Not a "primitive skill", but still a useful thing to know. This is a kinda, sorta product endorsement. No, I'm not getting paid for it and the company doesn't even know I am writing this... but I love Shoe Goo.
Originally I bought the stuff to do some shoe repairs, just as the stuff is intended for. Then, I realized it would stick to plastic toys better than anything else I had around, so my daughter's toys started getting repaired better, rather than just thrown away. She was going through tiaras too fast.
Then I started branching out to fix more and more stuff around the house. Stuff I had never been able to effectively repair before. Even fixed the side mirror on my dad's pickup with it.
The most useful thing I have found is that I can extend the life of my pants by 2 or 3 times. Maybe more. Actually, I haven't yet had to give up on a pair of pants that I have repaired with Shoe Goo.
I always wear out the left knee of my pants before anything else. Then the right knee goes, and then the seat of the pants gets holes (bike riding seems to be hard on the seat). I am not one to feel comfortable wearing holey pants, and never have been. But what I discovered is that I can rub some Shoe Goo on the inside where the wear is just about to break through and prevent it from happening for a few more months. If I get really ambitious I will cut a patch from an old pair of pants and glue it to the inside where the wear is and it lasts even better. I just keep an eye on where the next hole is going to form and nip it in the bud.
If you like saving money- and who doesn't?- try it. One tube of Shoe Goo pays for itself many times over at my house. The company might not approve of all my uses, but I just keep finding more. As soon as something needs to be fixed at my house, I don't grab the duct tape, I grab the Shoe Goo.
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