Have you ever been inside a boot factory? If you haven't, here it is. I went for a factory tour inside the Solovair UK factory.
Solovair and their sister company NPS, make shoes and boots not only for themselves but also for many other brands, in fact they make around 45,000 pairs per year. That’s a lot of happy customers.
They have been manufacturing out boots out of Northamptonshire since 1881, so it’s fair to say they know what they are doing. In fact, they manufactured the first ever Dr Martens out of Northamptonshire, I thought that was a cool little fact.
I had a full access tour to the entire factory to film which is pretty rare. I’ll do my best to give you a full breakdown of how to manufacture a boot but I may miss a few processes out. You’ll have to forgive me as there are in total in excess of 245 processes. That’s a lot.
To begin with you start of in the leather room. This is a room full floor to ceiling of rolls of leather. The smell was amazing. Once the leather has been selected it’s time to cut it to size. This sounds a time-consuming process, but let me tell you it’s not. They have stamps for every different size and every piece that you need to make a boot. So, before you know it the leather is cut to size and it’s on to the next process, stitching it all together.
In the stitching room there are rows of sewing machines with people happily stitching boots. Every person does a specific stitch and the boot is passed around the entire room. The efficiency is amazing to see and it’s the only way they can possibly get 45,000 pairs out of the door.
Once the stitching is complete the boot starts to represent a very basic shape, so next is time to add a bit of detail. One of these processes is adding the eyelet. What amazed me was the speed at which the eyelets are added, they are all fully secured in position in a matter of seconds. It worth pointing out as well that what I am seeing a someone who is a master of their craft. If I gave this ago it would take me an age to get anywhere near the quality.
At this stage the boot is starting to resemble something that you and I would put on our feet. However, the boot doesn’t have much form, it’s very flat. So, the next process that boot is stretched and it starts to take a classic boot form. Unfortunately, I can’t comment on the temperature that the machine used to give form operates at, because I’m not sure what it is. The machine which helps to create shape actually uses both hot and cold temperature to mold the footwear.
Next the midsole of the shoe is added. This is the bit that the bottom of your foot touches. It’s stapled into position. These staples are to hold the boot together prior to the good year welting. Now you never see the staples (unless you take the boot to pieces) but it holds it perfectly together ready for the good year welting.
Good year welting is next. This is the process where the sole is added to the boot. First the rubber welt is stitched to the boot. If you look a Solovair boot then you’ll see a grey stitch around the base. This actually is for style only and the heavily lifting is done by a hidden stitch beneath the surface. So, if you damage the grey styled stitch good news, your boot won’t fall apart.
Now it’s time to add the thick sole and this is done through the use of heat! First the sole is held in place with 4 tacks before it fully heated in position. The heat sealing machine uses a blade that is 700°C. Very hot!
There you have it, the boot is finished ready for the happy customer. OK, I may have missed a few steps here and there but you get the drift.
Thanks Amber for organising the visit and taking me around the factory. I really enjoyed it. I know for sure that the next pair of boots I am buying is a sturdy pair of Solovairs. If you liked the sound of the factory tour then you’ll be pleased to hear that Solovair run factory tours monthly. If you’re interested head over to their website on the below link to find out more information.
www.nps-solova...
#bootmaking #boots #shoes