rhinestones on leather or patent leather

I believe that applying rhinestones on shoes is the most difficult compared to many other objects or accessories. We have seen that rhinestones are mainly applied hot on fabrics in general, so both clothing and accessories or furnishing accessories, however the object is the essential feature is its composition in fabric, knit or materials such as suede, raw wood and generally have a porous surface that allows the glue to penetrate the fibers; later the rhinestones were cold applied also on other surfaces:

cell phones, pen holders, computers, mice, furniture, even cars or wall surfaces. As for the shoes we often see them with rhinestone straps, with coated heels or on the upper itself.

Why do I find the DIY application of rhinestones on shoes the most difficult?

First of all we distinguish the materials of which the shoes are made; if they are in fabric, suede, or in any case made of other porous materials in which hot application is possible, we have no problems whatsoever; the problem occurs when the shoe is in leather or patent leather, non-porous surfaces that do not allow hot application.

On some occasions I have had the opportunity to apply rhinestones on shoes or slippers, the example you see in the photo are patent leather slippers. Here the rhinestones have been applied with two-component epoxy glue, I used this glue because I find it one of the most resistant for cold gluing, however it has a limitation, it is not elastic and comes off with extreme ease if the surface on which it is applied flexes; in this case I decided to use it anyway because the design was applied to the central part of the band, a point where the slipper does not receive stresses that would make the glue come off.

For points where the shoe bends when we walk it is good to use elastic glues that are suitable for the skin and have good resistance.

One material on which it is very difficult to apply rhinestones with glue is leather. The leather is treated with grease and it is not easy to find a glue that gives good resistance on this material, alternatively you can use rhinestones to be sewn or pressed rhinestones; or even use special tools to remove the superficial layer of fat from the surface in the points where the rhinestones are to be glued, but here we begin to go beyond the simple do-it-yourself application.