Use Cord-locks Instead of Tying Laces

For years I've been annoyed at having to tie shoes several times a day, plus occasionally having them get untied and occasionally having to re-tie them to adjust tension for sports. I have long suspected that my inconvenience was mainly caused by people's fashion preferences for laces (I hate sacrificing convenience to fashion). And the selection of velcro shoes for adults is poor.

About a year ago, I switched to using heavy duty cord-locks on all my sneakers (and now on my youngest kid's). Here are the advantages I have found:

1. faster putting on
2. doesn't get untied
3. easy to adjust mid-activity: when playing a racquet sport, I can quickly bend down and tighten a shoe between serves
4. can walk with the shoes untied without laces trailing on the ground; nice for comfort on an airplane
5. no need to worry whether one is tying a granny knot.

The disadvantages:

1. cost: have to order heavy-duty cord-locks
2. setup time
3. possibly more wear on laces.

1. cord locks
2. scissors
3. lighter or match

The usual cord-locks used for hats and the like are not heavy-duty enough to keep laces in places. The first set of shoes I did the treatment on I used some super-large cord-locks from some worn-out equipment.

The web says that the cord locks from varusteleka.com are really good, but they have to come from Europe. I ordered some labeled as "heavy duty" from Amazon, but they were not tight enough. Finally, I got some really good duty ones from Hook and Cord (the dual cord locks for 1/8-3/16" cord work, as do the jumbo ones for 3/16-1/4" cord; I think I find the jumbo ones a bit more comfortable to press the button on, actually).

Put shoes on feet and put cord locks on the laces. Adjust the cord-locks to a position where the shoes can be comfortably put on and taken off, but are no looser than that. Mark the shoelaces on the outer side of the cord-locks.

Take off shoes. Keep cord locks on. Tie a big knot on the shoe side of the marks you made in the previous step, making sure that the marks stay on the inside of the knot. Last time I did this, I used an overhand knot with an extra loop. You want the knot to be blobby as you'll use it for holding the laces when adjusting the cord lock.

The laces I used are always synthetic so they can be melted, which is good. If you have non-synthetic laces, you will have to modify the follow process.

Once the knot is done, cut the trailing lace close to the knot. Melt the knot on that side with a lighter to make it permanent, and squish the melted material with something metal (e.g., scissors).

To tighten or loosen, press cord-lock button with one hand while holding the knot with the other.

It is tempting to loosen by just pulling the cord lock without pressing the button. I had a lace wear out in about six months when I did that.