Profession shoe repairer

Shoe repairers repair and renew deteriorated footwear and other items like belts or bags. They use hand tools and specialised machinery to add soles and heels, replace worn-out buckles and clean and polish shoes.

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Personality Type

• Realistic / Conventional

Knowledge

• Footwear equipments

  Functionality of the wide range of equipments and the basic rules of regular maintenance.

• Manual cutting processes for leather

  Cutting rules, variance of the leather properties on its surface and elongation directions of the footwear pieces.

• Footwear quality

  Quality specifications of materials, processes and final products, the most common defects in footwear, quick tests procedures, laboratory tests procedures and standards, adequate equipment for quality checks. Quality assurance of footwear production processes and fundamental concepts on quality including footwear quality framework and standards.

• Footwear machinery

  Tthe functionality of the wide range of machines, and the basic rules of regular maintenance.

Skills

• Apply assembling techniques for cemented footwear construction

  Be able to pull the uppers over the last and fix the lasting allowance on insole, manually or by special machines for forepart lasting, waist lasting, and seat lasting. Apart from the main group of lasting operations, the responsibilities of those assembling footwear cemented types may include the following: bottom cementing and sole cementing, heat setting, sole attaching and pressing, chilling, brushing and polishing, last slipping (before or after finishing operations) and heel attaching etc.

• Provide customer information related to repairs

  Inform customers about necessary repairs or replacements, discuss products, services and costs, include accurate technical information.

• Perform manual cutting for footwear uppers

  Check and complete cutting orders, select leather surfaces and classify cut pieces. Identify faults and defects on the leather surface. Recognise colours, shades and type of finishes. Use the following tools: knife, pattern templates, cutting board and marking needle.

• Use tools for shoe repair

  Utilise hand and power tools, such as awls, hammers, automatic sole stitchers, heel-nailing machines and sewing machines, for the repair and maintenance of footwear, belts and bags.

• Maintain customer service

  Keep the highest possible customer service and make sure that the customer service is at all times performed in a professional way. Help customers or participants feel at ease and support special requirements.

• Apply footwear finishing techniques

  Apply various chemical and mechanical finishing procedures to footwear by performing manual or machine operations, with or without chemicals, such as heel and sole roughing, dying, bottom polishing, cold or hot wax burnishing, cleaning, removing tacks, inserting socks, hot air treeing for removing wrinkles, and cream, spray or antique dressing. Work both manually and use the equipment and machines, and adjust working parameters.

• Maintain equipment

  Regularly inspect and perform all required activities to maintain the equipment in functional order prior or after its use.

• Apply stitching techniques

  Apply footwear and leather goods stitching techniques using the appropriate machines, needles, threads and other tools in order to obtain the required model and to comply with the sewing technical specifications.

• Repair shoes

  Reshape shoes, restitch worn seams, attach new heels or soles. Polish and clean shoes afterwards.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB