Important: The first step of the repair - the preparation - is very important! Spend some time to do this carefully, and the next steps will fly by.

First, pull out the lace from the damaged or lost eyelet hole.

If the old eyelet is only damaged, but still attached, it will need removing:

Use a pair of pliers to gently grip the damaged eyelet from the outside, and gently turn and rotate it simultaneously. With some effort, you should be able to separate the front half of the eyelet from the back half. If needed, take a second pair of pliers to grip the inside, while you pull/turn the outside half away.

A successful removal of the eyelet is when the front half separates from the back half, and both are removed without damaging the backing fabric.

Once the eyelet is removed, take note of the inner hole size (inner diameter) and the outer metal size (outer diameter).

Use these sizes when purchasing a new eyelet. We recommend purchasing an eyelet replacement kit, which includes the "punch" tools too (see photo).