Drying The Shoes

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Experience From - Esmond Mah, Charles Steele, John Thieme, Steve Pero


Esmond Mah

"Why do all that fancy stuff with fans/ hair dryers etc - just rotate several pair as earlier posts suggested. Much easier and saves money in the long run."

"Rotating shoes helps, but in high humidity conditions it can a long time to dry a really wet pair of shoes unless you have good air circulation (like a fan) or heat (with a hair dryer, which may ruin the shoes)."
Here is my method for drying out shoes, learned from hikers. I commute to work by running. So if I've gone to work running through puddles and heavy rain my shoes are soaked. I prefer to run home in dry shoes so I take the insoles out and stuff the shoes with crumpled up old newspaper. It soaks up the moisture like a sponge. If the shoes are really wet then I might have to repeat the process after a few hours. But when I am ready to run home I have dry shoes. (I keep extra sox at my desk. They don't dry as quickly.)


Charles Steele

"I have tried to keep out of this debate but as I do not understand the arguments and science of this, could someone please explain how waiting for shoes to dry out prolongs their longevity. Do dry shoes not wear as fast? I don't think that drying out has anything to do with the longevity of a shoe, unless it keeps them from mildewing."

When wet, leather (under stress and movement) breaks down more quickly. You can reduce this effect by working lots of SnoSeal or similar product into the leather. Of course, the leather components on most shoes aren't critical components; the breakdown of a shoe typically occurs in the midsole, and is unrelated to moisture.


John Thieme

While I rotate shoes a long run in South Louisiana heat and humid soaks mine so thoroughly that some help in drying is necessary. The easiest way is to pull out the insole and turn the shoes on their side in front of the refrigerator. The exhaust from little fan the runs over the coils does a nice job of drying shoes while it cools my beer.


Steve Pero

A really convenient fan is at the bottom of your fridge. Just put your wet running shoes in front of the fridge on the floor and in the morning they'll be nice 'n dry. Ff your family objects to that, just put them behind the fridge and the fan will suck the moisture out of them.