Contour Welt

The welt of a shoe or boot is a strip of plastic, rubber, or leather that is stitched to the upper and insole of your shoe.  This will then be used to attach the sole to the upper.  The shoe maker first fills the space between the welt and the insole with a cushioning or breathable material for comfort, and then attaches the sole.  The sole is usually attached by cement (adhesive), stitches, or a combination of both.  The welt is often known as the Goodyear welt because Charles Goodyear’s son (Charles Goodyear brought vulcanized rubber to the world in the early 1800s) invented the machine that accomplished this process.

The Goodyear welt is are more complicated and time intensive process compared to simply cementing the sole to the upper, but it permits the generation of a cavity that can be filled with material to improve breathability (if filled with Cork, the most popular fill is the trademark “Flexofil”), and the process also improves shoe durability, because the welt provides a better surface on which to secure the sole.  The Goodyear welt is best known in the manufacture of high end dress shoes and boots and is one of the key features that make more expensive boots and shoes worth the extra money.

Wolverine employs the Goodyear welt process with many of their boots, but like always, has incorporated an number of additional features to improve upon the original 1869 patent.  Their newest development is the Contour Welt.  While applied by the same process as other welts, Wolverine’s welt is designed to be more flexible than the traditional welt.  This allows the boot to have the durability, breathability, and cushioning of the welt process, but offer the flexibility of an athletic shoe in a true work boot.  The contour welt can be found in many Wolverine boot and shoe styles including the Marauder, Corsair, Raider, Darco, Autry, Outlaw, and Buccaneer.  These styles include shoes, boots of all heights, slip-ons, and wellingtons.