Shoes, so damn hot 1

[wiimike]

Hey all. I've been an avid sandals wearer for about eight years now, but graduating from college I got into a position with very formal attire (slacks, dress shirt, dress shoes). I bought some "giorgio brutini" (From Kohls, looked nice, $40 on sale during some great sale weekend, and I'm a big sale skeptic).

So my problem is that my feet sweat, a lot. I pretty much get home to a solidly wet inner shoe. I don't remember this being an issue when I was younger in sort of kidsey shoes. I'm not a sweaty guy in general, it's just the feet and in dress shoes. It's never an issue in sandals. It's not appropriate to take my shoes off at work. Both pairs of shoes I own do this, they are by the same manufacturer.

Regardless of cause, I'm willing to bet there are ways of dealing with this some people must have come across. Are there certain brands/styles that address this problem? Are my particular shoes made badly or with poor material and that's what's causing it? Something I'm not thinking of?

 

[monksnake]

Just put some Dr. Scholls foot powder inside your shoes each day before work. I have a friend that has the sweaty foot problem and the foot powder works well for him.



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[flapeyre]

Since your feet do sweat a lot, it's important that you also alternate shoes frequently (to give the unused pair time to dry out). The foot powder that monksnake suggested is a good idea.

I had a job that required me to wear dress shoes and walk a lot, outside, in the summer. The result was the absolute worst case of athlete's foot you could imagine; it required trips to the doctor for treatment with a UV light to kill the fungus. For about a week, I couldn't even walk with shoes on - it was too painful.

Make sure the shoes are not too tight. Go shoe shopping in the afternoon (your feet are slightly swollen then, so you will avoid getting a too-small shoe). If you can possibly find a dress shoe that has some perforations in it to allow air circulation, get it.



Tibi gratias agimus quod nihil fumas.

 

[wiimike]

I'll give that a shot. And the athletes foot warning was enough for me to say I'll go out and get some this week.

The shoes aren't tight, they just seem to trap heat. I should have mentioned it in my first post though, that they are loose enough. I guess I'll check for perforated shoes next time, but are they common to find among dressy shoes?

 

[SantaMufasa]

Mike,

If you have an understanding manager with whom you have a good rapport, go to her/him with this approach:

I have a challenge for which I want to ask your advice.

I have a podiatric issue that becomes more acute with the shoes I chose to meet our dress code. I did not have this issue when I wore sandals, which gave my feet more access to the open air.

I did not want to wear anything that would compromise the dress standard, but I wanted to get your thoughts about my wearing some sort of alternative footwear. For example, would my wearing black socks with black sandals raise eyebrows? If so, do you have any other suggestions that might give me some relief without compromising our dress code?

With as many accommodations that companies make to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it seems to me that they can cut you some slack regarding footwear. I know that I am in a "business casual" (i.e., slacks/dress shirt, but tie not necessary) environment and no one would raise a fuss about someone wearing appropriate sandals, even if we did require ties.


What are your thoughts, Mike, on this approach?



Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[wiimike]

mmmmm, my only hesitation is I work at the city hall for a major city in California. As far as my location and user base is concerned, I am occasionally amazingly dressed down in comparison already. It would work beautifully in our other offices, which are outside of the very high level management support (city planner, mayor, chief financial analyst, etc), but I don't believe it would here, at least not without raising a lot of eyebrows and getting me some unfavorable attention from my superiors.

I love the idea, it's beautifully crafted, totally desirable, the only thing is that I'm really not high of position / permanent enough to want to make that much of a fuss over this.

I love the idea though =).

 

[flapeyre]

This web site:

Athlete's Foot - Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention

also has some useful information.

Tibi gratias agimus quod nihil fumas.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Mike...Urgent update...I work at home and I have the TV on for backgound noise...Oprah was on just now with "Dr. Oz" (Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is a pretty savvy Doc.) One of the problems they resolved was stinky, sweaty feet.

The resolution was to brew up a foot bath full of tea-bag-brewed tea. Make the temperature warm but not hot. Leave your feet "steeping" in the tea for 30 minutes per day, for a week. Doing this, he says, "tans" your feet with the tannic acid. Doing this causes your feet to not perspire profusely, thus reducing the environment for odor-producing bacteria.

The people from Oprah's staff that had tried out this remedy were unanimous in their praise for this solution. They each said that this "homebrew" treatment resolved their "stinky, sweaty feet" problem 100%.

Try it out and let us know your results.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[KornGeek]

I once heard that deodorant and antiperspirant can be applied effectively to feet. If SantaMufasa's suggestion doesn't help (which hopefully it will), I'd try the antiperspirant approach. Even if it doesn't work, I doubt it would hurt anything.

 

[sleipnir214]

leave your feet "steeping" in the tea

So that's what Jean-Luc Picard was doing with all that Earl Grey tea...



Want the best answers? Ask the best questions! TANSTAAFL!

 

[SantaMufasa]

...and now you know why I don't drink the stuff...I don't want to tan my innerds.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[chiph]

+1 to the suggestion of alternating shoes. Buy 2-3 pair, and rotate through them. Not only will you get bonus points with the ladies for style, but they'll last a lot longer too.

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[LadySlinger]

Check the type of material that the shoe is made out of too.
I know I can't wear man-made leather. For some reason most man-made leathers are more plastic then anything else, so those type of shoes trap heat more. They're great in the winter time though

If you can't afford leather shoes, go out and by the Dr. Scholl's foot inserts...the cheap-o kind. This helps absorb a lot of the sweat and helps with the stinky feet issue.

 

[LadySlinger]

Oh and the socks and sandels bit - that's just bad fashion. :lol:

 

[Lunatic]

LadySinger

Don't let them catch you saying that in Japan ;p

Request

If anyone tries the teabag soaking thing, post your results, I'd be interested in finding out.

From personal experience inserts and powders helped with the smell but never stopped the sweating. It gets to the point in the summer that I take my shoes off while I'm at work and then put them on for meetings (thankfully I have a partition between me and people coming in to my office). If I don't then my socks are wringable as well.

***************************************
Have a problem with my spelling or grammar? Please refer all complaints to my English teacher:
Ralphy "Me fail English? That's unpossible." Wiggum

 

[lespaul]

Oh and the socks and sandels bit - that's just bad fashion

No matter what the Japanese think, she's right....sandals with socks is just wrong.

Les

 

[Welshbird]

I have a similar problem, and I find that my only solution is to wear completely leather shoes. Uppers, inners and soles too. They are more expensive initially, and they also cost more to repair, but I have three pairs now which I have owned for more than five years.

I guess it works out not so expensive long term! (And I can cope with being in the same room as my own stockinged feet when I get home from work! )

Fee

The question should be [red]Is it worth trying to do?[/red] not [blue] Can it be done?[/blue]

 

[wiimike]

The all leather shoes thing is a great idea, when I get a better job (I'm pretty new, so it's not sarcasm, yet, hehe) I will definitely look into that option.

For now it's the grocery store and something by dr. scholls. I'll post an update either way, probably tomorrow if I can find some time to go down there tonight.

 

[Demonpiggies]

Some people (like me) sweat horribly when wearing those thin black socks to work. They practically stick to my feet. Anyway that may also be the issue some people sweat MORE in man made materials than natural cotton. I wear thicker black cotton socks with my suit and at work. Also Cole Haans shoes are the most professional and the most comfortable I've found. Even the full leather allow my feet to breathe. I have not been having any feet issues after I converted to thicker socks and full leather shoes.

 

[JCreamerII]

wiimike,

Socks with silver thread can retard the growth of bacteria. It won't stop the sweating but can kill the odor.

Jim C.