Shoe Trees and Longetivity

Up until a year ago, I had never used or even heard of shoe trees. It's amazing how being around the right crowd and learning from experienced individuals changes your life. NONE of my family, relatives or even friends use shoe trees, but then again they don't know what makes a quality shoe let alone why paying the premium is an investment.

That being said, I have shoe trees for every shoe I own (At this moment is 7, hopefully more soon) . I use Woodlore Ultra's for my better shoes and like them very much.

Now the post:

I would like to hear from people about the longetivity of shoe trees and the shoes with and without the trees.

What would the average lifespan of shoe trees be, assuming they are used everyday? How many years before they're replaced? While Woodlore suggest sanding every year, how often do you sand them?

In terms of benefit for shoes:
While this may actually require experimentation, has anyone noticed that their shoes last longer by using shoe trees vs. without?

Are you really a professor?


- B

How long do shoe trees last?

Oh dear, SF has now officially gone OCD.

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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Are you really a professor?


- B

Someday soon, not officially yet. To everyone that knows me personally, they would say yes. Why do you ask?

Our cedar shoe trees prolong the life of shoes by absorbing moisture from them, as well as maintaining the shape of the shoes. Regular use of shoe trees can extend the life of a pair of shoes by as much as 30%.

We guarantee that our products are made with a minimum of 75 percent heartwood - that's the red wood that you see and it's where the fragrant oil resides. Even after the scent seems to have disappeared, the wood continues to ward off insects, and a light sanding will rejuvenate the smell.

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I've never actually sanded my shoe trees before. I have replaced then when I broke the metal bits.

I wonder if you can buy a bottle of the cedar oil and refresh particularly old shoe trees? I wonder if it would be worth it when shoe trees are relatively easily had at $10 - 20.

To my mind it isn't how long the shoe tree lasts, but how much it prolongs the life of your shoes. I'm figuring roughly 3x - 4x compared to no shoe tree. The only thing you can do to your shoes to prolong the shoe life as much is to rotate shoe wear daily. Past experience has taught me that no shoe trees and constant wear, limits my shoes to about a six month life span--if that.

No point in sanding them; just buy new ones for $15.

Originally Posted by 82-Greg

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I've never actually sanded my shoe trees before. I have replaced then when I broke the metal bits.

I wonder if you can buy a bottle of the cedar oil and refresh particularly old shoe trees? I wonder if it would be worth it when shoe trees are relatively easily had at $10 - 20.

To my mind it isn't how long the shoe tree lasts, but how much it prolongs the life of your shoes. I'm figuring roughly 3x - 4x compared to no shoe tree. The only thing you can do to your shoes to prolong the shoe life as much is to rotate shoe wear daily. Past experience has taught me that no shoe trees and constant wear, limits my shoes to about a six month life span--if that.
Makes sense, I agree.

Now that someone brought up the topic, what differences are there between wooden and plastic shoe trees? My local cobbler suggested I buy from him plastic ones, despite that the wooden ones were more expensive and I was willing to pay for them.

Based on the intelligent response from ******, I'm assuming that shoe trees will last FOREVER and that every shoe tree that has ever been purchased has never gone bad.

Not forever, but a very long time.

Originally Posted by ProfessorShak

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... why paying the premium is an investment.


In terms of benefit for shoes:
While this may actually require experimentation, has anyone noticed that their shoes last longer by using shoe trees vs. without?

Paying the premium is no investment. I'm certain that none of my shoes have ever appreciated in value.

In my very early 20s, I "couldn't afford" shoe trees, and I had one pair of shoes. I recall that I was buying a new pair of shoes about every 12 months, give or take a month. My best estimate is that if I had bought 3 pairs of shoes with shoe trees and rotated them on a regular basis then they would have lasted 6 years or so.

I now have 7 pairs of shoes, 5 of which I've owned for about 4 years. I am expecting them to last another 5 years before any major repairs are required.

I have 2 pairs of Johnston Murphy (gasp!) loafers that I've owned for almost 9 years and which I wear exclusively on those days when I need to transit an airport. Both have trees. Both pair look as good as you can expect a crappy shoe like that to look, meaning nearly new.

Originally Posted by ProfessorShak

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Someday soon, not officially yet. To everyone that knows me personally, they would say yes. Why do you ask?

Maybe because a professor would have written "longevity."

Originally Posted by blackbowtie

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Maybe because a professor would have written "longevity."

Well then I blame myslef for always relying on Word for a spell check.