Shoes are an essential part of most people's everyday lives. Unfortunately, shoes don't last forever and are susceptible to different types of damage. Make your shoes last longer by taking care of them and performing the maintenance necessary to keep them functioning, including repairing any splits or cracks that appear in the rubber soles. Use a glue specially designed to repair shoes to help ensure that the soles will remain intact.

Wipe away any grit, dirt or oil from the bottom of your shoe with the washcloth. Use the emery board to scrape the surfaces of the rubber sole where the split has occurred. The shoe repair glue will adhere better to the roughened surfaces.

Squeeze the shoe repair glue into the area where the split has occurred. Completely fill any cracks, but do not use so much glue that it runs down onto the rest of your shoe. Dampen the wooden craft stick to spread any glue outside of the crack evenly over the split section where the two separated parts meet.

Use a C-clamp to firmly press the rejoined sections together. Leave the shoe in the clamp for 48 hours or until the adhesive has completely dried.