It’s been awhile since I posted a vintage sneaker repair here on the blog but today we’ve got a good one. This was a restoration project to see if I could revive these old 4 stripe yellow and black 1977 Sears The Winner retro running shoes. These sneakers were in maybe the worst condition of any vintage pair I have ever seen or owned. The soles were worn through the rubber and down to the foam, they had paint on them and were dirty as hell. It took a couple of hours of cleaning before I shipped them to our Instagram buddy and skilled cobbler craftsman @vintage_trainer_repairs68 over in the UK who fixed the worn, warped and brittle soles.
Before I post the photos of how gnarly these sneakers were here’s what they looked like after the midsole and repair. They came out great.
![Sears The Winner yellow and black retro sneakers @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605752738154-Q7ZS0OOZ0DKVV4XNMC57/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-side-profile-image-1500-1000.jpg)
![Sears The Winner yellow and black vintage sneakers @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605752735913-RKXW8O63LX3DXXLVJBS5/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-front-3-4-profile-image1-1500-1000.jpg)
![Sears The Winner yellow and black vintage running shoes @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605752735171-VJZ4T4U189Y99Q8ZCLZ2/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-front-3-4-profile-image-1500-1000.jpg)
![Sears The Winner yellow and black vintage sneaker restoration @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605752740597-X5P2K5PELSLSPWQAC0GW/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-side-rear-3-4-profile-image1-1500-1000.jpg)
![Sears The Winner yellow and black vintage sneaker sole repair @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605752742223-WDKQS6MNVMGAHM96JXHA/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-side-rear-3-4-profile-image-1500-1000.jpg)
![Sears The Winner 1977 vintage sneaker advertisement detail @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605752743023-HRB5DHBPEMA616A3C858/Sears-The-Winner-ii-1977-vintage-sneaker-ad-detail.jpg)
This is what they looked like prior to the repair. They were all jacked up with brittle, bent and warped soles. FUBAR…
![Vintage sneaker repair @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605759494256-TX3P5Q9NDJFZKNRV3GOO/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-side-profile-image-buckled.jpg)
![Damaged 1970s vintage sneaker repair @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605759492800-SNQAK4MAP4NKH74NOSEL/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-side-profile-image-buckled1.jpg)
![Destroyed vintage sneakers @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605759492945-7VTM9TCJAJR2DGH1UUCR/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-outsole.jpg)
The midsole had been worn all the way through the rubber. Damn.
Due to the level of grime on these shoes I went hard at them with detergent using an old toothbrush to clean the nylon and suede. I don’t usually recommend doing this with vintage sneakers but this case needed the next level of cleaning so I threw them in the washer machine. (Don’t try that at home if you care about your old school sneakers. Instead I recommend taking them to Jason Markk for cleaning.)
Here are some photos of the cleaning process. I removed the laces and let them soak in a mixture of water and detergent then I threw them into the washer machine with the sneakers. The washer machine removed a lot of the soot and brought out the color when they sun dried...
![Sears the Winner 1970s vintage sneakers @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605760086828-M6QF0FRGPJATSDWB6UJ4/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-unlaced1.jpg)
![Sears the Winner vintage sneaker cleaning @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605760098066-NB8KJLHJJF92UPG1F1SJ/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-cleaning.jpg)
![Vintage sneaker laces cleaning @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605760098654-KGTPIMHF7O3GBM2MILED/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-cleaning-laces.jpg)
![Sears the Winner 1970s vintage sneakers air drying @ The Deffest](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ab94f5e3c3a536987d16ce5/1605760088128-IKU2G5E3UHLCTU0IPNK0/Deffest-Sears-The-Winner-4-Stripe-clean-dry.jpg)
Here’s a before and after photo..
If you have any pairs of vintage kicks that you want to get repaired I highly recommend checking in with @vintage_trainer_repairs68 over on Instagram. Tell him The Deffest sent you. 😎