How shoelaces are made

A shoelace tip starts as clear tape that a machine wraps around the braid and melts into place.

stations: 5
things upstream: 37
raw sources: 12
steps from the ground: 7

The short version

Yarn is wound on spools and set on a braiding machine, where spools weave past each other in circles to make a tube, or in C-shaped tracks to make a flat braid. The continuous cord goes through a tipping machine, which wraps clear acetate tape around it and applies heat and often acetone so the tape bonds. A cut through the middle of the wrap leaves a tip on each side.

Wind the yarn

Fibers of cotton or polyester are twisted into strands and wound onto bobbins, ready to mount on the braider.

Goes in
Polyester Cotton yarn
Braid the cord

Spools run in interlocking circles on a Maypole braider and make a double-walled tube. Flat braiders reverse the spools along C-shaped tracks for a thinner single wall.
Wrap the acetate tape

A tipping machine wraps clear acetate tape, twice the width of the tip, around the uncut cord. Controlled heat and often acetone melt it onto the yarn.

Goes in
Cellulose acetate Acetone
Cut through the wrap

Once the tape has cooled, the blade cuts through its center, leaving half on each side. Every cut therefore finishes the end of one lace and the start of the next.
Inspect and bundle

Excess material is trimmed, laces are inspected for quality, and they are paired up and packaged for retailers.

End of the lineShoelace

Worth repeating

Aglets were originally made of metal, glass or stone, and wealthy Romans had theirs made of precious metals.
Cotton laces have a rough surface and hold a knot better than polyester ones.