5 Common Types of Shoelace – Flat, Round, Waxed, & More

We run down the most common types of shoelaces found in quality footwear, how they're made, and how to clean/replace them.

Albert Muzquiz, James Smith

Most of us tie and untie shoelaces every day, but don’t give them much thought. In reality, the laces chosen by a shoemaker impact both the aesthetic and wearing experience of a pair of shoes or boots — they’re super important. We mustn’t feel limited to the laces that come with our new shoes, and we must also be prepared for that terrible day when laces potentially break, usually at a very inconvenient juncture.

For these reasons, it’s a good idea to know a little bit more about the humble shoelace. As such, we’re running down the 5 most common types of shoelaces in this 101 primer. We’ll go through the materials common shoelaces are made from, the pros and cons of each type, how to replace them, and provide a quick guide on how to clean cotton laces.

Rawhide

You’ve definitely seen rawhide laces out in the wild, and some of your shoes have probably come paired with them over the years. Rawhide is a leather that hasn’t been exposed to traditional tanning methods. It is still cleaned and cured, but it’s not tanned to the same level as the leather used to make shoe uppers.

Rawhide laces are typically paired with boots, moccasins, or boat shoes. In terms of sheer durability, they’re hard to beat, but they’re certainly not the most refined option on the market.

Unmarked Archie Boots, complete with leather laces, available for $490 from Unmarked.

Rawhide laces may never bust on you, but they’re not the easiest to tie. Less supple than most lace options, your knots inevitably come undone and don’t stay very low and close to the shoe. Strong, classic, and a great pairing for many outdoorsy shoe options, rawhide laces can be a bit of a hassle, but look fantastic and develop a patina of their own.

Oak Street Bootmakers Rowing Oxford in Natural Chromexcel, available for $348 from Oak Street Bootmakers.

You can easily obtain replacement rawhide laces from a quality bootmaker. These often come in longer lengths, designed to be trimmed down once laced through the shoe/boot. Rose Anvil is typically well-stocked with a range of trimmable rawhide (and tanned leather) laces that should meet your needs:

Rose Anvil Leather Laces, available for $19 at Rose Anvil.

Pros & Cons of Rawhide Laces:

Pros:

• Strong and resilient

• Don’t get as dirty as cotton laces

• Gain patina

• Easily replaced

• Look rugged and striking

Cons:

• Don’t stay fastened that easily

• More expensive to replace than a cotton lace

Flat Cotton

Flat cotton laces are made from small but strong cotton yarns, which are then woven or braided on machines to achieve a flat ribbon of cotton. The ends are sealed with a small tip of cotton or metal, known as an aglet. Metal aglets are naturally more hard-wearing. Being made of cotton, this kind of shoelace can come in any color.

Crown Northampton Upton Wholecut White Calf Leather Sneaker, available for $420 from Crown Northampton.

Most of you reading this will have had an experience with flat cotton laces on a pair of pumps, deck shoes, or other flat sneakers. My first experience with this was moving from standard Converse to the Chuck Taylor 70s, whose overall vintage upgrade included all-cotton laces. There’s a huge variance in quality, of course. Not all cotton laces match the quality of those used in these premium Converse. Cotton laces are cheap and easy to replace—and you’ll probably have to replace them at some point, especially if your sneakers are well-made and last longer than a year.

Converse Chuck Taylor 70s in Parchment, available for $67 from Lost & Found.

Cotton laces are also easy to clean (see end of article), which is a godsend considering how dirty sneakers can get. If you’re laces are worn out, frayed, or too filthy to clean up, the good news is that you can easily buy replacement cotton laces, either from the brand you purchased the footwear from, or from somewhere like Handshop on Amazon.

Pros & Cons of Flat Cotton Laces:

Pros:

• Easy to tie up

• Stay tied up

• Come in an almost unlimited range of colors

• Easily and cheaply replaceable, especially in common colors

• Easy to clean (see end of article)

Cons:

• Not quite as strong as other types of shoelaces

• Big variance in quality, not all footwear brands use high-quality flat cotton laces

Round Cotton

Round cotton laces are made from yarns of cotton braided into a spaghetti-shaped ribbon. They’re often seen in leather shoes, commonly on shoes with a tighter throat, like an Oxford, but have been used on a variety of footwear.

These little laces can look almost like wire from a distance. They’re thin, and though they may be brittle to start, they eventually settle and droop like laces ought to. Oftentimes, they’re coated to give them a little extra strength, which they’ll need, especially if you want them to survive the break-in process on your cool new derbies or oxfords. You’ll sometimes see these on dressier boots, too.

Paraboot Chambord Shoe, available for $536 from Lost & Found.

Pros & Cons of Round Cotton Laces:

Pros:

• Easy to tie up

• Stay tied up even better than flat cotton laces

• Lower profile than flat cotton laces

• Often lightly coated with wax for strength and water-resistance

Cons:

• Slightly harder to get a like-for-like replacement than other types of shoelaces

• More fiddly to tie up

• Not as strong as other round laces, i.e., braided nylon (see later in this article)

• Can tangle at longer lengths

Flat Waxed

Most often seen on Service Boots, flat waxed laces are extremely popular. And for good reason! Despite the weird, tacky residue they leave on your hands, they strengthen your laces and ensure they’ll stand up to the elements just as well as your new all-purpose boots.

With heavy-duty boots, a regular flat cotton lace might not always hold up to the demands of holding thick leather to your feet. Waxing, however, guarantees a degree of strength you wouldn’t otherwise see. The wax can make the laces feel a bit brittle, which sometimes makes them annoying to tie and untie, but they certainly do their job and last longer than unwaxed cotton laces.

Red Wing Blacksmith Boot, available for $320 from Railcar.

Pros & Cons of Flat Waxed Laces:

Pros:

• Stronger and longer-lasting than a regular flat cotton shoelace

• Wax treatment provides weather resistance

Cons:

• Harder to get a like-for-like replacement than other types of shoelaces

• Can feel brittle, especially after getting wet and drying

Braided Nylon/Taslan

The iconic yellow and brown braided laces on boots from the likes of Timberland and L.L. Bean are made of braided nylon or polyester. Braided synthetic fibers are super strong and typically used for boots that are going to take a serious beating. Hiking boots, snow boots, or even boots worn by the military all employ these extra-strong laces.

Braided nylon laces are thicker, which means they won’t tangle all too easily, and you should have a pretty easy time lacing them up, even when you’re wearing gloves and freezing your fingers off.

Nylon is highly water and weather-resistant and is a better choice than waxed cotton, even though the latter can look a bit cooler. Resilient, pragmatic, and tactical, a great choice for people who are actually getting outside and doing something—not just wading into the snow in Williamsburg to get a coffee.

Some boots, i.e., ones from Red Wing Heritage and other premium brands, use Taslan laces. Taslan refers to a type of nylon or other synthetic yarn that has been air-textured through a pressurized process known as taslanizing, which basically makes the yarns even more durable and waste-resistant. Taslan laces are made by braiding taslan nylon yarns, and can be seen on Red Wing Heritage models like the Moc Toe and Iron Ranger, seen below.

Red Wing Iron Ranger in Hawthorne Muleskinner, available for $349.99 from REVOLVR.

Pros & Cons of Braided Nylon/Taslan Laces:

Pros:

• Among the strongest shoelaces around

• Highly water-resistant

• Quick drying

• Thicker, making them less prone to tangling and easier to fasten when wearing gloves

• Easy to replace

Cons:

• Less environmentally friendly than cotton laces – non-biodegradable, etc.

• Less versatile and typically reserved for workwear styles

How to Replace a Shoelace

1. Measure your current shoelace – Fully remove one of the original laces from your shoe and measure how long it is using a flexible measuring tape. This is to ensure that your replacement doesn’t have a sloppy amount of excess lacing.

2. Confirm the type of shoelace – If you want a like-for-like replacement, be sure to identify the characteristics of your shoelace – is it waxed? Flat or round? What material is it? This is less important if you’re looking to change your shoelaces, but opting for the same shape or material would be wise.

3. Seek your desired replacement in the same length measurement as your current lace – The internet naturally has the most options available. Be sure to check the website of the brand that made your footwear, as they often sell official replacements. If they don’t, you can always reach out to the brand directly. Domestic makers are more likely to be able to ship you a pair of like-for-like laces at a low cost.

If you want a like-for-like replacement but are struggling to find it, check Reddit or Quora to see if anyone else has resolved the same issue.

How to Clean Uncoated Cotton or Synthetic Shoelaces:

You can clean shoelaces that are free from wax coatings using the following steps:

1. Fill a small bowl or container with a solution of soap and water – You want something strong that won’t bleach your lace. A very small measure of your normal detergent should be fine, or you can use dish soap.

2. Place laces in the solution and agitate – Rub the laces with your fingers, bunch them up and agitate them – freestyle it, here.

3. Leave to soak for 2 hours – Leave the laces in the solution for a couple of hours

4. Remove and rinse – Remove the laces from the solution and rinse thoroughly with cold water

5. Dry – Lay out to dry, ideally outside or on a towel indoors

6. Repeat if necessary

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