Guide – Sole types for shoes and boots

When it comes to quality footwear, there’s a lot more to it than just leather soles or rubber soles. The various types within each category are huge, all with various specs and preferences. Here’s a substantial guide to all the most common types of soles for quality shoes and boots.

 

Overview and direct links:

Single leather soles
Double leather soles
HAF soles
Nitrile cork soles
Rubber topy soles
Crepe soles
York soles
City rubber soles
Dainite studded rubber soles
Medway soles
Ridgeway soles
Commando soles
Mini lug soles
Supergrip soles
Raw cord soles
Wedge soles
Airwair soles

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Single leather soles

Still the most common form of soles on a pair of quality shoes, even if rubber versions takes over more and more. A single leather sole on a Goodyear welted shoe is sewn onto the welt, so if you look from the side you see two layers of leather. The same is true of a Blake / rapid stitched shoe, where the top layer of leather instead of the welt is a thinner midsole, while a welted shoe has only the single leather sole.

Leather soles come in a variety of grades, but for better footwear which is covered here on Shoegazing, there are usually three used: prime, super prime, and oak barked. To summarise these, one have to generalise, since there’s not really any set requirements as it was more off back in the days.

Prime and Super prime soles are made in much the same way, using a fully vegetable tanning or combination-tanning process that takes a number of weeks, up to a couple of months. The difference in grading is mainly in how good the leather quality is, with finer leather with denser grain being classed as Super prime. Prime soles are generally found on shoes in the €150-€300 price range, Super prime on shoes between €300-€600, give or take.

Oak bark tanned, or ground tanned as they are sometimes called, leather soles are of a higher quality, and are produced in a different way. This is achieved through an almost completely natural process that takes considerably longer time and is therefore more costly, where the leather is left laying on top of each other in large pits of water and oak bark for a long time (basically all sole leathers are pit tanned, but it’s the long-term pits that makes the real difference). Back in the days it had to be for two years, now it’s down to six months in some cases though, and more use of bark extracts instead of actual bark and a more extensive pre-tanning has changed things also in this category. It should be said that it does not necessarily have to be oak bark, chestnut bark and other bark types are also used, such as in JM Weston’s fantastic soles. It’s the natural and time-consuming process that puts the sole in this category.

As for the heel base, which is attached to the back of the leather sole, the top lift of the heel is usually made of the same material as the sole (except for the back piece, which is almost always rubber these days). Then the heel lifts located between the sole and the heel top piece are in factory-made shoes almost never made of the same leather as these, but cheaper materials are used. In some cases leather board or even fibre board, but usually just cheaper pieces of leather.

Leather soles are soft and comfortable to walk in once they’ve worn in a bit after a few uses, and many experience them as less warm than rubber soles. Prime, Super prime and oak bark tanned soles all can handle damp surfaces as long as they are allowed to dry properly, although it’s often better to choose something else than leather soles if’s pouring rain outside. Leather soles called Flex soles and similar are usually just more pliable, which makes them easier to break in but may affect durability.

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Double leather soles

Just as it sounds, two layers of sole leather are simply used instead of one (for double rubber soles, there’s normally a leather midsole used). The sole is thicker and therefore more durable and insulates better against the cold, but it also makes for a slightly clumsier and stiffer shoe. Most common on more casual shoes or on boots. There are also triple-soled shoes, but these are rare, and given that they are said to take a year or so of use to break in properly, they are not very practical. For RTW, it’s common to use cheaper leather for the midsoles.

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HAF soles

A cross between a single and double leather sole. Here you put double soles in the front for the extra durability, while the waist and back are single-soled. Gives a neater impression than a full double sole. However, it’s important that the manufacturer compensates with an extra layer in the heel base for the shoe to be properly balanced, something that is actually sometimes missed. When one use a half rubber outsole, especially if thicker ones, it’s sometimes called HAF soles as well nowadays.

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Nitrile cork soles

This is a type of soles that is a mix of organic and synthetic materials, where one mix cork and nitrile rubber to get a more lightweight sole still with a lot of the benefits of a rubber sole. Most common on American shoes and boots. The more traditional nitrile cork soles are without any tread, but nowadays manufacturers do soles which are a mix of cork and rubber with various patterns.

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Rubber topy soles

Refers to when one attach a thin piece of rubber sole on top of a leather sole, to improve durability and grip. The suitable name comes from the French company Topy who for long were the main player on this field. One sand down the leather sole slightly and then cement on the rubber piece, and trim it to match the leather sole. It can be done by the manufacturer or at a later stage by a cobbler.

Nowadays it has become more and more common also for bespoke shoemakers to do this, since customers want the hand stitched soles and all the regular craft associated with how bespoke makers build their shoes, with the pros that comes with a rubber outsole.

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Crepe soles

Used mainly for more casual models. A natural rubber sole that offers good grip in some conditions and lousy grip in others, so a bit unpredictable to wear. Since it’s soft it’s often experienced as really comfortable, but also wears out quickly.

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York soles

Now we go over to to various types of rubber soles where they are listed sometimes by the most common manufacturer, sometimes by names given by the most common manufacturer, and sometimes have more generic names as the most common used. York is basically a rubber sole with a leather insert at the waist and back. The standard York sole is actually on the thicker side, even if it has a sleek appearance. The rubber outsole parts are slightly studded for a bit better grip. The one called York is mainly used by Spanish makers, but as always there’s similar versions around with other names. Good in wet conditions, less good in winter on snow and ice due to often having a relatively hard rubber compound.

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City rubber soles

The sole type that has taken off the most in recent years in the dress shoe world. The beauty of these thin rubber soles is that they look just like leather soles, looking from the side it’s hard to tell the difference. They are of course better than leather in wet conditions due to being waterproof and offering better grip, and depending on the rubber mix they can also offer some grip on snow and ice.

Even if they are thin the finer makers can’t make these as sleek as their leather soled ones, due to having to use a more sparse stitching in general, and for factories the fudging machines where one decorates the welt usually don’t work with rubber soles. Lots of different types of city soles out there, some have names like Wensum, R1 or Tomir (the latter is more of rubber inserts in a leather sole though), and in most cases they have a slight tread for improved grip.

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Dainite studded rubber soles

One of the most common rubber soles for shoes and boots, with its characteristic studs. They are often called Dainite soles, but it’s only the name that the largest manufacturer of these type of soles has, where Dainite is the brand of the British company The Harboro Rubber Co. Then you have every rubber sole maker doing similar versions, like Vibram’s Eton sole, Itshides Studded, Dr. Sole’s Cushion Gentleman and so on.

The original sole, Dainite Studded, is very hard-wearing although some experience it as a bit hard to walk long times in and it’s not good in temperatures below 0 degrees celsius when it gets super hard and slippery, there others like Vibram’s or Dr Sole’s are better with softer yet durable rubber compounds. Some cheap copies can wear out really quick, but all the big brands’ ones have excellent durability.

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Medway soles

The original one is made by Dainite, a sole type that isn’t very common. A sturdier rubber sole that is good for trudging in some terrain, but in winter snow can get packed into the tread and it can become like wearing ice skates.

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Ridgeway soles

Also this name comes from Dainite, and it’s much more commonly used and many other manufacturers do versions as well. A rough sole that is excellent in the woods and superb on ice, however this also carries the problem that snow can be packed into the pattern which can make it slippery and difficult to walk with in winter. Since the pattern on the Medway and Ridgeway doesn’t go all the way to the edge, they can look a bit sleeker than the sole actually is.

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Commando soles

Another type of sole where there is a bit of conceptual confusion. Invented by the famous Italian sole manufacturer Vibram in the 1930’s, the sole was named Carrarmato and was designed primarily for mountaineering. In England, however, the potential for military use was seen, and in 1940 the company Itshide made a replica called the Commando. Since the British hold sway in the world of quality footwear, this is the name that is most known, together with the more plain term lug soles, and still it’s Vibram’s Carrarmato which is the most commonly used one, and many other sole manufacturers do versions.

There are both versions where the tread ends a bit in from the edge, so one can do the outsole stitch, and those where the pattern goes all the way out to the edge for cementing only, making the shoes feel rougher. Of course, it’s best for boots or really chunky low shoes. Also available in versions where the rubber is attach to a leather sole, and where the waist is in leather. Commando soles are great in the woods and on ice, but like the sole types above, it’s not uncommon for snow to pack into the pattern, especially in the heel area.

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Mini lug soles

Very similar to Commando soles, just with slightly smaller lugs which are placed in pairs. Basically the same preferences altogether with Commando soles, and also a sole type made by loads of manufacturers.

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Supergrip soles

This is the most famous pattern from the Taiwanese sole brand Dr. Sole, which has gained more and more popularity in recent years mainly in the workwear boot segment. The pattern is inspired by historic rubber soles and has a clear vintage feel over them, and is offered in various versions and rubber compounds where the names and tread can vary a bit, but all derive from the same base.

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Raw cord soles

Also here Dr Sole is the most known manufacturer today, here one refers to the material though. During the WWII when there was shortage of most materials, including rubber, which meant that shoe manufacturers started to melt down old car tyres which had nylon cords in them for reinforcement. This was left when one made the rubber soles, and created a special character. Since car tyres are hard wearing, also the soles made of the same material are.

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Wedge soles

The name is a bit weird since it does mainly refers to soles that is like a wedge where the heel and front part of the sole is made joined together. Also high women’s shoes have wedge soles, but in the case of welted footwear and similar it’s mainly the lightweight blown rubber soles one refer to.

Vibram is probably the most famous manufacturer of these, with their Cristy and even more lightweight Morflex soles as examples, but also brands like XL, Dr Sole and loads of others do various versions, and Red Wing who are famous for them have their own versions. The blown rubber soles has air injected into the rubber compound, which makes them extra lightweight. Not the most durable sole type, but grip is in most cases surprisingly good also in slippery conditions like snow, but black ice sure is too much for them.

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Airwair soles

Has some things in common with the blown rubber wedge soles, here it’s also about making the rubber more lightweight by infusing air, but with a different technique which makes it more bouncy and get a shiny finish. This sole type was invented by the German doctor Klaus Märten during the second world war, and eventually the patent ended up in England where the NPS factory started using it for a type of boot called Dr. Martens. The rest is, as one say, history.

Dr Martens aren’t the only ones doing this type of soles. Now when they have moved their manufacturing to Asia NPS continue to make the same type of boots under the brand name Solovair, with the same type of soles, and many others do similar versions.

 

Learn more on footwear soles in these articles:

Report – Gerberei Martin, traditional oak bark sole leather tannery

The tip – Get rid of gravel from leather soles

The tip – Flush rubber toe taps