Quote:
Originally Posted by East Oakland 
Don´t you feel used shoes so disgusting? I would´t wear it. I simply can´t understand used shoes or used underwear. No offense.
I'm no doctor, but would think antifungal powder or spray will kill anything you would really need to worry about. Sweat stains can be an issue, but not so much from a hygienic perspective as one of appearance. One other issue with used shoes (particularly nice ones) is the fact that the filling under the insole is often cork or a similar material that starts to conform to the shape of the wearer's foot. The way the upper breaks in is also controlled by the shape of your foot. So if you buy a used shoe that has been worn much, it's essentially broken in for someone else's foot and may never really break in for your own foot properly. You can usually tell by the sole and heel if the shoe has been worn more than once or twice. Due to the potential for sweat stains that may have been polished over and the break-in issue, I wouldn't buy shoes that have been worn much more than that, unless you are prepared to right off the purchase as a loss if they don't work out. You'll see people pay way too much for used shoes on ebay sometimes--I think people just get attached to an item and feel like they have to "win" the auction even if they are paying more than the item is worth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
Don´t you feel used shoes so disgusting? I would´t wear it. I simply can´t understand used shoes or used underwear. No offense.
I'm no doctor, but would think antifungal powder or spray will kill anything you would really need to worry about. Sweat stains can be an issue, but not so much from a hygienic perspective as one of appearance. One other issue with used shoes (particularly nice ones) is the fact that the filling under the insole is often cork or a similar material that starts to conform to the shape of the wearer's foot. The way the upper breaks in is also controlled by the shape of your foot. So if you buy a used shoe that has been worn much, it's essentially broken in for someone else's foot and may never really break in for your own foot properly. You can usually tell by the sole and heel if the shoe has been worn more than once or twice. Due to the potential for sweat stains that may have been polished over and the break-in issue, I wouldn't buy shoes that have been worn much more than that, unless you are prepared to right off the purchase as a loss if they don't work out. You'll see people pay way too much for used shoes on ebay sometimes--I think people just get attached to an item and feel like they have to "win" the auction even if they are paying more than the item is worth.
A lot in all of this (especially the hygiene bit) but speaking as someone who has a fair collection of vintage shoes you would be amazed how in the old days so little wear happened to shoes. Some were discarded to closets with maybe 20 wears tops and have no footbed imprint. Some must have been worn to the occasional church service or as special shoes for going out. The whole subject is intriguing and you are speaking to someone with a lot of shoes from the 1940s/50s which I bought with minor wear.
