the ewww thing i found when cleaning shoes

Yikes! Sounds pretty gross. Have you been using shoe trees? It seems like they are not drying out correctly.

Step 1: I would try wiping out the inside with a damp cloth and a water/bleach solution as bleach will kill mold. I would then leave them to air out in the sun for an afternoon.

Step 2: Invest in some quality shoe trees for all of your shoes and check their storage location. It seems they are being stored in a damp place. Fix that before you ruin more shoes.

Good luck!

It's probably not SF approved but maybe invest in a shoe dryer? Actually, I don't even know if they still make them - we have one that was my wife's grandfather's. I've never used it on dress shoes, but I use it on my running shoes, work boots, and casual shoes all the time and 30-45 minutes on that really does dry the insides out quite well and helps to get rid of the funk as well.

Not sure that the fungi stuff is solely on account of dampness. Spontaneous generation theory is no longer accepted, you know. Comprehensive disinfection might be a prerequisite.

I remember when I was a kid, we lived in tropical countries and video tapes would get moldy due to the humidity. My dad installed a 20w lightbulb inside the video cabinent and left it on 24/7. The idea beaing that the dry heat of the lightbulb de-humidified the air. I remember it working and something like that may be worth a try.

As someone else mentioned, you may have a foot fungus so I would also get that checked out. Wearing your shoes for long hours should not cause this--especially if you have a good rotation.

I;ve always wanted one of these: http://www.sterishoe.com/SFNT.html

I envision a private eye, like Mannix.

Oddly enough I suffered a similar problem. I went to a chemist an got a powder for clearing athletes foot. Just sprinkle a little inside the shoes after each wear and it'll clear up. I assume it has something to do with a strong fungacide.

This exchange deserves some serious nerd bonus points. Great work, guys!

 

You need a larger shoe rotation. The fungus/mold cannot grow or multiply in 24 hour shifts. No shoe should be worn more than once a week consistently.

Mold/Fungus cannot grow without consistent moisture.

How moist is your home and shoe storage area? If it is dry and your rotation large enough to prevent more than weekly wear I believe you will not have this problem.

Spray the insides of the shoes with lysol, and get athlete's foot powder to put into the shoes.

In the early 2000s I had a recurring problem with AEs that were growing mold like you described. What happened is I would get caught in the rain and the soles were being soaked through. The next time I would pull the shoes out to wear, the whole area between the tip of the shoe tree and the toe of the shoe would then be filled with what looked like the green/blue mold that grows on bread. Despite identical treatment and conditions, it never happened with any of my other shoes that weren't Allen Edmunds, but it happened to every pair of Allen Edmunds (I believe it was three pairs of them, maybe four). It turned me off from AE for a long time. Of course now, thanks to Google, I have a much better idea of how to care for my shoes and if my shoes get caught in the rain, I use newspaper or paper towels to start the drying process and move to shoe trees only after they are reasonably dry. I no longer have any mold issues, even with my leather soled AEs.

Where are the damned photos already?!