Shoes have a "Use By" date? - Page 3

 Michael Black wrote:


i disagree. If it turns out that rubber shoes "expire" then the buying
and storing of them becomes a definite frugality issue.

  wrote:


Rubber bands go brittle over time, some more than others.  If you had
different pairs do the same thing, I would start suspecting some
chemical in the air.  Mothballs?  Carpet cleaner?  Odor from some
other article of clothing?  An ozone generator?   The last seems most
likely, but could be anything.

 

Thanks for your answers about the shoes, folks.  The closets do get warm
and we store w mothballs.

I didn't know about ozone, but, yes, there *is* an electronic air filter
in an adjoining bedroom. Must be powerful stuff to reduce shoe soles to
licorice candy.

JPM

 DemoDisk wrote:

As I understand it, the way these "ionic" air filters work is through
the following principle.  They use a pair of electrically charged plates
to cause the air to ionize.  This creates ozone.  The ozone makes its
way out into the room, and when it encounters a particle of something
floating in the air, it sticks to it because it has a strong charge
and thus will easily glom on to anything with even a slight (opopsite)
charge.  Eventually, a whole bunch of particles stick together into
a clump.  The clumps aren't as easily suspended in air as individual
particles, so the clumps of impurities settle out and end up in the
carpet.  Sorta like scenes in sci-fi movies where the ship's engineer
repairs the artificial gravity generator right when everyone is just
starting to enjoy being weightless for a moment.

The relevance here is that this is why these types of filters don't
need noisy fans to circulate the air through the filter; instead,
they work by sending the ozone ions out into the room, and the
"filtering" happens in mid-air.  But that means that in order for
the thing to work, the ozone must go everywhere.

   - Logan

 
Maybe you should store them in a ziplock storage bag to prevent outgassing
of the rubber or plastic.

Since these were fairly pricey shoes, write to the manufacturers and
ask them what's wrong. Maybe they'll be embarrassed enough to replace
the shoes.

I usually buy $15-$30 shoes at kmart or walmart. They may self-destruct
after a few years but at least they don't melt down.

Don