How Often Should You Replace Work Shoes? – According To Podiatrist

We subconsciously notice the shoes as the first thing when while meeting someone. Shoes play a great role in our daily lives, and the more comfortable they are, the more comfortable you will be. 

No matter how good quality and expensive office wear you buy, they do get worn with time, and that’s when you need to get them repaired or buy a new pair. In this article, we will tell you when you should get worried about your shoes and repair or replace them. 

Why are shoes considered for office wear, and why not sandals or joggers? 

Work shoes should be the most comfortable yet elegant shoes since they have to be used for several hours every day, and then there’s a wide range of people noticing you head-to-toe, so you cannot just wear joggers, sandals, boots, or slippers to a workplace.

Purpose of shoes  

Every shoe has its own purpose, the purpose of boots is durability. Joggers are made for sport, hiking, and running; their main focus is on the strength of the shoe. Sandals and slippers are for casual events. While dress shoes, office shoes, and work shoes are for formal events, they have that formal look that is perfect for office wear; their main focus is on appearance. 

Why replace shoes after some time? Podiatrist opinion

A lot of people who were having foot pain were wearing terrible shoes. Shoes play a huge role in foot health. After some time of constant usage, shoes get worn out, their soles get damaged and rough, and they get slippery. With time shoes lose their shine which gives an old and dull look. 

• Bad effect on foot 

When a shoe has worn out, its sole turns flat, decreasing friction between the shoe and the floor, causing an accident. A flat sole can also harm one’s feet; it might affect your posture or cause pain in your heels. 

• According to podiatrist 

According to a podiatrist, shoes have a certain lifetime, which can be increased or decreased depending on how you treat them. With proper care and attention, a person can dramatically extend the life of their shoes. Small damage, when handled on time, can stop big damage. As soon as you notice slipperiness or any hole in the sole, get your shoes checked and replace their soles. Otherwise, you might have to replace the whole shoe. 

When do your shoes need to be resoled?

Just like your car, every shoe ultimately needs the outsoles to be replaced whenever they have become worn; however, for work shoes, you might need to keep check quite often since you use them every day for hours at work. 

Here are three ways to see if your shoes need to be resoled.

• Check the center of the outsole if it is wrinkled or soft.

• Step 1:

Turn your shoe upside down and hold the toe, then run your finger on the center of the outsole. 

• Step 2:

What you are looking for is any softness or wrinkling in the outsole. 

• Step 3:

A proper outsole that has not outlived his lifetime should be firm to the touch and not push in.

• Step 4:

In case your shoe has a soft outsole and it’s pushing inward easily, then it’s time to resole. 

• Any hole means you have reached the lifetime of the outsole.

• Step 1:

If you find any hole in the outsole, it means you have gone way beyond the lifetime of this outsole. 

• Step 2:

If you wear your shoes too long with the hole, you can actually cause permanent damage to your shoe if they get wet.

• Step 3:

 If you have any visible holes in your outsole, you need to immediately send them into a cobbler to be retracted.

• Inspect the perimeter of the outsole to look for exposed stitches
• Step 1:

Always inspect the perimeter of the outsole to ensure that you haven’t worn through the outsole.

• Step 2:

If you see any type of welt stitching exposed, that means you are wearing through the outsole into the welt, and these outsoles need to be replaced immediately.

• Step 3:

The problem if you wear through the outsole into the welt is that if your wear too far through the welt, the shoes either are unable to be repaired or have to go through a very extensive rewelting in order to allow them to be resoled.

When to replace work shoes?

With regular resoling and regular polishing, you can extend the lifetime of your shoes by decades, ensuring that they only get better with wear and become more personalized for you. in the hands of an experienced craftsman, a resoling job can extend not only the life of the shoe but also elevate the quality of the finish. 

But on the other hand, if not handled with care and constant ignorance, then you might lose your shoe within few months or a year at maximum. 

• stains and scratches

The longer the stain remains on your shoes, the harder it becomes to remove them. For any stain treatment method, you must do a spot test first. Test that method on leather that is going to be unseen. Light color leather is especially prone to color change. 

Water stains

Obviously, you might want to keep your leather shoes safe from heavy rain, but if they happen to get wet or soaked, here are few things you can do. 

Step 1: 

Pat your shoe with a dry cloth to absorb any excess water.

Step 2:

Put in cedar shoe trees to help absorb moisture, which keep your shoes from becoming misshape. 

Step 3:

Let the shoe sit at room temperature until dry. Never use a hairdryer to make it dry quickly. It shrinks the leather. 

Step 4: 

If the stain remains after drying. Mix water in a little bit of dish soap together in a bowl, then apply that solution to the stain using a sponge or cloth. 

Step 5:

Gently scrub over the stain, do not overdo it, and no harsh scrubbing, let it dry and see if the stain has gone. If it is still there, repeat the process again.

Wine stains: 

Step 1:

If you have a red wine stain on your cloth, take a clean cloth to blot up any excess wine on the shoe. Do not press hard, rub or scrub; just gently pat on your shoe. 

Step 2: 

Put some hydrogen peroxide solution on the cloth; you can find it in any drug store. Rub gently until the stain is removed.

Step 3: 

If the stain is sticky, repeat rubbing until the stain has gone. 

Make your shoes last longer

When we buy a new pair of shoes, we are usually very conscious about them getting damaged, dirty, or wet. What we don’t realize is that the way we are putting on our shoes or taking them off might actually be damaging them.

• Shoehorn

If your shoes are tightly fitted, you might want to use a shoehorn while putting them on; if you don’t, you might wear out the inside the back of your shoe every time you put them on. 

• Dustbags 

Use dust bags to keep your shoes safe. A dust bag is very easily available; it is quite easier to pack your shoes in a dust bag while traveling. It will protect the shoes from unwanted scratches. 

• Shoe trees

Shoe trees help physically maintain the shape of your shoe while you are not wearing them. More importantly, they absorb moisture which helps to keep the leather from breaking down over time. Cedar shoe tree is mostly liked by people because of its odor; it is so fragrant.

• Shine your shoes regularly. 

If you wear your shoes every day, then you must polish them weekly. Polishing depends on how much you wear them. If you wear them occasionally, then you can polish them every 3-6 months. 

Step 1: 

Take out the laces of your shoe and put a shoe tree in your shoe, just to hold the shape of your shoe. 

Step 2: 

Take a cloth or a brush to get rid of any loose dust on your shoes.

Step 3: 

Apply some shoe polish on the shoe and let it rest for 15-20 mins at least. Then take a shoe brush and gently brush the outside of the shoe.

Step 4: 

Evenly dab a few drops of water on the places where you have smooth uncreased leather. Then just gently rub a cloth over your shoes. 

In a nutshell 

Shoe care is no doubt very important, but the first step is to buy good quality shoes; they’re going to be more expensive, but they’ll probably last longer, plus you’ll be a lot more motivated to take care of them. 

Conclusion

To sum up, everything that has been stated so far, selecting the right shoes for your daily life office routine is very important, but keeping a check on your shoes and knowing when to change them is not something we pay attention to. In this article, you have been explained how to take care of your shoes correctly to make them stay longer and stronger. 

I hope the article was helpful to you.