# Poll: On men's shoe laces and the tying thereof **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807 "2017-06-01T00:22:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/21 "2017-06-01T10:25:46Z")
For dress shoes, I generally buy thicker, longer laces (e.g. black boot laces) to replace what the store provides and I tie them in a double knot. But recently I’ve mostly been wearing loafers for work. I don’t generally have a problem with sneaker laces. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/22 "2017-06-01T12:18:47Z")
I learned about [heel/lace lock](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/11/extra-shoelace-holes-lace-heel-lock-video_n_7254758.html) a few years ago. Tried it and found it really worked well. So a standard simple knot for the laces works. It’s not the knot, it’s the lacing that matters. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/23 "2017-06-01T13:30:44Z")
Nobody just leaves them tied and slips them on? That’s what I do. > [@Mudshark](#): > > Standard knot. If the loops are exceptionally long, > then the tied laces may have the loops fucked into the shoe. You probably can just use your fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/24 "2017-06-01T13:46:13Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Most of my shoes are slip-ons, though when I wear sneakers, I tie them the old fashioned way. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > I wear nice Timberland Pro Oxfords with composite toes most of the time. They are business casual/dress shoes that are extremely well made and meant for heavy use even in industrial environments but you can wear them anywhere. I still haven’t even worn even a single pair of laces out in 4 years let alone the shoes themselves and I have been given 3 pairs so far that may outlast me even though I am not that old. > > I just use a standard, single knot and it hardly ever comes untied. The key is that the laces they come with are heavy duty and flat. Rounded laces are bad news and will come untied without fancier knots. I just replace any rounded laces on my other shoes with heavy duty flat ones of the appropriate length and that eliminates the problem. You don’t want the really cheap ones because they will fray fairly quickly. I am a combo of these two. Most of my shoes are [Simple](https://simpleshoes.com/mesa-black/) clogs, except for the Timberland Pro Titanium toed work shoes. Standard knot on the work shoes. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/25 "2017-06-01T16:50:14Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I do Ian’s secure, though I don’t call it that. Also follow the directions to make sure you’re doing a square knot and not a granny knot. After years of double knotting, I find that this one almost never falls apart, though I generally double up with boot style laces that are round in cross section. But these are also more generous with the laces. That secure knot, I also use. > [@Slash1972](#): > > Nobody just leaves them tied and slips them on? That’s what I do. The purpose of tying the lace is so the shoes won’t just slip off. So no. Although I did when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/26 "2017-06-01T16:56:47Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > The purpose of tying the lace is so the shoes won’t just slip off. So no. Although I did when I was a kid. Strange, my shoes don’t slip off. Perhaps, just maybe, and I’m spit-balling here, that it’s possible to tie shoes enough so they don’t slip off accidentally while simultaneously allowing your feet to purposely be put into and taken out of the shoe? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/27 "2017-06-01T17:07:37Z")
I replace the laces on all of my shoes (except dress shoes, of course, which only get worn like once a year anyways) with [these elastic laces](https://www.amazon.com/LOCK-LACES-Elastic-Tie-Shoelaces/dp/B00975EAJ6). Easy on-and-off like slip-ons, but also tight and secure like traditional laces. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/28 "2017-06-01T17:16:21Z")
I answered “Hi Opal!” because I tie my shoes in a completely unique way. My father was big on encouraging creativity, so he made a wooden shoe with laces, showed me what a bow looked like and told me “Make something like that.” I came up with my own method, and have been doing it that way ever since. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/29 "2017-06-01T17:21:10Z")
Didn’t vote because it completely depends on the type of shoe and what I’ll be doing. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/30 "2017-06-01T17:29:53Z")
I use a mostly-standard knot (a square-like knot except with the second overhand being tied on a pair of bights), but with one twist: I tie the first overhand, then I tuck the loose ends of the laces through the last pare of lace-holes and knot them in place, and then I tie the overhand-on-bights. This has a few advantages: One, it uses up more lace, because I find that most shoes have laces that are too long and I step on them otherwise. Two, it means that the first overhand never comes untied, and I can do the second part of the knot by muscle memory to get a square rather than a granny. Three, it prevents the loose ends from getting through the bights and forming a tangle. Four, when it’s time to take them off, I can pull on the loose ends with a single finger to untie the knot, which is slightly easier than gripping them. As far as replacing the laces, a few years back I got some laces with periodic bulges in them, like a string of beads, or a python which has swallowed a bunch of piglets. They still come untied fairly easily when you want them to, but are much less prone to loosening on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/31 "2017-06-01T18:07:06Z")
I do the standard. But I always replace the laces that come with the shoe with cotton laces. They never come out, while the nylon (or whatever they use) are always coming loose. Even round cotton laces work fine. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/32 "2017-06-01T18:39:53Z")
I use a standard Ian “Fast” knot. Haven’t noticed laces getting any shorter. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/33 "2017-06-01T19:25:04Z")
Shoes are an abomination unto the Lord. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/34 "2017-06-01T19:36:29Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Shoes are an abomination unto the Lord. Spoken like a true cloven-hoofed barefooted satyr. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/35 "2017-06-01T19:42:47Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > I was telling my hubby this, last week, and he said that today’s young men don’t tie them at all, they just tuck the ends inside the shoe, except for exercise. Well, so far, your hubby seems to be sadly mistaken. Either that or we have no “young men” on this site. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/36 "2017-06-01T19:53:55Z")
There’s also the fact that manufacturers insist on making laces out of friction-free materials like nylon. I fully expect some designer to proceed to the logical corollary and coat the soles with Teflon. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/37 "2017-06-01T20:45:29Z")
Other–I use a bow knot, which the reference site lists as a “two loop knot”. You take up two loops, cross them over each other, then feed one of them back through the gap and cinch it down. It’s pretty secure, as long as it’s balanced. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/38 "2017-06-02T03:40:11Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Other–I use a bow knot, which the reference site lists as a “two loop knot”. You take up two loops, cross them over each other, then feed one of them back through the gap and cinch it down. It’s pretty secure, as long as it’s balanced. Is that the same as a “bunny ear” knot? I am not making fun of you but there is no way I am doing that as an adult. One thing I learned looking up things for this thread is that there are a whole bunch of shoe tying knots and even web sites devoted to them. Here is one (warning, graphically offensive because of 1990’s design style but very comprehensive). > **[Two Loop Shoelace Knot](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/twoloopknot.htm)** > > Tutorial for tying the Two Loop Shoelace Knot, in which the laces are formed into two loops and tied with a half knot. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/39 "2017-06-02T07:21:09Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Is that the same as a “bunny ear” knot? According to the reference site (which the OP already linked, BTW), apparently so. I’ve never called it that, though. > [@](#): > > I am not making fun of you but there is no way I am doing that as an adult. Why, because some people have a silly name for it? It’s a common knot, easily tied and plenty secure. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807/40 "2017-06-02T09:06:36Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Is that the same as a “bunny ear” knot? > > I am not making fun of you but there is no way I am doing that as an adult. One thing I learned looking up things for this thread is that there are a whole bunch of shoe tying knots and even web sites devoted to them. > > Here is one (warning, graphically offensive because of 1990’s design style but very comprehensive). > > [Ian's Shoelace Site – Two Loop Shoelace Knot](https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/twoloopknot.htm) The end result is **exactly** the same so why do the means matter? There is also a third method that gives the same result on that website, which by the way is also in the OP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-mens-shoe-laces-and-the-tying-thereof/787807.md?page=3)