How to Relace Your Sneakers: Braided Lace Buying Guide

Swapping your laces is the cheapest way to change how a pair looks without touching the shoe itself. It sounds small, but a new lace colour on a worn in Dunk or Air Force 1 can make it feel like a completely different pair, at a fraction of what a new release costs.

This guide covers how to actually relace a sneaker properly, what braided laces bring to the table over the flat cotton ones most pairs ship with, and how to pick a colour that works instead of one that just clashes.

Why braided laces specifically

Most sneakers ship with flat cotton or waxed laces. They work fine, but they wear thin, fray at the tips, and rarely add much visually.

Braided rope laces are thicker, hold their shape better, and read as more deliberate. They sit up on the shoe rather than lying flat, which changes the whole silhouette of the front of a sneaker, especially on chunkier models like the Air Force 1 or Dunk High.

[IMAGE: Braided rope lace in blue coiled next to a white sneaker]

Photo: Kicks Machine, Braided Rope Lace Blue

Kicks Machine stocks braided rope laces at Rs499 per colour, which makes trying two or three combinations on a single pair a low cost way to test what actually suits your rotation before committing.

How to relace a sneaker properly

Relacing sounds obvious until you actually do it and the tension comes out uneven. Here is the process that avoids the usual mess.

Step 1: Remove the old lace completely. Pull it out from the top eyelet down, one side at a time. Don't try to leave one side threaded as a guide, it usually makes the new lace twist.

Step 2: Start from the bottom eyelets. Thread both ends of the new lace through the two lowest eyelets from underneath, so both tips point up and outward. Even out the length on both sides before you start crossing.

Step 3: Criss cross evenly. Cross the right lace over to the left eyelet and the left lace over to the right, working up the shoe one row at a time. Pull each crossing snug, not stretched, before moving to the next row.

Step 4: Check the tension with your foot in the shoe. This is the step most people skip. Tension that looks right on an empty shoe often turns out too tight or too loose once your foot is actually inside.

Step 5: Tie off and tuck. With braided laces specifically, the ends are thicker, so a standard bow tends to sit bulkier. A double knot, or tucking the ends alongside the tongue, usually looks cleaner than a big bow on a chunkier lace.

A common mistake worth calling out: lacing too tight across the forefoot on sneakers you plan to wear all day. It looks locked in for a photo but leads to numbness on a long Mumbai commute or a full day on campus. Snug at the ankle, slightly more give across the forefoot, is the more comfortable balance.

Picking a lace colour that actually works

This is where most lace swaps go wrong. A loud colour can lift a plain colourway, but the same colour on a pair that already has a lot going on just looks busy.

The safer starting points:

• Monochrome pairs (all white, all black) are the most forgiving. A single accent lace colour, red, blue, or a muted earth tone, reads as intentional rather than random.
• Pairs with an accent colour already benefit from matching the lace to that accent rather than introducing a fourth colour into the mix.
• Suede or nubuck uppers pair well with a slightly heavier braided lace since the textures read as similarly tactile rather than fighting each other.

[IMAGE: Nike Air Force 1 Dragon Red styled with a matching red braided lace]

Photo: Kicks Machine, Nike Air Force 1 07 Dragon Red

If you're relacing a pair from the Nike Air Force 1 collection, the clean panel design gives a braided lace plenty of room to stand out without competing against busy overlays or graphics.

When to relace versus when to leave it alone

Not every pair needs a lace swap. A few situations where it genuinely helps:

Worn or fraying original laces. If the tips are fraying or the lace has gone slack from repeated wear, that's a straightforward replace, no styling decision needed.

A pair that's gone stale in your rotation. Sometimes the shoe itself is fine, you're just bored of how it looks. A lace swap is the cheapest reset available before you consider retiring the pair altogether.

Prepping a pair for resale. Original laces intact and unworn usually matter more to a resale buyer than an aftermarket swap, so if you're planning to sell later, keep the stock laces stored safely and swap a spare pair instead.

One thing worth remembering here: we ship every pair with the original laces and packaging intact specifically because buyers who plan to keep a pair resale ready need that option later. Swapping laces on a spare pair, not your only set, is the safer habit if resale value matters to you.

Caring for braided laces once they're in

Braided laces trap more dirt in the weave than flat laces do, simply because there's more surface texture for grime to sit in. A quick hand wash with mild soap and cold water keeps the colour from dulling, and air drying flat avoids the fraying that comes from wringing a braided lace out by hand.

If you rotate laces across multiple pairs, keeping them loosely coiled rather than knotted in storage helps them hold shape longer between swaps.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do braided rope laces cost at Kicks Machine?
Braided Rope Laces are priced at Rs499 per colour, sold individually so you can mix and match across your rotation.

Do braided laces fit any sneaker?
They work best on sneakers with standard round or oval eyelets and enough panel space to show off the thicker profile, think Air Force 1, Dunk, and similar silhouettes. Very narrow eyelets on some running shoes may not accommodate the thicker weave comfortably.

What is the correct lacing tension for all day wear?
Snug around the ankle with slightly more give across the forefoot. Lace with your foot already in the shoe so you can judge the actual fit rather than guessing on an empty shoe.

Can I put braided laces back to stock if I change my mind?
Yes, as long as you kept the original laces. That's one reason it's worth storing the stock pair somewhere safe rather than discarding them the moment you swap.

How often should laces be replaced regardless of colour?
If the lace tips are fraying, the aglets have come off, or the lace has gone visibly slack, that's the signal to replace it, independent of any styling change you're going for.

The bottom line

A lace swap is one of the lowest cost, lowest risk ways to change how a pair feels in rotation, and braided rope laces specifically give a chunkier, more deliberate look than the stock flat laces most sneakers ship with. Start with a monochrome pair if you're testing the look for the first time, keep tension even by lacing with your foot in the shoe, and store your original laces if resale is ever on the table.

Browse the full range of braided laces to find a colour that matches your next rotation, or check the sneaker care collection for everything else that keeps a pair looking new between wears.