Birks Re-Soled

September 4, 2022 12:58 AM

I love my Birkenstocks dearly but the tread is at least 50% gone on each and I’m starting to lose traction on smooth surfaces. It would cost about half the cost of a new pair at an authorized repair store. I’ve never had a shoe re-soled, but am interested to knowing your experiences, or whether you just decided to buy a new pair instead.
posted by Aranquis to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total)

I had a pair of Birkenstocks resoled and it was as nice as new. They even cleaned up the leather on top, IIRC. I would happily do it again -- I like that it's cheaper than a new pair and more environmentally-friendly to reuse my old pair.
posted by watermelon at 1:11 AM on September 4, 2022 [8 favorites]

Resolving, if you do it early enough, can also avoiding having to break them in again. Yours may be too far gone for that though.

I got my Birks resoled for years, up until I had to stop wearing them because of my bad feet. Definitely worth it.
posted by nat at 1:42 AM on September 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

I used to work at an outdoorsy shop that sold a lot of Birks and we had a local shoe repair person who would buy the official Birkenstock materials and do the work himself. So you might check and see if there’s a local specialist.

I also sent a pair of my own off to a recommended, official place, and they did a great job fixing them up.

If you particularly wear down one area first, see if you can get taps for that area (like heel taps), a harder material that will last longer
posted by bluedaisy at 2:12 AM on September 4, 2022

The Birks I'm wearing right now have been resoled several times. They have improved with age.

Usually it's just the heels that have almost worn to the cork but sometimes my repair shop (same place I bought them) has to replace the footbed.
posted by kingless at 2:42 AM on September 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

I did it once and my only regret is that the second time I needed to do it, I didn’t do it soon enough and it was no longer really possible.
posted by eirias at 4:20 AM on September 4, 2022

When I met Mr. Blah in the early 90s he had a pair he'd just had resoled. He's still wearing them, and they've been resoled at least once more, maybe twice. By now they give off a very "ancient Birks" vibe but he loves them. Go for it!
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:25 AM on September 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

Resoling Birks in particular is worth it because you don't have to break them in again. I've done it many times.
posted by branca at 8:26 AM on September 4, 2022

I've had Birks resoled a few times. My only issue has been when the straps and buckles get so worn that they don't look that great anymore - this is especially an issue with suede Birkenstocks, which is why I no longer buy them.

The person who resoles mine says it would be cheaper if I'd bring them in before the black part has worn completely away and the cork has to be replaced.
posted by FencingGal at 10:19 AM on September 4, 2022

I've done it for both pairs of my Birkenstocks and it was great. Need to do it again as soon as it gets so cool that I can't wear them.
posted by rednikki at 11:56 AM on September 4, 2022

nthing resoling. Reduce reuse recycle, yes yes. But also! If you notice that the heels are going faster than the rest of the sole, your shoe store might be able to help with that as well. Over the last 20 years or so, I've bought about 5 pairs of the same model of birks, so I have a stable of them in various states of disrepair. Round numbers, my local guy (hopefully you have a local Birkenstock person) charges in order of extremeness:

. $150 for a new pair
. $100 for new footbeds (everything but the straps & buckles)
.. $ 60 for new soles (just the rubbery part under the cork)
.. $ 20 for new heels (resole just the corner that's rubbing away)

They also patched the leather in my oldest pair, when I finally cracked through that all the way. These are my "Frankenstocks" because of the extremely visible stitching. When I wear them on the bicycle they are "Bikenstocks." When I wear a newer pair with fewer miles on them to the office, they're "Workenstocks." My friend from Istanbul buys cheap knock-offs when he visits home; these are "Turkenstocks."

The store near me has authentic OEM Birkenstock sole material, but they also have some weird Vibram-style harder sole material that supposedly lasts longer.
posted by adekllny at 7:34 AM on September 5, 2022 [3 favorites]