When it comes to prolonging the lifespan of your shoes, three core principles should be in place: shoe care, shoe trees and rest. Here, I provide extensive details regarding one such cornerstone shoe tree.
Shoe trees are essential in helping keep shoes in their original shapes while assisting to dry them, particularly if made of wood, something all wooden blocks should do. Cedar isn’t as important for shoe trees as many might believe, any wood offers decent absorbency, other popular choices for these shoe trees include birch and maple. But cedar stands out because of its pleasant aroma that it spreads.
What wood can do is absorb some moisture, but its primary function is allowing leather to breathe while providing proper shape for airflow so most moisture escapes via external pores. Plastic trees don’t absorb anything, and actually clog up leather pores lining them which can have serious negative repercussions in the long run. Just imagine having to keep an open plastic bag against your skin all day. What’s important when selecting wood-based trees is making sure that its absorbency capacity hasn’t been diminished by coating, stained ones don’t present this issue and might even make your life easier. Ask the salesperson for guidance if there are any uncertainties.
When using shoe trees, be sure to put them on immediately, since warm and damp shoes cause leather to contract significantly more rapidly than once dry. Let the trees stay in resting shoes for at least 24 hours, once dried completely they won’t alter shape as much if removed as drying causes contracture of leather fibers, though having one pair in each pair makes a noticeable difference than not using trees at all.
Also learn about foot anatomy.
Shoe trees can make all the difference, without them, no matter the quality of shoes will eventually look bad over time. Below is an illustration which serves as proof:
Different Types of Shoe Trees
Shoe trees come in all sorts of varieties that work differently and provide various advantages for your shoes. Here are just a few examples to give an idea.
- Wooden spiral trees can provide temporary shade, however, as their branches apply pressure vertically instead of horizontally on shoes they pose the risk of deforming and damaging them over time.
2. Shoe tree with two equal toe sections but a shorter heel, designed to support and shape a heel without providing help in keeping its form. However, this model lacks support to maintain the shape of the heel.
3. Shoe Tree With Two Equal Parts and Large Heel This type of shoe tree cannot follow the shoe form further towards the tongue due to a larger heel size and can’t adapt as easily to new footwear styles.
4. Shoe trees that include two distinct toe sections with large solid areas separated by smaller, thinner parts fill large parts of shoes well while any small sections could potentially mis-shape their uppers, particularly towards their back part.
5. Lasted shoe trees. Trees designed specifically to the lasts on which shoes are constructed offer significant advantages to their owners: shoes will retain their original form more effectively with this kind of support than with trees that do not align perfectly.
6. Full Non-Lasted Shoe Trees. Trees similar to No. 4, but featuring an entire piece of wood for the front portion work well if their shape reflects that of the shoes’ last.
7. Hinge shoe trees. A hinge is used instead of smaller spring parts in these shoe trees, typically for last shoes where fit must be very precise for them to work efficiently (See Herring Shoes as an example).
8. Tree-piece shoe trees. The Rolls Royce of shoe trees, common among bespoke manufacturers and generally not available outside of lasted versions, Tree-piece shoe trees offer many advantages including filling out an entire shoe to the top of its tongue.
9. Hollow Shoe Trees. If the previous models were the Rolls Royces, these might be considered Ferraris. Only hinged ones can be opened, requiring exceptional craftsmanship for use. Their main advantage lies in helping shoes dry more quickly since moist can escape through thin wood into the air through channels in their design.
10. Boot trees. These shoes feature larger and higher back pieces in order to better work with boots, although their effectiveness can often be questionable as their ankle piece fails to fill out their boots’ ankles at all. In truth, keeping their shape will always come down to keeping the lower parts flatten out on your sole.
Straighten Out the Sole
Shoe trees’ primary objective when it comes to restoring the shape of shoes is not simply pushing out creases directly but rather straightening out the sole of the shoe, particularly its front parts. Sole bending upwards over time is common, stretching will also fold out any creases to restore the original form of the shoes. As it’s essential to purchase shoe trees that provide optimal support, it is also crucial that their front ends are well shaped so as to flatten the shoes you intend to use them on (it should be noted however, some shoes already feature higher toe springs that do not require “flatter” shoe trees).
Shape of Heel
Another key element is ensuring the heel has an appropriate shape. As noted above, an ideal block should fill out the heel evenly without becoming so large as to disfigure its natural form – doing this may cause loose shoes due to mis-alignment with its original position in the shoe’s heel cup.
