I just bought my first pair of shoetrees

[GQgeek]

My shoes range in size from an 8-9 but it really depends on the shoe, brand, etc. i just bought a pair of size 9 shoetrees and they barely fit in to one of my pairs of black leather shoes. It's kinda hard to get them and even harder to get them out. It's a very tight fit lengthwise and i can't compress the shoetree anymore than it is. I didnt think to ask the guy at the store because the trees looked very adjustable and they are i guess but i tend to think it's more of a 9-10 size then an 8-9.

I'd gues that the wood is supposed to be in contact with the leather to absorb moisture, but the more a spring is compressed, the more force it exerts so i'm wondering if it can stretch the shoe or harm it in any way if it's a really tight fit.

 

[j]

Those shoe trees are too big. They will stretch out your shoes, especially if you cram them in when the shoes are damp from wearing. Shoe trees should fit in pretty easily, then the front part will expand (if you have that type) to fill the width, as the bar is pushed forward, and the heel part will compress to fit in the heel easily as well. You should take them back and get smaller ones.

Incidentally, if you have a Marshall's or TJ Maxx near you I got a bunch at Marshall's and saw the same at TJ Maxx, they are all Rochester cedar trees, the good ones, and they were $8 a pair. That is very cheap, especially considering the prices of the shoes they are in.

 

[Steve B.]

J,

You're an amazing bargain hunter. I need some shoe trewes nd will check Marshall's and TJ Maxx out. I've found them to be really poor sources for good clothes in No. Cal., but in the Midwest my brother swears by them.

 

[NavyStyles]

I'd definitely recommend going back and getting a fitting pair. My feet used to really stink. It was bad. They would just sweat- even when the rest of me wouldn't. Since then, I've used Clindet wipes on the bottoms of my feet for a week and they've been fine. Anyway, I got a shoetree as a present soon thereafter (cedar one from Men's Wearhouse) and I love it. I always look forward to wearing the shoes that I put them in, because cedar is my favorite smell in the world (always has been). It's great: by the end of the day, my socks smell like cedar. mmmmmm.

 

[GQgeek]

heh mine was 36 canadian, they're cedar and exactly how j described them. =/ We really don't have any stores like that around here so i'm SOL. I scrapped the skin off my first joint knuckles trying to get them out heh. Going back tomorrow i guess. Thanks for info.

 

[j]

At that price, maybe I should go to Marshall's and pick up some more and put them on ebay. Then you could get them for pretty cheap. What do you think? Oh, they are "irregular," by the way, which means that they have exposed knots or little defects like that. Nothing that affects their functioning though.