# Shoe Lace Scam **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101 "2009-11-10T21:49:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/1 "2009-11-10T21:49:42Z")
Why is it that on the rare occasions I go to buy new shoelaces, every time the size recomended on the chart on the back of the package is abysmally too small? There’s always a little chart saying how long a pair to buy for different number of holes to be threaded through. If you do what they say you get home and find you have maybe on each side an inch at most of shoelace sticking out the last hole ; nowhere near enough to tie. Then its back to the store to buy a second package, and of course you can’t really return the first one. Is this some sort of scam by the shoe-lace barons to double sales? From now on I measure one of the old ones and go by that. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/2 "2009-11-10T21:52:47Z")
Good plan. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/3 "2009-11-10T21:57:09Z")
Good luck with the new plan. I did exactly that and couldn’t find shoe laces as short as the originals, so now I have laces that are (a) 6 inches longer than I need and (b) already falling apart at the ends. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/4 "2009-11-10T22:44:17Z")
I think that in today’s disposable society you’re not expected to have to buy new shoelaces - by the time the shoelaces wear out, you throw away the shoes. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/5 "2009-11-10T23:00:08Z")
I always thought they should sell do-it-yourself, heat-shrink aglet kits to put new tips on the shoelaces. Scotch tape is tacky. ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/6 "2009-11-10T23:07:36Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Scotch tape is tacky. Only on one side. ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/7 "2009-11-10T23:13:02Z")
It’s tit-for-tat in the lace world. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/8 "2009-11-11T04:11:49Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I always thought they should sell do-it-yourself, heat-shrink aglet kits to put new tips on the shoelaces. Scotch tape is tacky. They do. Look for heat shrink tubing at Radio Shack. You do have to buy a lot of them at a time though. Or try [glue or clear nail polish](http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/agletglue.htm). **Knead** , if you come see me at work, I’ll measure your old laces and fit you with the correct size. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/9 "2009-11-11T05:46:28Z")
Quote: Originally Posted by needscoffee I always thought they should sell do-it-yourself, heat-shrink aglet kits to put new tips on the shoelaces. Scotch tape is tacky. “aglet”. _ **that’s** _ the word I couldn’t think of. Bring on those crossword puzzles. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/10 "2009-11-11T12:12:17Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I always thought they should sell do-it-yourself, heat-shrink aglet kits to put new tips on the shoelaces. Scotch tape is tacky. Hey, that reminds me - somebody (Bob and Ray?) had a comedy routine about a guy who ran a shoelace-repair business. They went into detail on all the ‘services’ he provided (ironing, removing threads, aglet-replacement, etc. etc.) with a fee for each and if you went ‘all the way’ it cost you something like $15. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/11 "2009-11-11T14:00:44Z")
i saw an aglet repair kit at a shoe store long ago. it had rounded metal replacement tips and a crimping tool. you placed the not too badly frayed lace end into the tip, crimped and trimmed. if the lace is synthetic you can melt the tip to keep from fraying though it doesn’t aid in feeding through two leather thickness holes. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/12 "2009-11-12T02:06:25Z")
Everything you need to know about shoelaces, and much, much more than you probably need to know[here](http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/lacingphotos.php). ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-lace-scam/517101/13 "2009-11-12T04:01:39Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Everything you need to know about shoelaces, and much, much more than you probably need to know[here](http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/lacingphotos.php). You really can find anything on the internet.