Our phone has been ringing off the hook this past Summer (into early Fall) with clients asking if we can do an Air Jordan sole reglue. Sadly, the answer is no and there's an extensive amount of reasons why. It's crazy time consuming, it can get very messy, it takes more tools than we'd like to handle at one time and quite frankly; we're focused on cleanin' kicks, friends.
Gluing soles may not be in our wheelhouse, but what we can do is offer you some reasons why the sole detaches and some possible preventative maintenance methods to keep them attached longer. You ready? Let's get it.
Why does the Air Jordan sole come apart?
Great question, homies. Obviously, every pair of kicks is different so it's irresponsible to state the reason for every sole detaching. With that said, there's a few reasons your sole could be coming apart from the shoe itself.
1. How long have your kicks been in the closet?
We all have a pair of kicks we haven't worn in way too long. They're old and they've been sittin' in the back of the closet. When we take 'em out and decide to rock 'em, the sole is separated from the shoe OR the shoe has started to crumble into pieces. It's not just you, homies. It's happened to us all.
Moisture, precipitation, and all types of factors can cause your shoe to harden and/or the sole to come apart. I know it sounds crazy, but you have to wear your kicks, friends. Don't just leave 'em in the box or you could be pretty upset when you go to rock 'em one day.
2. The weather and temperature/climate change are factors
clean kicks is based in Columbus, Ohio. One of the major factors for us discontinuing our Air Jordan Sole Reglue Treatment is the weather. For instance, if we reglue a sole in the Winter, when Summer hits the glue warms up and begins to melt. Thus, the sole begins to detach from the shoe. If/when we reglue a sole in the Summer, it hardens in the Winter. Ohio doesn't have the most ideal climate for regluing soles. At least from our perspective.
3. Nike materials just may not be the same, friends.
This is a complete hypothesis, but we've cleaned and restored a great deal of shoes since we launched the clean kicks brand. If you were to ask us what shoe is the most common to need repainted, reglued and/or stitched, it's the Air Jordan. Mind you, we fully understand it's the #1 purchased shoe annually and sneakerheads love Jordan's. We're solely (pun intended) stating we get calls to fix, repair and restore Air Jordan's all the time.
Nike materials may not be what they once were. Again, we have ZERO proof of this and it's completely based on our experience. By the way, did we mention, we're Nike "Snobs" over here?
4. Replicas and fake Jordan's are EVERYWHERE.
They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Well if that's the case, Nike, Michael Jordan and The Air Jordan shoe itself should feel overwhelmingly flattered. In August of 2018, over 380,000 pairs of counterfeits were confiscated by federal agents after being found in a warehouse. The fake shoes were worth over $70 million and stored in over 40 cases. That was 5 years ago and just in New York.
There are counterfeit Jordan's all over the place. Be careful and do your best to avoid getting hoodwinked. Counterfeit producers are getting better by the day as it pertains to creating replicas. Their paint, materials and (definitely) soles aren't close to Nike's standards. Pay attention to the boxes, the stickers, the stitching and the logos. We highly recommend purchasing your Air Jordan's from authenticated stores and/or websites.
We hope this helped, peeps. We understand it can be quite frustrating when the kicks you love so much start to fall apart. If you've had 'em for years, cut the kicks some slack. They're not supposed to last forever by any means. With that said, we empathize with the nostalgia of your favorite joints. The love is real.
In the meantime, schedule a Sneaker Treatment Service today.