I really hate those puffy, too smooth laces shown in the picture of your article. They don't stay tied most of the time, no matter how tight you tie them. I like the old fashioned flat ones. Unfortunatley one of the only shoes that fit my feet right, Saucony, have laces that are way too long. I have to double tie them so they come loose too. I keep thinking I should cut them shorter and melt the cut off parts but I haven't done it yet. I'm going to go back and finish reading the article.

Then there are both of my children, who still use "bunny ears". I have failed as a mother!

faftris, my husband still uses a form of bunny ears.

He and his three sisters were taught to tie their shoes by a mother who only had one hand. She lost her right hand at the age of eighteen in a farming accident.

She had a way of tying her shoes using her left hand and right stump.

His shoes never come untied.

Whoever invented round laces should be sentenced to retying everyone's round laces for eternity.

My biggest issue is the leather laces on my moccassins I wear as slippers all winter. Once they come undone, there is no way to tie them again. Maybe I should just glue it!

Roxsol, I used to be a kindergarten teacher. One year, I had a little girl who was born with four little stubs of fingers on her right hand. She was the one who went around tying the shoes of all the others in the class who did not know how.

That's a very long article - I kind of skimmed after awhile, but FWIW, I tie my shoes by doing the first step of a surgeon's knot, then making two loops and tie those to make the bow, and repeat, so it's sort of a square knot over a surgeon's knot. My shoes do not come untied. I tie kids' shoes this way as well - theirs are always coming undone.

And I recently learned about racing style tying, which uses those extra holes at the top edge of athletic shoes, and it's been a revelation - it's also the reason for those extra long laces on most sneakers.

Here's an article with a number of tying styles for fit as well as security:

https://www.runningshoesguru.com/content/different-ways-to-lace-up-your-running-shoes-to-fit-your-feet-perfectly/

My mother taught me when I was about 3 years old. It's very simple.

If a knot becomes loose, it's because it either wasn't tightened properly or the lace/cord material has insufficient friction against itself to stay snug.

So why does the alternate shoe stay tied, since they were tied by the same person, elmer? I don't buy that theory.

It's ALWAYS my left shoe that comes untied. But only when I'm working outside? Maybe I step in a weird way (on the lace) and pull an end that eventually loosens?

Elmer that just doesn't make any sense. Different knots perform differently. Some knots will come apart, some knots will purposely slip, some will stay tightened. (I take it you weren't a boy scout!) The whole point of the article is there are 8 basic ways of tying a shoe and 4 of them stay tied and 4 will not.

This is the gist of the article in flow chart form:

The reef knot will stay tied, the granny knot will not.

That's the thing - when I was a kid, everybody tried teaching me to tie shoelace bows making one loop and wrapping the other side around, but I never could get it, so I came up with my own way, which was making 2 loops and then tying them to make something like a square knot, treating the loops as a single strand.

I learned about the surgeon's knot much later, as an adult - I remember seeing it on a cooking show showing trussing, or something - it's used in beading too.

Tying shoes doesn't require a reef knot (same as a square knot). Pick your beginning - left around right under and back up or do the same with the right around left. Pull it firm and tie a loop knot. Done. Having learned to sail as a teenager and learned dozens of knots, after learning to tie my shoes before kindergarten, I don't feel like I'm in the dark or on soft ground.

Anyone can write an article about anything. There's all kinds of nonsense that can be found on the internet. Sorry to say, many, you included, often find it and don't realize whether or not the words are authoritative or simply ungrounded observations or speculation, like this article and apparently the entirety of that site.

Carol -

DH showed me the Surgeon's Knot when we got married. It's one of the knots he learned as an Explorer Scout and a fisherman and again in med school. That's why it's his job to truss the turkey and tie the knots whenever we make braciole or stuff a pork loin. It really works and keeps my walking shoes tied.

Annie - I read that article and found it confusing unless I was actually trying to tie a lace. But the chart makes it much easier.

Maire

Wait!

I have a theory. If I tie the same knot on my opposite shoe (for me, my left) will it be backwards? And untie? Could that be it?

Way back in high school I "invented" this way of tying the knot. I've never had a problem with knots coming untied and yet the knot is easily untied, unlike a double knot.

After crossing the laces, make a loop with one lace and wrap the other lace around it once, then make a small loop with that lace and push it under the wrap as if you're doing a regular bow. But, hook your finger into that loop and pull it through so that now the end is free. Wrap this end around the loop again, make a loop with it and tuck under the new wrapped section. Pull the second loop tight.

To undo, pull on the outside loop end to slide the loop out from under the wrap, then pull the other loop end.

Quick, easy and reliable!

rob, that shouldn't do it as it's the structure of the knot itself, not which shoe it's on...unless you tie it differently on each shoe....

elmer, yes there is a lot of stuff on the internet including factual and useful information. Some people confuse facts stated in an accessible way for general consumption with ungrounded observations and speculation. Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's wrong.

If you are as expert in knots as you claim, then you know that different knots perform differently, not just due to tightness and material. I know directly from how I tie knots in yarn when crafting that certain knots will hold, and others will not...same yarn, same tightness.

What I found particularly interesting about this article was how it went through step by step to show which results were yielded from which actions taken. As tying a knot is largely muscle memory for most of us, I thought the breakdown helpful for showing which yield the best results. You may not find that useful. So be it. Others might.

There are scholarly research articles available on line about knots, if you are interested in pursuing it, that are consistent with the points made in this article. But I know you're not. Rather, the real consistency here seems to be your persistent attacks on my posts and by extension, me.

carolb, what you describe sounds like the "bunny ear" method mentioned earlier. If it works for you, that's all that matters.

I have some hiking boots that come up above the ankle, and I was complaining to a shoe guy at REI about how annoying they were. He said I should do the surgeon's knot at the top of the foot to hold the shoe part secure and then tie the upper part more loosely so it accommodates the ankle bending as I'm walking. I tried it and it was much better, and the surgeon's knot really holds.

Does anyone else here ever wax their shoelaces? I have done it with laces that don't like to stay tied. I pull them against an old candle to pick up the wax. The wax surface keeps them tied. I recently bought some fancy laces for my rollerskates and noticed that they felt waxed.

Interesting Jupidupi, I'll have to give it a try...

TBH, I only have a couple of shoes that require lacing - I much prefer these - no tying involved. They're stretchy silicone and make your shoes into slipons:

👍🏻

Well I tried 😉

" elmer, yes there is a lot of stuff on the internet including factual and useful information. Some people confuse facts stated in an accessible way for general consumption with ungrounded observations and speculation. Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's wrong. "

I don't know if this comment was intended to be sarcastic, but you'll find it far more useful to have the opposite attitude - just because something is on the internet doesn't mean it's correct. As with the news, opinion and pointed comments intended to solicit particular responses are rampant.

A good way to get an idea of the nature, veracity, and objectivity of pieces on a particular site is to look for how transparent the site is in describing who owns it, where it's located, and what its intent is.