solvent
or other type of chemical to remove that.
It's necessary to remove the old paint
so we can get a nice clean surface to adhere to.
This allows the paint to be flexible, durable,
and to give us the smoothest finish possible.
When removing the paint with this method,
we really want to focus on scraping just the paint
and not digging down into that EVA foam midsole.
So, once we have the majority,
if not all of the paint removed from scraping,
I'm going to go ahead and go back
with some denatured alcohol,
or isopropyl alcohol works as well,
to just wipe down the surface
to make sure I got any debris or oil
that might've built up on that midsole.
So, once we've removed all that original paint
and cleaned it with alcohol,
we're going to go ahead and start
with our base coats of white.
Before adding that paint,
I'm going to go ahead and tape up these areas
to make sure I don't get paint on any areas
that I don't want it.
The trick here for taping off
is just to take your time
and really make sure
you're putting your tape where you need it.
Once you've applied it,
I always like to take a step back and look at it
to make sure I have a second eye,
or a second angle to make sure I did that accurately.
Almost every time we're repainting midsoles,
I'm going to use a base layer of paint,
which is actually just the color I'm using
when I'm first painting.
In this case it's going to be white
before I do the black, so I'm going to do
some light coats of white to build up a base
and then do more coats of white
to get a full, solid color.
When I'm applying the white paint as the base layer,
I make sure I apply that all over for a few coats,
but once I have about two coats down as a base coat,
I'll then focus on the area where
the white paint is actually visible
once we're going to be done with the paint job.
In this case, that's going to be on the bottom
of the midsole, as the top is going to be black.
So, once we finish the white paint,
you can see it's a nice, solid color on the bottom.
And now we need to do the top,
which is going to be black.
For this, I'm going to be using
a quarter-inch blue painter's tape
to tape off the bottom,
so I can put the black paint on top cleanly.
You can use any tape you really want.
You just need to make sure you can get
a clean, crisp edge.
When we're applying this tape for the second color,
we need it to be very precise.
On this particular shoe, there is a little ledge here
that I can tuck the tape underneath,
which gives me a little guide
to make sure I can line this up properly.
If the tape is not placed carefully,
you're going to alter that line.
It's not going to be a smooth, straight finish,
and it's not going to look factory.
The type of paint we're using today is Angelus paint.
It's specifically designed
for leather and sneakers in general.
It's a very flexible, durable paint
that we love to use here.
When I'm painting, I try to focus
on stretching the paint out as much as possible
and making that a really thin coat.
If we're using too much paint,
it's going to be too thick
and it's going to crack when the customer wears it.
We're also going to get some brushstrokes,
so we want to make sure these are very thin coats
that we're trying to spread out evenly.
On this shoe, you can see that I chose
not to tape off the upper of the shoe.
That's because of two reasons.
The upper on the shoe is delicate,
based off the material,
and also, I don't want to get
any paint on that upper.
So I'd rather trust my eye
than the tape to stop the paint.
So, once I put on that last coat of black
and that color is looking full,
I can go ahead and remove all the tape,
but I need to allow this to dry
for five to 10 minutes,
so the paint is fully cured.
The paint will cure fully over the next 24 hours,
so we recommend the customers don't wear that.
It just needs to wait 24 hours,
then you can get them back on the streets.