Drying hiking shoes

 

Shoes drying over a radiator. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I should have taken before and after photos. These shoes were covered in mud. The mud washed out. 

How to reach between the grooves? Why bother?  You might find bits of gravel lodged in the grooves. The dirty shoes must be taken home in your luggage. 

Smelly Shoes

Dirty shoes will smell if you walked through mud and cow pats. Or from your feet. Some people suggest stuffing your shoes with paper. We tae a roll of kitchen paper on holiday.

Another system is to take two pairs of shoes and wear them slternating days.

Grooves and Gravel\

I spent a long time washing my shoes. I tried several ways of reaching into the grooves. I used my fingernails. (Not healthy.) Fingernails inside tilet paper. (The paper disintegrates.)

I used tissues folded into corners. I tried the ends of knives, penknives, toothpicks, a sewing needle. 

Brushes\

I thought, 'I wish I had packed a nail brush. Or an old toothbrush.' 

Then I remembered that hotels stock cheap toothbrushes for buests. 

You just need to throw away or label the brushes, to be sure they are not used for cleaning teeth!

Laces

I got the worst of the mud off the laces. The ends which tie together had got muddy.

Drying Shoes\

After I dried the shoes, the residue had formed wavy lines. So I had to wash just the ouside fabric a second time. This dried quicker.

Waterproof Shoes

Now I understand why a customer in a shop by the cable car had asked for waterproof shoes. The seller had told her that the shoes were onlywater repellent. "You could not wade through water, like you can with what the British call Wellington boots, or rubber or plastic solid boots" The customer was satisfied with that.\

Packing Wet Or Dirty Shoes

You can pack your shoes in transparent plasti bags so you can find them in a hurry. Use the same bags when the shoes are dirty.

Emergency Waterproof covers

You can use shower caps. Some hotels give these in bathrooms. Of saave plastic bags wfrom your lunches, and wash them out thoroughly for re-use as show covers. If necessary, use them doubled, with the clean sides against the shoes and outside against clothes, the two sticky of dirty or suspect sides of bags together.

You could also sacrifice a pair of socks. Use them to cover your shoes to proect your clothes. Then wash out the socks at the other end, your next destination or home..

Some hotels offer a shoe cleaning service. Always ask. Even if they cannot clean shoes, they may have handy suggestions.

Another system is to carry your wet or dirty shoes in a separate bag. Until the time comes to board the plane. Then they might by dry, or you can bush off the dry dirt.

If all else fails, throw out or give away the dirty shoes and buy new ones.

-ends-

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