1985 Kentucky Blue Dunk High Restoration

Introduction

Welcome back Reshoevn8tion to this week's restoration video with a pair of 1985 Kentucky Blue Dunk highs. When I say that these shoes are trashed, these things might be the very definition of cooked. These things were so beat that Vick almost didn’t take the restoration because he didn’t think he could pull it off. Half the shoe had the paint missing, the outsole was absolutely destroyed, and both sneakers had huge gashes out of the back of the shoe. If Vick pulls this off he has to be the undisputed GOAT of sneaker restorations. Hands down one of the worst shoes we have received here at Reshoevn8r and that is no exaggeration. Let’s see if Vick can pull this one off.

Prep Work

Vick starts off the restoration by deciding to take out all of the old threading and uses an air compressor to spray off all of the surface level dirt. After this he uses the Reshoevn8r Essential Kit to clean and disinfect the shoe. He only uses the soft brush and cleaning solution on the uppers and does not clean the midsole and outsole. This is because the dirt and grime on these parts of the shoe have been cemented in for decades and cannot be removed from the cleaning process. He then goes over the entire shoe with sandpaper as well as acetone and cotton balls to prep the dunks for their new paint job.

Patching things Up

Now that the prep work is finished Vick takes off the old tongue tags and submerges the replacement ones in coffee to give them an aged look. He then sews the new tongue tags on and restitches the blue leather on the toe box of the shoe. Now it's time to fill in the gashes on the backs of each shoe. Vick gets some replacement leather pieces and glues them to the inside of the shoe and applies extra pieces on the outside. The holes are almost all the way filled but there is still some space between each side of the shoe so Vick uses leather filler to finish the back of these dunks.

Detailing

Now that all the holes are patched and leather is repaired it is time to paint. Vick repaints the uppers making his own blue and white that match the aged look of these dunks from over thirty years ago. Now that they are repainted the restoration of these classic dunks is complete. The Kentucky blue on white looks as clean as when they were first released. Vic left the outsole and midsole almost the same besides applying a couple coats of sole revive to keep its authentic look.

Video Link

To Check out this restoration for yourself hit the link below, and to make sure you always have clean kicks make sure you pick up a Reshoevn8r Essential Kit on our website reshoevn8r.com