This is a pair of rigger boots. Classic construction site footwear in the UK.
I've had these in a cupboard for a long time and recently rediscovered them. But the soles of the boots have degraded in some way. They have gone sticky and crumbly.
I'll guess that they're made of some sort of polymer designed to emulate rubber, that has degraded with time. There was no ozone generator being used in that room, so I think the main culprit is time and an unstable chemistry.
It reminds me of those products with a rubber-feel textured plastic case. After a few years they often break down into a sticky mess too.
These days I tend to wear composite toe cap safety trainers (Uvex) instead of the big boots. Much lighter and more comfortable.
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I've had these in a cupboard for a long time and recently rediscovered them. But the soles of the boots have degraded in some way. They have gone sticky and crumbly.
I'll guess that they're made of some sort of polymer designed to emulate rubber, that has degraded with time. There was no ozone generator being used in that room, so I think the main culprit is time and an unstable chemistry.
It reminds me of those products with a rubber-feel textured plastic case. After a few years they often break down into a sticky mess too.
These days I tend to wear composite toe cap safety trainers (Uvex) instead of the big boots. Much lighter and more comfortable.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- https://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's algorithm quirks, allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
#ElectronicsCreators
My old work boots have kind of melted. I Found these in the back of a cupboard. These are classic rigger boots, so it's very popular in the UK And they've got a steel toe cap and well, as you can see, they've got a steel plate at the bottom of the sole to stop. Nails Going through.
uh, usually the two of this is scuffed right through. tomato. These are in quite good condition, but for some bizarre reason. uh, the Rubber Sole is just basically just crumbling.
It's just falling off. I wonder what's happened here? I Think this is a synthetic polymer and it's degraded in some way. It reminds me of these hair. You know you get these products that they've got a textured rubber coating and then a couple of years later it starts getting really sticky.
That's what's happened to these. Very strange. and before MD says did you have an ozone generator in there? No I didn't That was an ozone free area of the house. It was a sort of recessed cupboard.
but that's it. Uh, I Guess it's time for the bin then, because these are absolutely destroyed. So if you have any ideas why this is degraded in this way and just basically started crumbling like marshmallow, let me know In the comments down below it's quite an unusual failure.
Had boots fail VERY similarly while working for an hour or two at some sort of chlorine facility, except eventually the surface of the soles started degrading into a hard tar, leaving thick sticky footprints everywhere. Felt sorry for their maintenance guy.
They must had come into contact with some kind of solvent at some point. Perhaps alcohol?
I've had some urethane stuff just fall apart. Best to accept it now because it it really frustrating. Separately I have melted a couple of good pairs of sneakers in a short period of time standing on my hot roof in Florida. I was not able to fix any of it.
I have had the same happen to work boots, still new in the box, sat in the cupboard for a few years and the polyurethane soles disintegrated completely like yours. In the bin they went.
Only stuff that should be on the sole of a boot is vulcanised rubber or leather and hobnails. I wouldn't mind so much if they sold low quality disposable shit as low prices but they're not, they rely upon the publics general cluelessness and market manipulation to sell disposable products for at ludicrous prices. These practices are so widespread that sometimes finding the real deal is nigh on impossible.
Have you been "Moonwalking"?
Get your money back as not fit for purpose. You should have done this before you videoed it, and sent them the video first! Soles for "safety"workboots should be impervious to water, acids and solvents common in the workplace for obvious reasons. Age of the product is not a defence in this case, as they auto-destructed.
Old style British army boots (the black lace up type) had the same issue.. had a couple of new old stock pairs do it 😐 soles just turned to liquorice and disintegrated spontaneously
I have definitely seen this before. One very hot summer day I had to go to the dentist, so I put on a pair of lovely old sandals. There was a crack in the sole, but nothing else seemed amiss. Halfway there, BOTH SOLES crumbled to dust suddenly and without any warning. I was thus left with a dentist appointment to catch and without shoes on a day so hot you could fry eggs on the pavement…😖
My chair wheels melted over the floor protector from IKEA, I was using the chair for 2 years without issue, then I decided to use floor protector. then in one week the disintegrated. I think they had chemical reaction to each other.
The same happened recently to my beloved HAIX Tibet boots. The explanation from HAIX was that their soles get their special properties from a foam material that has a normal life span of 5 years. After 5 years it is expected to start hardening and at some point start to crumble as it happened to my boots after about 10 years of occasional use. I sent the boots in for repair and got the soles replaced.
Guessing a mixing problem with the chemistry when they were made as others said, or you stepped in some solvent or chemical at a job site that attacked the material.
Unfortunately it is not an unusual failure.
For may years, Timberland boots were a good value, and a trusted brand. Just before the Iraqi invasion, the U.S. armed forces signed a contract with them. A couple years later I bought a pair. One day I got them soaked through working in a well pit. I put them on an oil filled space heater overnight. The next day I lifted them off. The leather came, the entire soles remained. They had also grown in size close to ten percent. I couldn't believe it. I can't say I've done that before, but neither have Timberlands. Those heaters are limited to about 120° Fahrenheit. I pity those who resurface asphalt and end up on hot tar in their socks. I'm sure it was because the company switched manufacturing from the U.S. to china. The sizes got about two sizes smaller at the same time. I had to glue, drill, stitch , and trim them. Losing the outer portion of tread. I then had a one of a kind imprint.
If the rest of the boots are OK, I wonder if there's someone who could put new soles on them for less than a new pair would cost. There aren't many cobblers left, but I've seen at least one still in business in Southern California, so maybe they're still around elsewhere?