Fixing deteriorating pleather with glue?

I hope someone might have some advice here for me! 

Recently my MDD Illya arrived home (the hollow Ataraxia one) and she has infamous pleather boots... Ofc they immediately started to crack when I put them on though I was careful as I could... It's just cracks forming yet so I'm wondering if I get some good glue would to coat the boots on, might that help the boots from completely flaking off? (Everything was sealed when I got her so that's why the boots were still fine until I unpacked them. I'm aware of the infamous Volks pleather, that's why I was so careful in putting the boots on) 

Sadly her shoes aren't ones that are easily replaced due to their design 

Unfortunately I haven't seen a good simple fix for this. One solution that looked alright was to remove the flaking plastic pleather layer, and paint the fabric underneath with fabric paint.

Yes I've heard of that solution too but I'm not too sure if I want to do that, especially since it's not flaking off yet 

Maybe I'll just try out the glue, I'm just afraid of damaging the boots in worst case 

Based on personal experience I see you have the following options. 1 and 2 are interchangeable in order while number 3 is the "last resort"

1. Get some stationery glue and using a brush cover all the inside underneath the fabric, doesn't matter if its started flaking or not. Do not overdo it or it may make matters worse, just a good layer to ensure that even if the pleather cracks it will stay in place.

2. Get some high quality nail polish in the most similar shade of your liking and using a thin brush paint over and inside the cracks. Quality matters because it's more flexible (not really that flexible but it'll help to get the best quality possible since cheaper polish is more prone to crack). 

The above steps will hold for a long while and possibly avoid more damage at all if you handle the boots with care. The results may vary depending on skill but its easy and quick.

If for whatever reason the boots just start crumbling they can still be salvageable to some extent depending on how much work are you willing to put on them and how much are you interested in a "perfect" look

You need white caulk and purple pastel or chalk. What you do is basically first dye the white caulk by pulverizing the pastel and mixing it in a small metal tin or recipient of your choosing and then use this paste and a flat brush to patch up all the areas where the pleather has completely fallen off and seal wherever the damage is so extensive that no other option is possible. (Just fyi, there are cualks that explicitly state that can or can't be painted but that is after they cure, with this one approach doesn't matter because you're dying it before it cures). You can use your wet brush or finger to further push it into the fabric and even "texturize" it before it dries to give a more natural look. It takes about a day to completely dry and lasts basically forever.

(Of course it can also be used as is to repair white vinyl items)

Here's the one I use. You'll find it in any hardware store (at least in nyc) but I guess any brand will work just as well.

Hope this helps, good luck! 

Edited March 3, 2024 by puxlavoix

2 hours ago, puxlavoix said:

Based on personal experience I see you have the following options. 1 and 2 are interchangeable in order while number 3 is the "last resort"

1. Get some stationery glue and using a brush cover all the inside underneath the fabric, doesn't matter if its started flaking or not. Do not overdo it or it may make matters worse, just a good layer to ensure that even if the pleather cracks it will stay in place.

2. Get some high quality nail polish in the most similar shade of your liking and using a thin brush paint over and inside the cracks. Quality matters because it's more flexible (not really that flexible but it'll help to get the best quality possible since cheaper polish is more prone to crack). 

The above steps will hold for a long while and possibly avoid more damage at all if you handle the boots with care. The results may vary depending on skill but its easy and quick.

If for whatever reason the boots just start crumbling they can still be salvageable to some extent depending on how much work are you willing to put on them and how much are you interested in a "perfect" look

You need white caulk and purple pastel or chalk. What you do is basically first dye the white caulk by pulverizing the pastel and mixing it in a small metal tin or recipient of your choosing and then use this paste and a flat brush to patch up all the areas where the pleather has completely fallen off and seal wherever the damage is so extensive that no other option is possible. (Just fyi, there are cualks that explicitly state that can or can't be painted but that is after they cure, with this one approach doesn't matter because you're dying it before it cures). You can use your wet brush or finger to further push it into the fabric and even "texturize" it before it dries to give a more natural look. It takes about a day to completely dry and lasts basically forever.

(Of course it can also be used as is to repair white vinyl items)

Here's the one I use. You'll find it in any hardware store (at least in nyc) but I guess any brand will work just as well.

Hope this helps, good luck! 

 

Thank you so much for this! 

I'm glad my glue solution is a proper solution, I was just thinking it would fix the pleather in place and usually glue is also flexible (if you have the correct one) 

But I didn't think of nail polish, that also sounds like a good odea

I'll use one of these 2 for a start, I'm pretty sure it should be enough for fixing the boots since they're not flaking yet 

 

I'm in the EU though, so not sure about the 3rd solution but I'll look into it if it becomes necessary! I'd like the shoes to keep a pretty perfect look since Illya wouldn't be complete without them