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Beast’s Tip Of The Week – Sprucing Those Running Shoes

By The Beast   

on July 31, 2013    No ratings yet.

Posted in Outdoor Articles, Outdoor Skills and Tips, Trail Runningrunning

Beast’s Tip Of The Week – Sprucing Those Running Shoes

You’ve got running shoes that are looking a bit sorry for themselves and perhaps clear the room by stink alone? Well don’t despair as you can give your shoes a once over that means they’re good for another few months at least.

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You’ll need:

  • One pair of particularly sorry footwear – Ours is a pair of Asics Gel Landreths with just shy of 1000 km on the clock.
  • Shoe goo and Duct Tape for repair (optional) – for the real kludgers
  • Detergent and waterproofing – we used Nikwax Fabric and Leather proof as it’s what we had under the sink.
  • Newspaper – to aid the drying process
  • Shoe Deodouriser – for the final bit of magic.

1 – Give the shoes a good wash. I usually wash by hand, but decided that I’d give machine washing them a go.

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While you can put them directly in… We decided to wrap them in a teeshirt, if only to make the wash a bit quieter.
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Not quite like new, but certainly cleaner than they were and much sweeter smelling.

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2 – Spray the shoes with proofer if you’ve got some to hand. This is not essential, but does prevent soaked feet at every puddle and in showers.

3 – Dry them slowly – Ideally adding newspaper inside, and removing the insoles.

4 – Deodourise liberally – and repeat after every use or weekly, depending on the level of disgust your shoes manage to inflict on others.

5 – Do some kludging. I’ve had duct tape on these shoes for nearly half their mileage, and decided to make the kludge a bit more permanent by filling the hole with some Shoe Goo and covering with a tidy strip of duct tape. In true kludging fashion, this was the same duct tape that had already seen service on the shoe, given extra adhesion by using the Shoe Goo to glue it down. Shoe Goo can also be used to patch up the sole, which is what it’s designed for, rather than patching up like this, for which it could be a bit on the hard side.

We did this before we washed them, not the best way around perhaps, but the image of the fix is after washing. We’re pretty certain it won’t fall off on a few runs.
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6 – Give them some TLC after each run by cleaning them of dirt and drying them out thoroughly, but slowly.

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The Beast

The Beast is our Igor. The Beast sets up our pages and makes us strong coffee. On good days The Beast gives an awesome foot massage. The Beast is not to be trifled with. The Beast will moderate without moderation or discrimination; but with deliberation! You have been warned...

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