How Shoes Are Made: A Simple Guide To The 8 Steps Involved
Once upon a time, all shoes were handmade. But, that was before machines could make them faster, cheaper, and better than humans could. Today, 99% of shoes are made by machines. But, that doesn’t mean the process has been automated. Quite the contrary, says Paul. The assembly line process is more time-consuming than ever. There are now “at least seven critical steps” involved in the making of a shoe, he explains. These include: cutting and sorting the leather; sewing the parts of the shoe together; attaching the insole and finishing the upper with durable glue or double-sided tape.
This simple guide will tell you everything you need to know about the shoe making process, from the raw materials used to the final steps of putting a shoe on your foot.
1 - Choosing the Material
There are three important things you should consider when choosing a material for your shoe business: comfort, durability, and the ability of the material to absorb moisture. What you want is a material that will provide all of the above characteristics and still be comfortable for the customer. If you sell athletic or dress shoes, leather is probably your best choice because it provides all of the aforementioned characteristics plus it looks good. However, if you are selling flip-flops or casual sandals, a material like neoprene might be a better choice because it is extremely comfortable and it allows water to be expelled from the shoe.
2 - Ordering the Raw Materials
The second step in the shoe making process is to get the raw materials needed to make the product. This is often the longest part of the process and also where mistakes are most likely to occur. This is the step where many entrepreneurs lose their shirts because they don’t have a realistic idea of what it will cost to produce their product.
It is important to determine exactly what type of materials are needed to make the shoes. Also, it is important to make sure that the raw materials are going to be readily available when needs them. And Remember not to run out of raw materials during the production process, or it’s going to cause delays in the delivery.
3 - Getting the Shoe Ready for Soling
A shoe is essentially a box. The soles of shoes fit into that box, and then the box gets put into a factory, where workers assemble it all. And that’s pretty much it—that’s how the shoe gets built, as opposed to, say, how a car engine works. The soles are the most important part of the shoe, as they are the primary source of friction between your feet and the ground. They need to be designed with the most performance possible, and with maximum comfort in mind.
4 - Putting the Soles on the Shoe
It’s important to remember that the manufacturing process is only one part of the shoe-making process. While most people would probably think of the shoe-making process as beginning at the factory, it begins much earlier in the life cycle of the shoe. After the sole and insole are created, the first step in manufacturing the shoe is the “sewing” of the shoe upper onto the outsole. This step is often overlooked in the shoe-making process, but the quality of the finished shoe is in large part due to how well the upper is attached to the outsole. In this step, there are several different types of materials that are used to join these two components of the shoe.
5 - Curing the Leather
The 5th step in shoe making process is what we call curing leather, which is the process of getting rid of any moisture and oils in the leather. It’s a crucial step because, without it, your shoes won’t hold up and wear properly. A hot-air oven is often used for this purpose, but there are also other ways to dry the leather that are much more time-consuming and expensive. You can use a leather conditioner, but this will require multiple applications over time. To get a high-quality leather shoe to last through a lifetime of wear, you’ll have to cure the leather, probably three times.
6 - Attaching the Heel
After the last layer of leather is added and the edges trimmed, the next step is to attach the heel. Heel construction involves three main components: the last piece of leather to be attached to the shoe (the “heel block”); a “heel cup” to protect the edge of the heel, usually of a rubber material; and a thin layer of leather covering both the top of the heel block and the bottom of the heel cap. The heel block is first glued to the sole, and then the heel cap is glued to the heel block. This process is called “seaming” the heels.
7 - Finishing Up in Shoe Making Process
Shoes must be finished with special wax and a buffing machine. Then, they need to be polished and buffed again. The final polish can make the shoes sparkle and make them shine. A final buffing may take several hours. The shoes must be cleaned and re-shaped and the leather must be re-cut as needed. The last step is to apply the last coating of leather polish and to buff the leather once more to make it shiny and to bring out the natural sheen of the leather.
8 - Fitting the Shoe
There is one final step that every shoe manufacturer must take before they send their new footwear out into the world. They do this because no matter how perfect the materials may be, no matter how great the fit might be, if the shoe does not fit you, then there will be problems. If a shoe doesn’t fit properly, there will be discomfort, pain, and perhaps even worse. This final fitting ensures that you are wearing a shoe that fits correctly and comfortably.
In conclusion, Shoes are like people: they don’t exist in isolation. Like human beings, shoes have a life, they need to breathe, they need to be comfortable, and they need to grow with their wearer.
That’s why you need to take the time to create a well-crafted pair of shoes, not only for their function but also for their appearance. If you’re working with leather, you’ll need to consider the grain of the leather, the texture of the hide, and the shape of the shoe before you can begin to create the final product. It’s the same with the materials used to create a shoe.
In the shoe making process, the leather needs to be soft, supple, and durable, the sole needs to grip the ground, the lining needs to protect, and the uppers need to be comfortable. Many things need to be considered when creating a shoe, and most of them are fairly simple. If you’re looking for a more detailed look at the process of shoe creation, this video is a good place to start.
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