Goodyear Welted Construction – The Complete Step-by-Step Guide
Estimated Reading Time: ~ 15 minutes
If you’re just getting into quality footwear, start here → Types of Shoes and Shoe Construction – A Beginner’s Guide Then see the world’s most common method → Cemented Construction in Footwear Manufacturing Explained Now come with us to know on welted construction.
WELTED CONSTRUCTION
The welted construction is an indirect method of attachment: first the welt, upper and the rib of the insole are sewn together by chain stitch (horizontal seam); then the sole and the welt are sewn together by lock stitching (vertical seam).
Full Goodyear Welted Process Flowchart
Making (Lasting and Bottoming)
Insole Attaching
Insole attaching can be the first operation in lasting. The insoles are held in position with 2-3 tacks in the forepart, one in the waist and one in the heel seat. The insole should be correctly placed on the last. No portion must protrude out of the feather line, which will result in lifted upper and visible welt seam. Protrusion at the side will result in distorted feather line.
Stiffener and Toe Puff Insertion
Stiffeners (counters) can be of pre-molded type, or sheet type either thermoplastic or solvent activated and will be inserted between lining and upper. Toe puff may be of solvent activated or thermoplastic ones. Counter and toe puff must be accurately skived to avoid print through, which may also cause discomfort in wear.
Back Tacking
To ensure central back seam and correct back height the upper is tacked to the seat area of the insole. This operation can be eliminated when back part moulding machine with flanging device is used.
Pulling Over and Toe Lasting
Today, the entire toe area is lasted by forepart lasting (pulling over and toe lasting) machine in one operation. Fastening is carried out by hot melt cement with a special rib, called ‘Plirib’, attached on the insole. Forepart lasting onto plirib is more or less standard practice now. The rib needs to be a lay-flat type so the wipers can slide over it. There are even 9-pincer forepart lasters adapted for welted shoe lasting.
Pro Tip: Always use solvent-free thermoplastic toe puffs on high-end shoes — they stay soft and never yellow or crack even after 10–15 years of wear.
Side Lasting
Similar to tack lasting at the toe, the waist area of the upper is fastened with the outer wall of the rib by wire staple. The upper is given a manual drafting pull and secured firmly in place by hand before staples are driven horizontally one by one by the side lasting machine. Today, with plirib the side lasting can be done by combined forepart + side or seat + side lasting machines. The staple side laster is still widely used in high-end welted factories.
Heel Seat Lasting
The seat is usually flat lasted using tacks, also cement lasting can be used. The operation tends to tighten the shoe on the back of the last, thus making for a tight close fitting of the upper in that region. Maintaining proper back height is very important. Seat corner tacks must be driven ¼ inch behind from the end of the rib.
Heat Setting
This is an operation carried out to ensure shape retention of the lasted upper within limited production time for a pair of shoe. Moisture and high velocity air is applied on the lasted upper material for a given time to relax the lasting strain. However, the parameter values of heat setting varies with the material used. An inspection before this operation must be carried out to eliminate any possible defects such as pleats in the operations.
Upper Trimming
This operation is performed to prepare the lasted upper for welt sewing. The surplus material of the lasting margin of the shoe upper is trimmed off by upper trimming machine leaving 2–3 millimeters above the rib. Before this operation, the insole tacks are removed. The upper must be trimmed far enough back at the seat corners.
Welt Sewing
Welt sewing can be seen as the first operation of bottoming. The welt is a narrow ¾″ wide and 2.5–3 mm thick strip of vegetable tanned leather with a groove on the flesh side into which stitching is bedded. On the grain side, the welt is beveled so that it will lie at right angle to the edge of the upper when beaten. The leather welt is tempered in water before being attached. The welt sewing machine produce a chain stitch, using a wax lubricated nylon or linen thread (6–9 ply).
The wax coating prevents melting of thread due to its friction with the thick leather and also seals the hole made by the needle in the welt and the upper to improve water resistance. While stitching, a suitable guide is used matching the contour and width of the welt. The position of the guide is adjusted so that the needle can pass through its groove and through upper and the rib of the insole. Thread tension must be controlled to prevent stitch showing after the welt is beaten.
Welt Tacking and Butting
This is a bench operation. The welt ends are beaten back in line with the wall of the rib and tacked in this position. The ends are then skived by a knife to blend with the seat piece. This operation is highly skilled as the shape of the bottom of the shoe and the level of the line depends on the operator’s skill. Insole score marks of the lip are the starting and stopping points for the operator.
Inseam Trimming
A cylindrical knife of the inseam trimming machine trims the welt, upper and insole rib tight to the seam to reduce the cavity between sole and insole thereby improve flexing. This operation must be done carefully in order not to damage welt-sewing thread.
Best Practice: Never skip inseam trimming — it lowers the cavity height under the foot and dramatically improves flexibility and break-in comfort
Welt Beating
The welt is beaten by welt beating machine to bring it out at right angles to the shoe and to consolidate the fiber structure of the welt to give a better edge finish. The vegetable tanned leather welt must be mellow during beating so that it can easily conform to the shape of the last in the turning, and must be allowed to dry after beating to ease sole laying operation. Today, PVC welt is also used in work boots.
Shank Attaching and Bottom Filling
The shank, steel or wooden is attached by adhesive. The shank can also be attached by eyelet type of rivets onto a seat board piece that fits into the cavity at the insole waist. This assembly is then cemented onto the insole. Since weight-bearing capacity of a footwear largely depends on this operation, shank also must follow the last contour at its waist area and be of required length and quality. Cork (traditionally), or felt filler etc. is usually used for bottom filling (forepart). Tar impregnated Cork filler, applied as hot, makes the shoe more water-tight and flexible. Cork may not any more be easily available.
Attach Seat Piece
A leather seat piece (the same substance as the welt) which is skived to match the welt skive is attached to the seat. The skived edge is cemented and the seat piece is tacked over the lasting allowance. Its job is to build up substance around the seat equal to that of the welt. The shoe is then passed through a drying cabinet at 25–30 °C to dry out filler and welt for sole attaching operation. This is to be noted that to obtain good finish at the seat area the seat piece must be cut from the prime part of the bend.
Sole and Shoe Bottom Cementing
The shoe and the mulled outsole (leather) are coated with latex adhesive and left for adhesive drying before sole attaching.
Sole Attaching
The prepared sole is attached using a sole laying press. It is necessary to design the sole to leave an allowance around the edge of the sole for rough rounding.
Rough Rounding and Channeling
This is one of the highly skilled operations in the attaching room. The function of this operation is to round the welt and the sole to a certain width all round the feather line and at the same time to cut the channel or groove in the sole for the purpose of lock stitching and protecting the stitches. Rough rounding machine must be set so that the distance of the sole edge from the center of the groove is about 1/8″.
The width of the groove varied by the type of knife and its depth should be such that the stitches are just buried. In case of channelling is done on the sole, it should be opened immediately after rough rounding operation as long as the sole is mellow. The machine opens and lays back the lip of the channel, so the channel is sufficiently open for stitching. This is done while the sole is still in mellow condition.
Pro Tip: Keep the leather sole “mellow” (slightly damp) for 4–6 hours after sole pressing — this prevents the channel lip from cracking when you open it for stitching..
Outsole Stitching
The outsole stitching, i.e. securing of soles to the welt is being done on sole stitching machine. The seam connecting the sole and welt is vertical and formed with two threads penetrating from each side and locking together (lock stitch). The machine is set for suitable stitch length for various welt and soling materials and the thread tension is adjusted so that the threads are locked about 1/3 of the substance. The length of the stitches depends on the substance being stitched; type of work and the size of awl, needle and thread used. It is usual to have an awl slightly bigger than the needle as it reduces friction from the hole.
Channel Closing
If the outsole stitching is not in a groove, but in an open channel, the open channel is cemented with latex and after drying the adhesive is then closed. The shoe bottom is pressed against a revolving brass wheel to lay the channel flat to the sole, covering the stitching.
Stitch Wheeling and Separating
It is a decorative operation. An indentation is made in the welt between each stitch to emphasize the stitching. This is done from the out heel breast position till inside joint. Number of indent teeth on the wheel must match the stitch length. Stitch separating brings each stitch out boldly, thus improving the appearance.
Bottom Leveling
This operation is performed on sole leveling machine. The machine is roller type or press type. The purpose of this operation is to make the sole conform to the bottom of the last, and set it permanently in such a position, remove all unevenness and to force the sole to the welt itself to the original position after welt beating.
Seat Nailing
The seat of the sole is permanently attached to the seat lift and insole with nails. The nail ends clench against the metal plate on the shoe last bottom.
Seat Paring (Seat Trimming)
The surplus heel and seat piece around the seat is trimmed to 1/8″ from the feather edge. This acts as a guide for heel attaching.
Finishing Section (Goodyear Welted)
Outside Heel Attaching
There are two methods of outside heel attaching used for welted footwear.
Method 1 – The shoe is placed in the machine with the heel in position but without top piece. Up to 14 tapered, square shanked, headless nails (“lightning heel pin”) are driven up through the heel into the insole leaving approximately 2 mm protruding through the heel base. The top piece is then pressed onto the protruding nails to be permanently attached at a later stage.
Method 2 – The shoe is placed in position in the machine, and bifurcated nails are driven into the seat of the sole in the required pattern. The identical pattern of holes are made in the heel, which is then transferred along a runway and accurately located onto the seat and placed over the nails. In this case, the top piece is already permanently fixed to the heel prior to its attachment.
Heel Trimming or Paring
The purpose of this operation is to determine the final heel shape, prior to scouring, by removing the surplus material with rotating cutters.
Heel Scouring
To remove any marks left by the heel trimming blades and make the heel edge smooth. The breast of the heel is also scoured smooth.
Correct result of heel scouring:
- Heel correct shape
- Scoured from corner to corner
- No scouring marks on the heel
- Smooth finish to heel
- No damage caused to the upper
- Fine scouring uses 180–220 grit paper.
Edge Trimming
This operation is to give final shape to the sole edge, and blending it to the heel, so that a smooth surface continues all round the edge of the sole. This operation requires most skill in the finishing room and sensitive handling.
Heel and Edge Coloring (Edge Inking)
This operation is done to color sole and heel edges. This is sometimes known as edge inking and generally a manual operation when finishing by traditional method. Tools required: narrow bristles tooth brush for the edges and a flat camel hairbrush for the heel. The finishes used is mostly water based, although spirit based stains are available. Special stains are available for the heel breasts, where treatments subsequently applied to the sole and heel edge cannot be undertaken (wax burnishing).
Heel Burnishing and Polishing
To force wax into the heel edge with waxing rolls. This machine is designed to give the heels increased resistance to water penetration and improve their shape retention during wear.
Seat Wheeling
Seat wheeling causes a narrow row of indentations to be applied around the top edge of the heel producing a decorative effect. Different wheels can be used to vary the number of impressions to the inch. For women’s work 24–60 is given and for men it is 16–26 indentations.
Edge Setting
The purpose is to force heated wax into the sole and welt edge in order to make it water resistant, retain its shape and improve its appearance. A heated iron is used which has a shape such that it marries up exactly to the sole edge shape. It is fitted on to an edge setting machine. Two basic types of machines available are oscillating type where the heated iron is oscillating and shoe bottom edge is pressed against, and rotary type where iron is setting the edge by rotary movement.
Correct result:
- Edges smooth and evenly covered in wax
- Sole edge shape well defined
- No wax smeared on the upper
Best Practice: Use only 50/50 natural beeswax + carnauba blend at 110–120 °C – synthetic hot waxes oxidise and turn grey within 18–24 months.
Bottom Scouring
To remove grain surface of leather soles and top pieces in preparation for the application of the bottom finish. Medium grade abrasive roller removes the hard grain, then finer grade (180 grit) produces a uniform smooth finish. Naumkeags are used at the waist. Correct result: fine nap finish, no scratches, edges remain square, no frayed stitching.
Bottom Making
The purpose of this operation is to color and polish the shoe bottom in order to enhance its appearance and improve the water resistance of the sole. This is to be applied in two coats in the form of base coat and a topcoat respectively.
Examples: clear wax + carnauba mop, colour spray + carnauba, or soft coloured wax + carnauba for high gloss. A decorative indentation may be given on the sole bottom edge.
Last Slipping (Delasting)
The last is removed and the shoe enters shoe rooming operation.
Shoe Rooming
Let us now understand the various processes involved in Shoe-rooming. The following are the main processes:
- Cleaning
- Repairing
- Wrinkle chasing
- Filling by base coat application
- Topcoat application
- Cutting and polishing
Cleaning
Before starting shoe-rooming operation, ensure that the surface to be finished has been cleaned. The purpose is to remove dirt, adhesives, other unwanted marks and contamination and prepare the surface to accept further finishing treatment.
Repairing
The purpose of repair is to bring the shoe to a good standard before continuing with the other operations in the shoe room. It can be done by using repair crayons, repair pastes, and spray paints for grain upper materials. The paste or spray can be either water or spirit based.
Wrinkle Chasing
Removing the wrinkles on the lasted upper by applying heat. This is done by ironing the wrinkled surface or by hot air blower. Application of heat contracts the material thus removing the wrinkles.
Filling / Base Coat
Filling or Base coat application is done to remove the ‘Open or Hungry’ look of leather after the Lasting process. Its purpose is to seal the surface for subsequent top dressing. It ensures that the top coat does not sink in and a minimum quantity of dressing material is used for the desired appearance and lustre.
Top Coat Application
This is the final treatment, which gives the shoe its lustre and finished appearance.
Cutting and Polishing
The process involves smoothing the grain on the upper material by cotton brush called Cutting or woollen brush application called Polishing.
Ancillary Operations
Apart from shoe dressing there are a number of ancillary operations, which ensure that footwear is dispatched in best possible condition. These are as mentioned below:
- Sole stamping
- Sock insertion
- Hot blasting, Ironing, Singeing : the purpose is to clear wrinkles on upper
- Ornament attaching : if required
- Inspection
Pro Tip: Apply Renovateur as the very first coat before any mirror gloss layers — it deeply nourishes the leather and prevents surface cracking for decades.
Conclusion
This is exactly how the world’s finest workshops still build shoes today. Heavier, slower, dramatically more expensive than cemented construction – but capable of being resoled 8–12 times and lasting several years with proper care.
One good pair of Goodyear welted shoes will outlive ten pairs of glued ones – and look better every year it ages.
Invest once. Wear forever.
