Can anyone recommend a way of reviving the rubber in climbing shoes? Mine I bought second hand a year or so ago but are starting to lose their “tackiness”. Don’t want to start looking at new ones if not necessary…

Wet rag? Sandpaper? Wire brush? The soles are still in good nic and not particularly worn.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sideswipe/news/article.cfm?c_id=702&objectid=10587213??

Grant wrote:Can anyone recommend a way of reviving the rubber in climbing shoes? Mine I bought second hand a year or so ago but are starting to lose their “tackiness”. Don’t want to start looking at new ones if not necessary…

Wet rag? Sandpaper? Wire brush? The soles are still in good nic and not particularly worn.

the common cause of shoes losing 'stickiness' is just plain old dirt - walking around the crag/gym packs all the micro-pores in the rubber with dirt, bye-bye stickiness. Hence why when we're bouldering up castle hill we tend to put shoes on sitting on the bouldering mat (as opposed to wandering all over the hill in them) and why if you're trying something with desperate friction moves we'll scrub the soles with water and an old towel first (to make sure the rubber is totally clean)

if they're really old and the rubber is actually oxidised (hard) - give them a wipe with a coarse grained sandpaper to take the layer of hard, oxidised rubber off & re-expose fresh, tacky stuff. Don't go crazy - you don't want to take the edges off!!!

I'd give the rubber a good clean (stiff toothbrush, strong solution of dishwashing liquid then rinse) and see what they're like - then sandpaper if they're still feeling slidey

Spyder wrote:http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sideswipe/news/article.cfm?c_id=702&objectid=10587213??

Cheers danose