How Often Do You Wear Out Shoes?
By Pigglies
@Pigglies (9329)
United States
June 24, 2009 2:04am CST
I have noticed something, shoes last forever with me. I'm not talking about shoes that I almost never wear, which of course will last forever. I mean my everyday shoes. Most people wear out their shoes way faster than I ever do. I only have one friend who wears out shoes slower. She has had the same shoes for the last 12 years. She doesn't wear them everyday, but they are her only pair of tennis shoes so they're worn fairly frequently. They smell horrid, but they aren't worn out.
My brother on the other hand, wears holes right through the soles of his shoes all the time. I finally had a pair of shoes break and the soles fell off, but I just glued them back together since the shoes were still good. My tennis shoes are cracking from me walking around in the sun with them, but the soles are still really good. My work shoes usually never even come close to wearing out. They just eventually get so wide that I can't wear them, since I always pick the slip on style with no buckles or anything like that.
Since I finally realized that I don't wear out my shoes anyway, I finally ordered some more comfortable walking shoes. I always buy $15 walking shoes, but I have had my eye on some Nike shoes for walking. So tonight I ordered some shoes that are $105. Way more than I'd usually pay, but hopefully they'll last several years as well. Like most of my shoes.
15 responses
@frankiecesca (2489)
•
24 Jun 09
It dpends on the shoes on how quickly I wear them out as I wear a lot of heels which mean I try to keep the heel stubbs well maintained by getting them re heeled once in a while but, to be honest I try and buy bargain shoes so sometimes it is easier for me to just buy a cheap new pair!
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
27 Jun 09
hmmm, I wonder how much time you actually spend walking on the street.
I doubt your shoes can last so long if you want two hours a day, especially if you walk in uneven surface.
My shoes last an average of three years, and those are good leather shoes and walking shoes. Some shoes last a bit shorter than three years, and those are the ones that always soak in rain water, and suffer much pounding in the rainforest.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
28 Jun 09
I guess you could say that we don't get winter here either. But it is always dry. When some relatives from Europe came over in December, they went swimming! To us it wasn't swimming weather because it was 60 degrees outside. But to them that was. That is our winter, 60 degrees. Or sometimes 40. But not lower than that.
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
29 Jun 09
Year end is the monsoon season, we used to have flooding in certain areas. Last year, the tunnel linkway in Orchard Road flooded, and those poor office staff had to waded through knee-high water to get to work.
This kind of weather is very bad on the shoes. Some of my friends had experienced the Reebok and Nike disintergrated after a few days walking in the muddy path on rainy days.
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
28 Jun 09
That's true, rain and humidity are shoes killer.
Over in Singapore, it rains half the year, and the humidity is more than 90% every day. Only those friends who walk in the carpeted office or shopping mall do not wear out their shoes.
Most of us who walk on the streets and nature park (rainforest) can't make the shoes last. Plus there is no winter there, so year in year out, we wear the same kind of shoes.
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
24 Jun 09
i find that i wear shoes out in a couple of years, they may not look worn out but i walk in such a way that the side of my shoes are turned in and worn. when my feet start hurting when i wear them, its time to trade them in. i usually give them to a thrift store at that point.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
25 Jun 09
Why would you give worn out shoes to a thrift store? Can they recycle the parts or something?
If I buy shoes and discover shortly after buying them that they are too uncomfortable, I'll give them to a thrift store or more likely give them away on FreeCycle. But my beat up old shoes don't seem to have any purpose.
Well, actually I guess I do save my beat up shoes for something. Whenever I am told I am going to have to work with farm animals doing something disgusting, I will grab one of my old pairs. Then when I'm done with that project, I will just throw away those shoes.
@freedomg (1684)
• United States
29 Jun 09
I have to admit I am forever barefoot so I can have a pair of shoes for over a year easy without wearing them out. My feet are not always very pretty but what can I say. I grew up in a home with very little money so shoes were for school and church, after that I was just too used to going barefoot shoes feel weird now. Very interesting topic. 
@momtrying2makeit (3270)
• United States
29 Jun 09
I have a pair of clogs that I have had over a year and they are still in good shape. Now I have a pair of tennis shoes that are in excellent shape and I thought about selling them because I only word them like maybe 10 times. They were not what I thought they were when I ordered them online but they are cute shoes let me tell ya. They are black and pink and really slick looking. I have been thinking about selling them for about a week but than I again I might need them so I have been holding onto them.
So for me shoes do seem to last but if I wear them too much than I just pitch them and than buy a new pair. 
Take care and nice discussion topic here. Happy mylotting to you as well. 
Take care and nice discussion topic here. Happy mylotting to you as well. @Pigglies (9329)
• United States
30 Jun 09
I've thought of selling shoes before too, because I often buy shoes before mine wear out, just to have ready. But the return on shoes doesn't seem to be good enough to sell them on eBay. Even though mine are brand new. So I guess right now I probably have enough shoes to last me 5 years.
@arkadeb313 (593)
• India
29 Jun 09
Hi pigglies, what a good shoe-user you are! If there were many like you the shoe companies would have to look for other businesses. Actually I wanted my shoes to go on like those of you. But I in the boat of your brother. No pair lasts beyond one year. This pair of shoes that I am wearing now is the sole exception which is in their second year.
Actually due to heavy perspiration of my feet, I have to use more than one pair to let them rest in between. Even then they do not favour me by lasting longer. I just want to your use with my own eyes so that i may learn the trick to make them last longer.
Hoping you shoes to last longer / shorter, as you like
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
29 Jun 09
I am lucky that if I wear socks, my feet will hardly sweat at all. If I buy shoes that can't be worn with socks, I always make sure they are in some way washable. Either it wouldn't hurt them to hose them off, or I could throw them through the washing machine. This rules out a lot of those uncomfortable feminine shoes.
My friend with the shoes that have lasted 12 years however, has some pretty smelly feet. I would have thrown out those shoes by now on stench alone. But apparently she won't because they still look good. They just smell awful!
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
28 Jun 09
I usually wear sneakers, I used to wear them for about a year and that was every day, now getting older my feet hurt and I had knee surgery so I will get about 4-5 months of use. My husband says that I should replace them sooner.
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
24 Jun 09
I don't really wear out shoes but they become broke down and are not comfortable anymore...my last pair got to where they really hurt to walk in them and yet they still looked good. I usually have to replace them about every 6-8 months.
[b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~
**STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
25 Jun 09
I noticed in my new Nike shoes there are inserts that can be replaced (I'm guessing they're replaceable, since they're removable). I've never noticed the inside wearing out on my shoes, but I guess it happens. Maybe I don't realize it though since most of my shoes don't really have arch support.
@revellanotvanella (4033)
• United States
25 Jun 09
Girl if you don't stop asking me about shoes--I was reading to start rock climbing as a second hobby but now I just dont-know!!
@parthajena (536)
• India
24 Jun 09
Thats a odd query. I don't exactly remember when i last wore out my shoes. It was way back at school i suppose. After school, i have never worn shoes so frequently as i did during the school period. Back then there was a lot of activity and the shoes were put to extreme wear and tear. The same lacks now. That may be the reason why i'm not wearing them out anymore.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
25 Jun 09
That's a good point. Back in school I probably wore out my shoes faster too. It seemed like by the time a pair was worn out, my feet had grown a size. I usually didn't grow fast enough to be throwing out perfectly good shoes. Except one summer I was practically barefoot all summer and ended up going from a size 5 to an 8. And later my feet kept growing. I actually bought size 11, but my feet never got there, so I donated those eventually.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
25 Jun 09
I think you're right. My favorite shoes seem to wear out quickly. However, I have shoes that hurt a lot and are rarely worn. Those shoes will last me forever because there is no way they'll ever fall apart just sitting there. But they are too pretty to throw away.
@lulu1220 (1006)
• United States
24 Jun 09
I find that when I buy less expensive shoes they last longer. I don't know how many times I have spent more money on shoes only for them to wear out pretty quick or break somehow.
The only time I think it is important to spend more money on shoes is if they are tennis shoes. I spent quite a bit of money on my tennis shoes about 3 years ago and they are still in good shape and I use them quite often.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
25 Jun 09
I've never bought expensive dress shoes. Probably at most I've paid $30 for dress shoes. But I don't have to walk around much at the office. My current pair of office shoes were $9. I've had them for over a year.
But even my tennis shoes are usually only $15. My running shoes were $95, but for walking shoes I'm happy with the cheap stuff. I used to buy $60 tennis shoes and they didn't wear out either, I just didn't find them as comfortable as the cheap ones.
@irahat (89)
• Pakistan
27 Jun 09
well Pigglies!! I also have a same friend who wears the same pair of shoes for a long time and as far as I've seen him Hes wearing the same pair for of 10 years 2 years less than you friend but he is still wearing those shoes so you never know that he beats the record of you friend...!! Wait and see..!! as far as I'm concern I wore different shoes for different occasions!! But I like my Hush Puppies most!!
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
28 Jun 09
I tend to have shoes for different occasions, but most occasions call for me to either where my work shoes (which don't wear out quickly in an office where I am mostly sitting) or tennis shoes (for walking around).
But hopefully this summer I'll get some use out of my other shoes. Such as summer flip flops and sandals. And my running shoes. I'm curious to see how I'll know when those are worn out, since it always looks to me like runners are wearing very new shoes.
@ElicBxn (63643)
• United States
24 Jun 09
I've worn out a few pairs of shoes. That was how I hurt my feet so bad, walking and working in worn out shoes. So be very careful about wearing shoes that still look okay on the outside, they may actually be worn out on the inside (where you can't see them.)
