The plastic thingie on the tip of your shoelace

January 12, 2005 10:46 AM

What's the plastic wrapper thing on the end of a shoelace called? Usually the first thing to go and almost always requires buying new laces. Is there a company that provides JUST those things?
posted by omidius to grab bag (17 answers total)

I think they're nibs
posted by willnot at 10:48 AM on January 12, 2005

They're called aglets.
posted by teg at 10:50 AM on January 12, 2005

It's called an aglet.

Believe it or not, there is an Aglet Repair web site.
posted by enrevanche at 10:50 AM on January 12, 2005

A: The plastic or metal sleeves at the end of shoelaces are called "aglets". Besides making an interesting trivia question, aglets have several functions: They prevent the lace ends from fraying, they make the laces easier to hold, and they make them easier to pass through the eyelets.

Google. Like, two secs.
posted by ColdChef at 10:52 AM on January 12, 2005

Take a bic lighter or anything else...carefully burn the extremity of the shoelace were the aglet is missing. Done.

Most of shoelace I used were partially synthetic so they burned and melted nicely togheter...no need for aglets replacement.
posted by elpapacito at 10:56 AM on January 12, 2005

You can also use scotch tape to make your own aglets.
posted by CunningLinguist at 11:13 AM on January 12, 2005

"Okay, okay! That's plenty! Alright, now it's time for Final Stand-Up & Win! And the Final category is: "Oprah". And the Final question is: "Oprah - What is the Deal With Her?" Okay, while you're thinking it over - Larry, tell us what our winner gets."

Announcer: He'll get a year's supply of those things that are at the end of your shoelaces! What are those things? They don't have a name!"
posted by thirdparty at 11:16 AM on January 12, 2005

Ah, from Repossessed:

Frieda: What does the name 'Aglet' mean anyway?
Braydon: Well a long time ago 'Aglet' meant 'He who puts those tiny little plastic things on shoelaces' you see a long time a go a mans' name was his profession.
Frieda: Oh so a man named Fred Carpenter would build houses and John Baker would make bread
Braydon: Exactly
Ned: So what did John Hancock do?
posted by icontemplate at 11:18 AM on January 12, 2005

Yes, Aglets.
posted by TheDonF at 11:23 AM on January 12, 2005

I've also dipped the ends of the shoelaces in melted candle wax and drawn them into a point with my fingers so as to make a "new" aglet.
posted by Lynsey at 11:33 AM on January 12, 2005

I tied a little knot in the end of the shoelace that was beginning to fray.
posted by seawallrunner at 11:56 AM on January 12, 2005

Dip the tips in superglue.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:39 PM on January 12, 2005

I think there was a movie or a book where the hero's family had made his fortune off of thinking up the design for these and patenting it. Made a fortune. May have been fictional, though.
posted by onlyconnect at 1:16 PM on January 12, 2005

Surely it's a flugelbinder? ;-)
posted by benzo8 at 2:08 PM on January 12, 2005

Benzo8 - you beat me to it!
posted by floanna at 4:26 PM on January 12, 2005

You can use narrow shrink tubing to cap off the ends of your showlaces. There's even a brand of boot lace that includes this stuff, so you can cut the lace to length, then put the shrink tubing over the end, and heat with a match or lighter.

If you want to go fancy, you can use whipping to keep the ends of your laces from fraying.
posted by jimfl at 6:41 PM on January 12, 2005

........ Or you could just buy some new shoelaces.

Is there a shortage going on I don't know about?
posted by webmutant at 1:29 AM on January 13, 2005