I went on a hike once with timberland boots that had been in a closet for a couple years. The glue dissolved at the destination (freshwater swimming area) and the rubber sole separated from the leather upper. I had to hike back to the car in moccasins.
magic
Submitted 2 weeks ago by Buage_@piefed.social to [deleted]
https://media.piefed.social/posts/pC/Od/pCOdzIrTL4alMIe.jpg
Comments
shifty@leminal.space 2 weeks ago
zr0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Timerland boots are anything but good hiking boots.
GroundedGator@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Not good for any type of boot. I bought a pair on clearance from Sears. Legit wanted a pair of steel toe work boots for yard work and other work around the house. After about 3 years of light wear the soul started to fall away.
I would have been better off with a cheap work boot from Walmart.
vrek@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
Almost same thing happened to me, including them being timberland boots.
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
These things have long been subject to enshittification.
jpablo68@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
I’ll never understand people not using shoes from day one until they literally disintegrate from daily use.
shea@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
i buy nice shoes and still do this. Sneakerheads get weirdly upset about it, i have to defend it all the time. I buy shoes to wear them i thought thats what they were for
mosspiglet@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
A while back I noticed my foot was wet after walking through some water. It wasn’t deep so I was confused, then I realized it came through the hole that wore through the bottom of my shoe. That was the sign to go get new shoes.
hark@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If I find come across a great sale, I might as well pick it up. I wear my shoes until they disintegrate, so it takes a while to get through to the next one, so I’ll have a backup of maybe 3-4. It’s good to at least have one backup just in case anyway.
stepan@lemmy.cafe 2 weeks ago
My grandma once gave me a pair of “new shoes”. They fell apart in the middle of an all-day track in the Alps (big mountains). Turns out she bought them for my aunt years ago and then forgot about them.
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Wearing your shoes actually helps prevent this. Basically every sneaker collector has (or knows someone who has) a story like this. The soles get brittle over time, and will fall apart if they have sat for too long. But if you wear them, it helps avoid that from happening. The natural flexing when you walk helps the sole stay flexible. If it has sat for years, it will shatter into dust as soon as you try to flex it.
Sort of like how cast metal is more brittle than forged metal. Because when you cast metal, it hardens in random or crystalline molecular patterns. So there is very little actually holding the individual molecules together, because every join where two crystals meet is a potential fracture point. But forging it into shape with a hammer will create a more sturdy piece, because the hot hammering forces the molecules out of those natural crystal patterns. By moving the metal around, the molecules are able to form much stronger bonds with their neighbors.
Anyone who has accidentally shattered a cast iron skillet by dropping it knows what I’m talking about. People expect metal to bend, because they’re used to thinking of forged metals that have been mechanically shaped while it was hot. But cast iron will shatter like glass, because it is just poured into a mold and the molecules stay wherever they were when the molten metal cooled, even if they don’t have strong bonds with their neighbors.
ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
your explanation is actually backwards, metals are counter intuitive at the molecular scale
Forging does not align the molecules, it actually mixes them up, and removes carbon.
Cast iron is brittle for 2 reasons. when cooling from molten the molecules are able to align into large crystals, and where these crystals meet is a boundary where cracks can start and easily propogate. And carbon in the mix makes it much more difficult for the molecules to “slip” past each other.
Matty_r@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
Hmm this might explain why the soles fell off my nice dress shoes after the second time ever wearing them.
AeonFelis@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You forgot to check whether or not the shoes are cake before putting them on.
Masamune@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Always give your shoes a solid nom before wearing, to be sure they aren’t cake.
Washedupcynic@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Those soles look like Styrofoam. Rubber does break down over time, so does plastic, but those soles look sus. They appear to be a generic brand too. I believe the manufacturers put together the cheapest shoe possible with 100-1000% mark-up. I’ve had $60 shoes from Kohls have sole failure after being worn 3x because they were made hollow instead of solid.
LadyButterfly@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
Yeah they really do
MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
My mom once had this friend who was always seen with dusting shoes because she didn’t like throwing old things away, instead prefering to wear the shoes until they couldn’t be used anymore. So sometimes that woman pulled shoes older than your grandma and put dust all over the office.
Shellofbiomatter@lemmus.org 2 weeks ago
While shoes should be cleaned before wearing, she was right. Shoes and clothes in general should be worn until those cant be worn anymore.
Okokimup@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Clothes sure, shoes no. Shoes lose the ability to properly support us with time and wear. Unfortunately, like bras, they need to be semi-regularly replaced. The adage is to always spend more on anything that goes between you and the ground (mattress, tires).
MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
No, as in until they’re the dust of earth. (If you get what I mean… (was the pun good?))
Fribbtastic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
A couple of months ago I was invited to go hiking with some friends. When preparing, since I didn’t have some hiking boots, I saw my boots that I got in my military service. That was a great idea because they were already broken in and all of that stuff.
After around 3/4 of the almost 15km hike, I lost the sole on the first boot and a km after that the other side. Had to finish the hike on both without a sole.
Well, they were standing around for like 10 years so I am not surprised that they failed and that the whole stuff between sole and shoe Desintegrated but still.
rbos@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
10 years without being oiled, i guess. The leather would dessicate, maybe?
TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
Most likely they were stored in a warm and humid place. Polyurethane foam can get something called hydrolysis, where moisture breaks down the polymers in the foam.
Fribbtastic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The leather was fine. The part between the rubber sole and the leather shoe (I think it is called midsole?) just disintegrated.
The were stored in my shoe rack. I wouldn’t say that it is particularly humid there but it would be warm-ish (depending on the weather).
I wasn’t particularly shocked by this since they were simply lying around for that long. Maybe active use would have extended their life a bit more.
But maybe I can give them to someone that can add a new midsole so that they can be used again.
HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Yet I have horrendous blue shower sandals made of some kind of unidentified dense blue foam and these things are almost 30 years old. They barely show any sign of use.
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 2 weeks ago
I was at a mountain equipment store a week ago and started talking with the owner about how shoes have completely random durability. Even same model from same brand can last years or fall apart in couple of months. She said that very often this will depend on how long the shoe was in a box as the rubber and glue don’t last forever.
FishFace@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
My previous pair of walking boots I had for someone like 15 years. I cannot imagine a pair of shoes which disintegrates without being with in a few years.
rumba@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Yeah, I’ve never had a pair just fall apart, I still have boots from my internship 30 years ago.
altphoto@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
Did you even looked at the best by date? Keep them in the fridge until you have to use them.
thesohoriots@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Gotta use the freezer-grade aluminum foil too.
Michal@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
Going to work a special occasion? I mean maybe he was unemployed for a long time, or got his dream job, but still, sounds funny without any context.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Or maybe he realized that if he hadn’t had a special occasion by then, maybe he should just wear his shoes and get some enjoyment out of them instead of saving them for some vague moment that might never come or maybe he wouldn’t even think about the shoes until after if it did. Or maybe such an occasion did come up and he did forget the shoes until after and then just decided to wear them to work.
Or he works a white collar job and had a presentation or something so it was a special occasion.
Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Happened to me. It was snowing like mad, so I thought I could use my hiking boots instead of shoes when I went out. After a few hundred meters, the foam between the boot and the sole started to disintegrate. When I was back home, the soles were only attached at the front, and the dampening material from the heel nearly to the toes was gone.
pankuleczkapl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I’ve had that happen to some hiking boots once - one day their soles just turned to powder - but that was 2 decades after I got them and they had seen heavy use before that.
CannedYeet@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This happens to rollerblades too. Of course in that case the failure is a little more catastrophic.
makeshift0546@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
It’s amazing how many of you have dumb shit like multi color computers, dumb little figurines, stupid anime sets, 40k, build your own keyboards, etc.
But the second it’s fashion the nerds go full bore judging the fuck out of people 🤣
Warl0k3@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Where, exactly, are people doing that?
makeshift0546@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
👍
drosophila@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
I don’t own any of the things you listed, and none of the stuff I do own spontaneously explodes into microplastic confetti like these shoes apparently do.
So I guess I’m allowed to shit on this.
LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
My guy, it is not 1970 any more, you can throw that monochrome computer away. I heard they even come with more than 256 colors these days, and some even have more than 640kB RAM!
adarza@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
uh, oh. i bought two extra pair when i found some that actually fit and were ‘affordable’. still wearing the first pair, so these other two have yet to be taken out of the bags they came home from the store in. that was almost two years ago.
notabot@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Might want to cycle through them, but treat the unworn pairs really gently for the first few wears. Msybe they’ll still be ok.
Manticore@lemmy.nz 2 weeks ago
Rubber gets brittle if it isn’t kept supple through flexing. The rest of the shoe last longer if given time to ‘rest’ from over-stretching or dry from sweat.
So if you have multiple pairs of shoes, cycle through wearing them. All your pairs will last quite a bit longer: you’ll keep the rubber supple, and you’ll rest the sock/upper.
BagOfHeavyStones@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I used to dry my shoes in the microwave as it had a 10% setting.
Once on holiday I did that but the microwave was a bit more ambitious and affected the glue. Half the sole came loose on a walk
Got home fine by tying the laces around and under the shoe.
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I bet that smelled fucking amazing
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Great, now when I’m on vacation I have to worry about some goblin that put their dirty shoes in the microwave. What the fuck? That’s a good surface other people share with you.
Stez827@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Are you not using a plate in the microwave?
LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Ah, the classic water glass ballast, for when you want to do microwave shenanigans, but not 800W worth of shenanigans
SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
When we got interested in hiking again recently, my wife got new boots, and since I hadn’t worn them much, I used my 25+ years old Hi-Tecs. They were good for about half a dozen short hikes, then the right from sole started to separate.
KuroiKaze@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Holy shit. I did not know this can happen. Now I’m really worried about my nice pair of onitzka tigers that I almost never wear. Does this also mean I should never buy rare shoes from a sneaker collector because they’ll just disintegrate if I ever use them?
TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
It’s called hydrolysis, it can happen to any kind of polyurethane based foam. Basically when moisture gets into the foam and causes the polymers to break down. Most likely to happen if they were stored in a humid and warm climate for long periods, or if they get wet and aren’t properly aired out before storage.
If kept in a cool dry place the pu foam should be fine.
lohky@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Tigers are fuckin indestructible. A few pairs that I wore for like a decade and they were fine until I lost them in a fire.
I should get a new pair.
lohky@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Holy fuck, they’re $200 now? I got mine for like $60.
Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
They’re awful anyway. Also. So what?
pewpew@feddit.it 2 weeks ago
The shoes I’m using are at least 4 years old and they are still rock solid. The memory foam pad behind has disintegrated with all of the abuse I’ve put it through (too lazy to untie & retie the laces everytime) but they are still as solid as they were new.
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
You gotta get those sketchers slip-ons man. Total game-changer. That’s all I buy now.
M137@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
I’m more curious about wtf is up with that leg. It somehow looks like a forearm but also not, and like they only have half their foot left. How is it so thick and the foot so small? And the dotted pattern on the skin. Very odd.
abigscaryhobo@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It just looks weird because of the perspective. The camera is basically next to their knee, aimed down the leg and their toes are pointed as well. That “dotted pattern” is just hair folicles.
Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Edema legs
affenlehrer@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
I’ve had this happen with safety shoes.
Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Nah I saw this on reddit a while ago when I opened it by accident. It’s a stolen image of someone’s cheap shoes that disintegrated on first wear.
The guy claiming it had the receipts and posted the image like 3 months earlier.
cryptix@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
Nah, I think I saw this on threads a bit more while ago :)