A Lace That Snapped on the Way Out

The lace broke in your hand at the door. You are already late. Your keys are jangling in your other palm, fat cold raindrops are spotting the welcome mat three inches from the toe of your scuffed white sneaker, and the broken end of the lace curls like a crumpled thread against your thumb.

This Scuffed White Sneaker Shows Its Hidden Wear First

You picked these sneakers up on clearance at the end of last winter, specifically looking for a pair you could wear anywhere without stressing about scuffs or stains. You’ve worn them hiking on muddy forest trails where mud caked the soles so thick you had to scrape them off with a stick before you could get in your car, to backyard barbecues where you stood for three hours eating grilled burgers and chatting with friends, to late night walks to get soft serve when the pavement was still warm from the summer sun. The deep gray scuff on the toe of the right shoe is from when you tripped over a curb outside your favorite coffee shop last month, you didn’t even bother to wipe it off because it felt like a silly, happy reminder of the morning you ran into your old roommate and caught up for an hour over lattes. The tiny pale pink stain on the outer side of the left shoe is from the raspberry lemonade your niece spilled on them at her 6th birthday party, you tried to scrub it out once with dish soap but it wouldn’t budge, so you left it as another small, good memory stitched into the shoe. You noticed the laces fraying two weeks ago, when you were tying them to head to the gym, you thought to yourself “I should replace those soon” but then you got distracted by a text from your friend and forgot all about it. Since then, you’ve kept yanking the laces tight every time you put the shoes on, pulling harder when they started to slip mid-walk, until today when the right lace snapped clean in half as you were tying it to head out to your doctor’s appointment. The left lace is frayed too, you can see the white cotton threads coming loose at the aglet, the clear plastic end is cracked and peeling off, so you know you’ll have to replace that one too when you get the chance.

Your Quick Fix Keeps This Pair Wearable For Your Errands

You don’t have time to run inside, dig through your closet for a different pair of shoes, or rummage through drawers for replacement laces, you’re already five minutes late and the next bus to the clinic comes in seven minutes. You perch on the Doorstep Bench for 10 seconds while you work through your quick, temporary fix, no need to head inside and waste more time that you don’t have. You keep a small plastic junk bin on the entry shelf stocked with random supplies for small, last-minute problems, so you already have everything you need right at hand:

1. Grab the half of the broken lace still threaded through the top three eyelets of the right sneaker, pull it tight enough that the shoe fits snug around your instep, no gaps that would make it slip as you walk, then tie a tight double overhand knot right at the top eyelet to keep it from slipping back through the holes when you move fast to catch the bus.
2. Tuck the short leftover end of that knotted lace under the edge of the sneaker’s padded tongue so it doesn’t drag on the wet, puddle-dotted pavement as you walk, and tuck the loose frayed threads under the knot so they don’t catch on the edge of a curb or a crack in the sidewalk.
3. Reach into the small plastic junk bin you keep on the entry shelf, pull out the roll of clear packing tape you keep there for sealing up return packages and taping broken hanging hooks back to the wall, tear off a 2.5 inch strip of tape, being careful not to crumple the edges so it lays smooth against the lace.
4. Wrap that strip of tape tightly around the broken raw end of the other half of the lace, pressing the edges down smooth so there are no sticky spots that will catch on the eyelets as you thread it through, then thread the taped end back down through the top two eyelets of the sneaker, pull it tight against the knotted end, and tie a standard double bow to keep the shoe secure.

You give the bow a quick, firm tug to make sure it’s tight, wiggle your foot inside the shoe to make sure it doesn’t slip, and it feels secure enough to get you through the next few hours. Illustrative example: This temporary fix will hold for the 18-minute walk to the clinic, the 45 minute check-in appointment you’re running late to, and the stop at the grocery store on your way home before the tape starts to peel away from the lace end. There’s no guarantee the fix will last longer than that, of course: if you step in a puddle deep enough to soak the tape, it will lose its stick and slip out of the eyelets, so you’ll step around the deep puddles forming on the sidewalk as you walk to the bus stop. It’s not a permanent solution, but it’s enough to get you where you need to go right now, no extra delay required.

Next Time You Grab This Pair, You’ll Swap Out the Frayed Laces

When you get home later that evening, your sneakers are damp around the soles from walking through light rain on the way back from the store, the tape on the end of the right lace is starting to peel at the edges, just like you thought it might. You toe off the sneakers right by the door, leaving them sitting side by side on the black rubber welcome mat just inside the entry, the taped end of the right lace still half tied, the frayed aglet on the left lace peeking out from under its bow. You don’t bother to untie them now, you’re tired from your errands and your appointment, so you just kick them off next to your rain boots and head inside to make dinner and unwind. You have a pack of thick white cotton replacement laces in the top drawer of the hall closet, you bought them three weeks ago when you first noticed the laces fraying, you tossed them in the drawer next to a pack of extra batteries and a stack of unused mailing labels and forgot all about them until the lace snapped today. You don’t plan to wear the sneakers again until tomorrow morning, when you head out for your usual 3 mile walk around the neighborhood before work, so that’s when you’ll fix them properly. When you pick the pair up tomorrow, you’ll sit down on the floor by the entry, pull the old frayed laces out of both shoes, toss them in the trash can under the entry shelf, then thread the new laces through the eyelets, going slow to make sure they’re even on both sides so you don’t end up with lopsided bows when you tie them. You’ll tug the laces tight to make sure they sit snug against your foot when you put the shoes on, tie a test bow, wiggle your foot inside to make sure the fit is right, then set the shoes back by the door ready to wear. You’ll check the aglets on the new laces before you put them on, making sure they’re not cracked or peeling, so you don’t have to deal with another snapped lace when you’re already running late again. You might even tuck an extra pair of laces in the junk bin by the door, just in case this happens again down the line, so you don’t have to rely on packing tape for a temporary fix next time you’re rushing out the door.