Elastic No Tie Shoelaces - 2-Pair Flat Locking Laces for Kids & Adults Sneakers

Lace the shoe once. Then stop lacing it.

These replace the laces in a sneaker you already own. The lace is a flat woven elastic band instead of a cord, and instead of tying it you thread it, set the tension you want, and clip a small lock over the two ends. From then on the shoe stretches open when your foot goes in and closes back down when it is on.

There is no tool, nothing to glue and nothing to unpick later. If you hate it, pull the lock off and put your old laces back.

Count what actually arrives

Most colors on this listing ship one pair — two laces and two locks, which is enough for one pair of shoes. Three colors ship two pairs, and they are named for it: the two-pair White, the two-pair Black, and the White + Black set that gives you one pair of each.

Older copy on this page said the set included two pairs regardless of which color you chose, and a line further down said one item. Both cannot be true, and the second one was closer. Check the color name in the buy box before you order: if it does not say two pairs, it is one.

Two different locks are sold on this page

This is worth reading before you pick a color, because the option names used to hide it. Nine colors come with a plastic lock molded to match the lace. Eight come with a polished metal lock — a different part, a different shape, noticeably heavier, and silver on every color it ships with.

Both work the same way: press the button, slide the two halves apart, feed the lace through, press them back together. Neither is better than the other. But if you are buying two colors expecting them to match, check the second half of the option name — every color now says which lock it comes with.

Fitting them takes a few minutes per shoe

Take the old laces out. Thread one elastic lace through the eyelets the way you normally would. Pull both ends until the shoe is as snug as you want it — this is the step to take your time over, because it is the tension you are going to live with. Then clip the lock over both ends near the top eyelet and press it shut.

Each lace is 39 in (100 cm) long and 0.31 in (8 mm) wide, and the supplier's own drawing gives that length a tolerance of about two inches either way. On a low sneaker with five or six eyelet pairs that leaves ends to tuck; on a high-top with more eyelets there is less to spare. If your shoe takes an unusually long lace, measure the one you are taking out first.

Then the shoe goes on without your hands

That is the whole point of the thing. Once the tension is set, the elastic gives enough for a foot to push in and pulls the shoe back closed afterwards, so nothing needs untying and nothing comes undone in the middle of the day. It suits anyone who would rather not bend down: people with sore backs or stiff hands, anyone getting a household out of the door in a hurry, and children who can get their own shoes on but cannot yet tie them.

If you are buying these for a child, read this part

The lock is a small part, and it is designed to come apart. Each one measures about 1.06 x 0.39 in (27 x 10 mm) and separates into two smaller pieces when you press the button. A part that size fits well inside the cylinder the federal small-parts test uses, which is the test that decides whether something is a choking risk for a very young child.

So: an adult should do the fitting, an adult should check each lock is fully shut, and loose locks should not be left where a small child can reach them. Check them again now and then, the way you would check any fastening on a child's shoe.

We also want to be straight with you about the paperwork. We do not hold a Children's Product Certificate for these, and we have not been given third-party lab testing for lead content, phthalates or small parts. If your child is old enough that small parts are not a concern and you are simply after laces they can manage themselves, that is what these are good at. If you need certified children's-product testing, buy from a seller who can hand you the certificate.

What we do not claim

The lace is described by the maker as polyester and nothing more specific. We have no figure for how much load the lock holds, no cycle testing, and nothing that tells us how the elastic behaves after a year of stretching, so we are not going to put numbers on any of that.

We also do not sell these as a sports product. They will hold a shoe on for ordinary walking and running about; whether the tension you set survives a hard game is something only you will find out, and there is no rating from anyone that says it will.

Specifications