Ian's Shoelace Site - Shoelace Lengths

Many shoes nowadays come with shoelaces that are way too long. On the other hand, breaking a shoelace can leave it too short. Calculating the correct shoelace length for a particular shoe with a particular lacing method involves some pretty complicated mathematics.

This section presents a Web-Based Calculator plus the underlying Shoelace Length Formulas to allow manual calculation.

Shoelace Length Factors

For shoes with EYELETS, the length of a shoelace depends on five key factors:

Lacing Method. For example, the diagram at right uses Criss Cross Lacing.

[P] - Pairs of Eyelets. The diagram at right has 6 pairs of eyelets (= 12 eyelets total).

[H] - Horizontal spacing between centres of adjacent eyelets, measured with the shoe tight on the foot. On my screen, the diagram at right has a horizontal spacing of 35mm.

[V] - Vertical spacing between centres of eyelets, or from the top of one eyelet to the top of the next eyelet. On my screen, the diagram at right has a vertical spacing of 16mm.

[L] - Length of each shoelace end (with which you tie your knots), measured from the middle of the knot to the end of the shoelace. 250 mm (10") is usually ideal; allow more if you prefer a larger bow, less if you like it compact.

For shoes with LUGS, there is the additional factor of the widths of the lugs:

Lacing Method. For example, the diagram at right uses Lug Criss Cross Lacing.

[P] - Pairs of Lugs. The diagram at right has 5 pairs of lugs (= 10 lugs total).

[H] - Horizontal spacing between the inside edges of adjacent lugs (where the laces pass through), measured with the shoe tight on the foot. On my screen, the diagram at right has a horizontal spacing of 33mm.

[V] - Vertical spacing between centres of lugs, or from the top of one lug to the top of the next lug. On my screen, the diagram at right has a vertical spacing of 18mm.

[W] - Width of lugs, measured vertically. On my screen, the diagram at right has 8mm wide lugs.

If either the Horizontal spacing [H] or Vertical spacing [V] varies between one pair of eyelets (or lugs) and the next, just use an average.

Determining Shoelace Lengths

Assuming the existing shoelaces are the wrong length for a particular shoe and lacing method, there are several ways to work out the correct length:

The easiest way is to enter the measurements [P], [H], [V], [W] and [L] into my web-based Shoelace Length Calculator. This will automatically calculate the correct lengths for all of the different lacing methods.
Refer to the underlying Shoelace Length Formulas, then enter those formulas into a spreadsheet, substituting your own measurements for [P], [H], [V], [W] and [L]. The formulas could also be manually calculated step by step, remembering the order of precedence (Brackets, then Multiplications and Divisions, then Additions and Subtractions).
Lace your shoes the way you want with a long piece of cheap string of roughly the required thickness. When tied comfortably with suitably sized bows, cut the ends to a length that won't get underfoot. Then remove the string and simply measure the exact length needed. This takes into account all the subtleties that can't easily be factored into a mathematical formula.

Of course, if the existing laces are almost the correct length, or if they are the exact length but need replacement for whatever reason, it's easiest to simply remove and measure those laces and adjust by a small amount if necessary.

Many new shoelaces list their supposed application, such as "Suits 6-8 Eyelets". These are a very rough approximation! Some shoes can have a horizontal spacing two or three times as wide as others, whilst the lacing method can affect the overall length by 30% or more.

Buying The Closest Available Length

Having calculated a theoretically accurate shoelace length, the problem arises of how to buy a shoelace from the limited lengths available. For short laces, you should be able to buy a length that's pretty close, but for very long laces, the closest matching available lengths may be either significantly longer or shorter.

It all comes down to the resulting end lengths that you find comfortable.

By my testing, I've found that end lengths of 250 mm (10 inches) are about ideal for most adults. The ends are long enough to tie comfortably, resulting in a bow of pleasing proportions plus ends that won't get underfoot. However, this ideal end length can be varied comfortably by about 50 mm (2 inches) each way.

150 mm (6 inches) = Excessively short, making it difficult to tie a knot.
200 mm (8 inches) = Comfortably short, resulting in a compact bow.
250 mm (10 inches) = Ideal length (for most adults).
300 mm (12 inches) = Comfortably long, resulting in a larger bow.
350 mm (14 inches) = Excessively long, requiring careful adjustment to prevent ends getting underfoot.

You can therefore safely buy laces that are up to 100 mm too long or short, which will only make 50 mm difference to the length of each end (2 x 50 mm ends = 100 mm per lace). For children's shoes, choose a little shorter, but not too short as to make it difficult for them to tie comfortably.

I've used rough metric to imperial conversions above where 1 inch = 25 mm instead of precisely 25.4 mm.

Shortening Shoelaces To Length

Whenever I buy a new pair of shoes, the first thing I do is re-lace them with my preferred Lacing Method, after which I shorten the shoelaces to the correct length. This prevents having to go to a lot of trouble each time the shoelaces are tied in order to take up all of the excess length so that the ends don't drag on the ground or get underfoot.

The only difficulty with shortening shoelaces is that the original aglets (the plastic or metal tips at the ends of the shoelaces) are lost in the process. I've therefore come up with several methods of replacing aglets, which you'll find on my Aglet Repair page.

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