What To Do With Old Work Boots in 2022 (Recycle Old Boots)

It’s inevitable. At some point, your old work boots will give out, and you’ll have to buy a new pair. But what to do with old work boots?

You could just throw them away, but there are other (much more eco-friendly) options. Here are a few ideas on how to reuse or recycle your work boots.

Give Your Boots A New Life By Resoling Them

If your boots were made through Blake Stitch, Goodyear Welt, or Storm Welt construction methods, they can be resoled by a cobbler to give them years of further usage.

In addition to the money you could save, resoling has the added benefit of not having to break in a new pair of boots. It has the potential to save you weeks or months of discomfort on the job that a new pair may cause your feet.

If you’re dealing with boots made through cement, direct-attach, or injection molded construction methods, resoling your shoes isn’t an option.

For everyone in that situation, keep reading; we have plenty more options for you to review. In the world of boots, these styles are considered disposable, and the juice isn’t worth the squeeze when it comes to resoling.

The cost would be greater than the value you would get in return, and they’d fail to perform like a new pair of boots.

Get Creative! Ideas For Your Old Boots 

There are a number of ways you can take your old boots and make them into household items that will extend their lifespan by many years. Below are some ideas for you.

Work Boot Flower Planter

You can also transform your old and ugly work boots into a beautiful flower planter.

Here is how you do it:

• Just fill your work boots with soil and plant them in a way that it fits inside the throat of your shoes.
• You can also place the boot down and let it there if you want to be more creative.
• If you are not using pull-on work boots and your boots have laces.
• You can easily create a hanging boot garden by hanging them from the tree branches or porch railings.

Use Your Old Boots as a Tool

This method is perfect for contractors and carpenters as it allows them to transform their old work boots into a solid brace that will be helpful in cutting long lumber and other similar materials.

Anyone in these businesses understands that you often have to cut by yourself while working, and no one is around to hold the piece you want to cut.

You can easily transform your old working boots into a tool that can work as your helping hand in this case.

Usually, work boots are heavy. If your pair is also heavy, you can place a pipe, lumber, or other materials in between them so it will not move while you are cutting or hitting it with a chop or any type of saw.

However, you need to use concrete or cement for this purpose. Take these items, mix them properly, and put them in your boot’s throat until it is almost full. In our opinion, aim for approximately two inches from the top and avoid spillage.

How about your Old work boots as a Doorstop?

The simplest and quickest way to use your old boots is to use them as your doorstop. You can do this by filling the boots with any heavy material that can stop the door from moving or swinging.

You can use cement, as we mentioned in the above-mentioned step. However, gravel will also work fine and needs less effort.

Use them as New Grime Boots

If you don’t toss or recycle your old work boots, we recommend using them as your grime boots.

It’s advised to keep an extra and old pair of boots that you can use and wear for the nasty jobs. It can be any task in which you don’t want to wear your new boots.

Re-sole old boots

If your old work boots are in decent condition overall but just missing their rubber or steel outsoles, you can resole old work boots instead of buying new ones.

All you need to do is pick up the old soles at your local cobbler and attach them to your old boots before wearing them again.

Make old boots into moccasins

If there is nothing wrong with your old work boots except for their worn-out soles, you can turn old work boots into moccasins.

You can either attach old leather soles to the bottom of old boots or buy old sole material from a shoe cobbler and make your own soles. Tack them over old boot uppers with contact cement, and sew the rest together using heavy-duty upholstery thread.

Turn old work boots into sandals

If your old work boots are in decent condition, you can turn them into sandals. Just attach old boot soles to the bottom of old boot uppers with contact cement and cut old boot tongues off at the laces.

You can sew old work boots by hand or machine, but you’ll need to use upholstery thread again here.

Re-furbish old work boots

If there is nothing wrong with your old work boots except for their old worn-out soles, you can re-furbish old work boots instead of buying new ones.

All you need to do is pick up old boot soles at your local cobbler and attach them to old boots before wearing them again.

Recycle old boots

You can also recycle old work boots by returning them to where you bought them and asking for a refund.

Sale your old boots

You can also sell old work boots instead of buying new ones. Put them in good condition, then take pictures and list old work boots on Craigslist or eBay.

Bottom Line

Now that you know what to do with old work boots, there’s no excuse not to do the right thing. By keeping them out of the landfill, you’re helping reduce our impact on the environment. So go ahead and get a new pair of work boots—but don’t forget about your old ones!