What To Do With Old Shoes

I have a pair of well used soft (brown) leather shoes with rubber soles. The soles have completely worn out (cracked, holed out), and I've already purchased a replacement pair. Thing is, they were $50 shoes, is there anything worth doing with them? Or should I just toss 'em?

Thanks

to resole them it would probably run another 50 or more...so shoes that are that bad...just junk them....tie the strings together and throw them up on the wires...makes your neigborhood look real classy

Dogs LOVE 'em!

I figured as much... just seems wasteful.

GoldenMonkey said:

Dogs LOVE 'em!

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Problem with that is then they chew the shoes you want to keep!!!

You can always try to cut the shoes up and reuse the leather, but the downside is that whatever use you come up with, its still gonna smell like sweaty feet.

Yard work or some other messy type job that if your shoes get ruined you can toss them with no hard feelings.

BrianL said:

Yard work or some other messy type job that if your shoes get ruined you can toss them with no hard feelings.

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This is what I do. Got a stack of 'em in the garage.

if they were only $50 throw 'em out. if we were talking $250 shoes then i'd consider having them resoled

GoldenMonkey said:

Dogs LOVE 'em!

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Are those Manolo Blahnik shoes that dog is chewing?

There is a soup-kitchen/shelter downtown that generally has a few people milling about. It just happens to be on a one-way street where I can pull up to the curb with my driver's door.

I take old shoes and boots that still look good and have some life, clean them up and I stop my car and put them neatly on the sidewalk. I have hopes they find their way to gentlemen who can use them to better their lives.

tam.audio said:

I figured as much... just seems wasteful.

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A good reason to spend a bit more on shoes that can be resoled. Sure you spend more up front, but it's the economical choice long-term.

Tiger said:

There is a soup-kitchen/shelter downtown that generally has a few people milling about. It just happens to be on a one-way street where I can pull up to the curb with my driver's door.

I take old shoes and boots that still look good and have some life, clean them up and I stop my car and put them neatly on the sidewalk. I have hopes they find their way to gentlemen who can use them to better their lives.

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I usually do something similar to this. Soup kitchens, or near the under/over-passes that have been notorious for having people sleep there. If they are still in good shape I will take them to the local goodwill or salvation army as well.

I usually wear them until they are in pretty bad shape at which point I either resole (if they were expensive) or throw away.

rubber soled shoes should have been thrown out when new...Just kidding (sort of)...I give all my clothes to Goodwill.

I had some Rockports that had really worn soles. I had the soles replaced, but now they fit too tight. I haven't worn them much since then. To have them re-soled and the inner linings fixed cost me $75 per pair of shoe. Considering I only paid $90 for the shoe it was a bit costly. However, finding comfortable shoes is difficult for me, so I opted to do it. Had I known they weren't going to be all that comfortable, I would've purchased new shoes. If I had a dog I'd give them my old shoes and sneakers to chew on.

I don't know that these are in a "donatable"? condition. The heals have holes, and there are cracks allowing snow and water in, which is why I no longer wear them. But the leather uppers are still nice!

I usually donate them to the Salvation Army or a similar organization. If the shoes are in even remotely wearable, they'll get put to good use. Clothes and shoes in worse condistion get sent to 3rd world countries where their standards of what's wearable are different from ours. And total junk ends up in their recycling stream whenever possible, reusing the materials AND providing jobs for some less fortunate folks.

Hide them in your boss' office?

Doc4 said:

A good reason to spend a bit more on shoes that can be resoled. Sure you spend more up front, but it's the economical choice long-term.

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Indeed and especially true cordovan. Expensive, but they last forever. What's more, a pair of Aldens or Alan Edmunds come back from being recrafted looking almost brand new.