Round Laces are Ridiculous!

I have a couple of pairs of cheap boots I use in the yard. Both came with round laces that I suspect are mostly synthetic, slippery as teflon, and don't hold a knot worth a darn.

I have tried all sorts of creative ties. I ended up with a standard shoe knot, adding a granny knot with the loop ends so they wouldn't fall off every five minutes.

Yes, I could replace the laces and toss the old ones, but my ungarbage soul won't let me give in. Yet.

Anybody have a sure-fire knot that works with slippery round laces?

How long are those laces?  The army used to have you wrap the laces around the pant leg before tying and I don't remember them ever coming undone, but I can't remember if the laces were round or not.

Maybe this will help:

I'd replace 'em.  To me, boots coming untied is too big a problem to mess around with. You could repurpose the old ones hopefully.

US Army boot laces are great, as mentioned. They are round but not slippery.

When I was a kid, maybe 10, my mom bought me a book about knots.  It came with a couple pieces of rope, one red, and one blue included with the book.  All the knots shown were shown with one red and one blue rope, so it was easy to see what was going on.  I loved the book!  I would practice for hours.  To this day, I tie my shoes the way it showed in the knot book.  They never come untied, but when you pull on the lace the way you always do to untie shoes, they come undone just as easily.  It will be harder to explain without pictures, but it's simple enough.  You tie the first part as you always do.  Then you make the first "bunny ear".  All is normal up to this point, but when you take the second string and wrap it around the first bunny ear, rather than just going around it once and pulling the lace through the hole, go around twice.  If you do this for a week or so until it becomes habit, I promise, you'll never go back to the old way.  I've been tying my shoes this way for almost 50 years :)

Dan Fish wrote:I'd replace 'em.  To me, boots coming untied is too big a problem to mess around with. You could repurpose the old ones hopefully.

I'm with Dan. Slippery laces that don't stay tied get replaced. My cat claims most of them, she thinks she likes snakes. I don't think she's ever seen a real snake. She can have laces.

The other thing I do with them is put them places where I need stuff held long term, and either knot the crap out of them, or safety pin them.

MY connection was too slow initially to watch it, but now I'm at an area it is faster.  Anne's video shows the way I learned from the knot book, oh so many years ago.

Trace Oswald wrote:MY connection was too slow initially to watch it, but now I'm at an area it is faster.  Anne's video shows the way I learned from the knot book, oh so many years ago.

That's how I tie mine also, however, I learned from my kid's Elementary School Librarian.

That said, some round laces are simply evil, and I agree with those who simply replace them. I'd save the round ones for cords in stuff sacks, as I make my own, particularly sacks where I'm going to use those spring toggles to keep the string tight when the sack is full. Or I used to cut them up to make hanging loops for coats that didn't have decent ones.

Trace Oswald wrote: You tie the first part as you always do.  Then you make the first "bunny ear".  All is normal up to this point, but when you take the second string and wrap it around the first bunny ear, rather than just going around it once and pulling the lace through the hole, go around twice.

It works! IT WORKS! Freaking brilliant!

Anne and Trace, I hereby dub thee Knights of the  Errant Shoelace. Arise, noble knights, and take your place in the Halls of Awesomeness!

Trace Oswald wrote:, rather than just going around it once and pulling the lace through the hole, go around twice.

This sounds like the Turquoise Turtle knot.  This is how I've always been doing it ever since I came across it. It originated from a gift shop named Turquoise Turtle something something and was used to tie up packages.



Ian's Shoelace Site - Turquoise Turtle Shoelace Knot

Hard to beat a TED talk on tying shoelaces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAFcV7zuUDA

Although this teenager reckons she could!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqXZHA46wTU

For those of us who don't like video, I think this is a drawing of how to tie that knot

Pearl Sutton wrote:For those of us who don't like video, I think this is a drawing of how to tie that knot

That is different than the way I do it Pearl.  At step 3, if you just keep going and wrap the yellow lace around the blue one again, and then pull it through the hole, it would be the way I do it.  But now I have another way to try :)

Trace Oswald wrote:
That is different than the way I do it Pearl.  At step 3, if you just keep going and wrap the yellow lace around the blue one again, and then pull it through the hole, it would be the way I do it.  But now I have another way to try :)

OH! That makes it even easier! Cool! I'll try that.
Thank you :)

I'm looking forward to trying this! Will be easier to untie than the way I've done which is (was) to do step one over with the completed bunny ears.

The US Olympic Equestrian Endurance riders have been tying their boots with the double wrap this way for at least the last 20 years. It works on all laces and is super easy to untie...you just pull on the end like you always do.  Did any of the people who found fault with it actually try it?  It does work.  All day.  Especially good for 5 year olds who often run for miles with untied shoes.  Did you know there are teenagers who don't know how to tie a shoe or read an analog clock?  Velcro on their sneakers and digital clocks have ruined an entire generation.

Pearl Sutton wrote:For those of us who don't like video, I think this is a drawing of how to tie that knot

This is the one I’ve been using since a friend at work helped his daughter out in front of me when her shoes didn’t stop untying. Might try the other great suggestions here as well.

Thank you

Thanks Trace and Ann! I had avoided my drawstring shorts for the need of adjusting frequently. I tied them once today!

Drag those laces across some bees wax a few times. They'll stay put after that;

John Duffy wrote:Drag those laces across some bees wax a few times. They'll stay put after that;

That will work. But: will I be able to find the boots they are attatched to? I'm not sure my hounds will be able to resist. I may need an Apple tracking thingy so I know where to dig.

Put some peppermint essential oil on your boots. Your hounds won't mess with them and, mosquitos and gnats won't hassle you either

I just tie a simple knot on each side before tying my boots. The bow can't slip past this knot.
This came to me once when trying to untie a bit of twine that had such a knot in it.
Works like a charm.

Melissa Ferrin wrote:I just tie a simple knot on each side before tying my boots. The bow can't slip past this knot.

I have been tying a figure-8 knot at the ends ever since I learnt that bowlines can capsize/invert and then continued on to my shoelaces.

I actually tie the bow - Turquoise Turtle naturally -  at the toe end of the shoe. So if you ever come across any shoe tied this way, say hello to me.

Hmm, I'm having a hard time visualizing this. A picture would be great.

Does the knot still come undone when you pull the non-loop end?

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Hmm, I'm having a hard time visualizing this. A picture would be great.

Does the knot still come undone when you pull the non-loop end?

Ans: Yes. The knot comes undone if I pull on the ends. The operative
        word is "if".
        The knots at the
        ends are to ensure that there are no complications should I pull
        on the loop instead.

However, you assume I need to undo the knot to remove my shoes
and en-knot when I put on my shoes.

How about if I almost never tie the knot again for the lifetime of that
pair of shoes? So what if I take 30 seconds to tie the knot instead of
a mere 3 seconds? I still come out ahead in terms of time saved.

I am OCD enough to realize what gets on the shoes and laces at the
urinals. The best urinal is an inverted narrow funnel. Nothing splatters
out. These are extremely rare because they are so easy to sabotage.



impossible attribute

Oh, I see: a simple knot at the ends of the shoelaces. I do this all the time, to keep the lace ends from coming out of the grommets.

I do the simple knot, but not right at the end, up in the middle, so the knot ends up somewhere in the bow.

Edward Lye wrote:[
I actually tie the bow - Turquoise Turtle naturally -  at the toe end of the shoe. So if you ever come across any shoe tied this way, say hello to me.

I'm trying to imagine the shape of your feet. This would never work for me as my heels are narrower than the part of my foot just after my toes. My feet come out of non-lace up shoes unless I by expensive AA/AAA width ones.  for me the point of lacing up shoes is to keep my heel in!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote: a simple knot at the ends of the shoelaces. I do this all the time,  

Half a century ago I never noticed any of my peers tie any knot at the ends of their shoelaces. I an curious, when did you start?

Melissa Ferrin wrote:
I'm trying to imagine the shape of your feet. This would never work for me as my heels are narrower than the part of my foot just after my toes.

Half a century ago, it was the fashion for pointy shoes. So my feet are regular feet except the smallest toe is canted inwards. My shoes are laced in such a way that I can slip them off easily enough if needed. I cut two slits in the tongue and the lace passes through them to keep them from caving in and blocking the passage of my feet. Hence the bow-knot at the toe end. Form follows function.

The white pair is laced so I can slip them on quickly. This is because I drive a manual ... barefoot. It is not a crime in my country to drive a passenger car barefoot. I enjoy the exquisitely delicate feel that provides. A feather touch on the accelerator - that kind of thing.

My car identifies as a she. Her name is Clara Pandy.

Edward Lye wrote:

Douglas Alpenstock wrote: a simple knot at the ends of the shoelaces. I do this all the time,  

Half a century ago I never noticed any of my peers tie any knot at the ends of their shoelaces. I an curious, when did you start?

At least 30 years? Probably longer? I grew up in the country, so tall work boots in winter and summer were pretty much mandatory. When you loosen a tall boot to get your foot out, you have to loosen the top lace to its maximum possible and then do the same working your way down. A knot at the ends of the lace keeps it from pulling out, which is a nuisance.

It's hardly a fashion thing. I mean, I'm working in my acreage garden, or in the bush cutting trees and trails, or going for a hike in the mountains. All in boots. Who is going to notice, or care?

Okay, you guys get to have a laugh on me.

I proudly demonstrated, for my darling wife, my new magnificent tying technique and nugget of great wisdom and ...  as soon as I started to display the magical second loop, she said "oh yeah, just wrap it around twice." She's a teacher. She knows things.

Dammit anyhow, does everybody on the planet know this except me? Sheesh!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I proudly demonstrated, for my darling wife, my new magnificent tying technique and nugget of great wisdom and ...  as soon as I started to display the magical second loop, she said "oh yeah, just wrap it around twice." She's a teacher. She knows things.

I suppose it never occurred to you to ask your wife before asking permies.... hmmm... I hope you didn't admit that to your wife!!!

For much of my life, I didn't know how either. It's one of those things that you just have to be in the right situation to discover.

LOL! "Honey we've been married 20 years, can you teach me how to tie my shoelaces?"

Honestly, we work together well -- complimentary skills, compatible goals. I'm a lucky son of a gun. Shoelaces just never came up!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:
Dammit anyhow, does everybody on the planet know this except me? Sheesh!

The French Film Festival just started and all 4 participating cineplexes are conveniently
accessible through the Light Rail-Mass Rapid Transit line. I used my JAFFMAN program
to plan our itinerary. You can experiment with JAFFMAN from

github/jaffman

The README consists of the user guide and annotated walkthrough to how
to get results.

I know other stuff besides experimental gardening.

repair breadmaker belt

how I troubleshoot a bad alternator

How to cook potato two - maybe three - styles simultaneously

We have watched 6 out of 8 movies. The festival has 17.

I have been watching shoelaces all these trips and nobody has stopper
knots at the ends of their laces and most probably none are using the
Turquoise Turtle judging from the sizes of the knots.

You are not alone. You are in fact amongst the majority. But amongst
the majority, you are one step better - you are enlightened.

Holy moley! I just saw "the logger knot" on youtube. The first thing I thought of was this thread, hahaha.




I am going to punch some bigger eyelets into my Danners!

Edward Lye wrote:[ But amongst the majority, you are one step better - you are enlightened.

Wow, this is like an 18th century secret society. We recognize each other by the way we tie our laces. Shoemasonry!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:
Wow, this is like an 18th century secret society. We recognize each other by the way we tie our laces. Shoemasonry!

1st rule: You do not talk about Shoemansonry.
2nd rule: You DO NOT talk about Shoemansonry.
...