How to Remove a Chaco's Sole

Chaco USA makes a range of sandals designed for backcountry use. Chaco sandals are frequently seen on the feet of seasoned rafting guides, kayakers and hikers. The sandals use a series of overlapping nylon straps embedded into a reinforced rubber sole. When removing the sole, the better way to approach it is to remove the straps and tighteners. Removing these straps lets you wash or have the soles restored by Chaco. Remove the soles, or send them to Chaco for repairs and let Chaco repair techs do it.

Things You'll Need

  • Needle-nose pliers
  • Plastic baggies
  • Marker
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Instructions

    • 1

      Unthread all tightening devices or plastic retaining devices from the nylon sandal straps on the Chaco sandals. Chaco uses tighteners versus quick clips, so push the nylon through the slits on the plastic tighteners.

    • 2

      Push the tip of the needle-nose pliers as deep as possible into the sole where the nylon strap is threaded. Grip the strap hard and gently pull the strap up and out of the sandal sole. Work the strap side to side and up and down to pull it out of the tight-fitting rubber sole.

    • 3

      Go to the next strap and use the pliers to tug out the straps. Continue until all strap are out of the sole.

    • 4

      Place the straps into separate resealable plastic baggies and mark the baggies "left" and "right", indicating what side the straps and fixtures came from should you decide to rethread the Chaco sandals at a future time.