Getting away from the serious stuff, I'm going to share how I dry my shoes when they get waterlogged over the course of my workday. I learned this method while working as a bike messenger in Honolulu and it has certainly helped prevent my having to wear soggy shoes the day after a heavy rain.
It's always a good idea to have, at least, two pairs of shoes that you can use for work or school during the week. So, while one pair is drying, you can wear the other.
Okay, you come home from work or school and your shoes are soaking wet. Your shoes are so wet that you're leaving little puddles with every step you take.
Take off your shoes and socks, but don't put your wet socks in the hamper or they'll stink-up all the clothes you have in there. Instead, wash your socks in the bathroom sink, using dish soap or bath soap to kill any kind of bacteria from your feet. Once you've done this, hang them from your shower rod to dry. Once they dry, you can throw them into the hamper.
Drying your shoes will take a bit longer, because they are made of thicker material than your socks. This is why it's good idea to have a spare pair of shoes.
First, take the laces off. Holding one lace firmly from one tip between your thumb and forefinger, pull the lace between your fingers to squeeze the water out. Do this until the water stops running out. Instead of using your fingers, you could hold the lace between two pens or anything that is firm and not absorbent.
Next, take some old newspapers, wad pages up into little balls and stuff them into your open shoes until there's no more space. Seriously, just shove wads of newspaper in there. Then re-lace your shoes and tighten the laces up and much as you can. This will reduce the amount of space inside the shoes and allow the newspaper to make physical contact with the wet interior of the shoe. The newspaper is naturally absorbent and will absorb the water from your shoes into itself. As you are tightening the laces, you'll notice water being forced out of the shoes because the insides are filled with newspaper.
For the final, open part of the shoe where your foot goes in, shove in more wads of newspaper and make sure that it makes contact with the sole and sides. Take a piece of string and wrap it around that part of the shoe to hold the newspaper inside.
You should make certain that there is no part inside the shoe that doesn't have newspaper. Any unfilled spaces will not get dried-out. Wrap each shoe individually with newspaper, top to bottom, front to back.
Leave the shoes to dry for about an hour. Personally, I leave them on my bathroom next to inside of my door to take advantage of the air circulation.
About an hour later, open-up the shoes without removing the laces and remove all the newspaper wads. You'll notice that the shoes are a lot less water-logged, but still not completely dry. Simply take more wads of newspaper, fill the shoes up and wrap them again. Once you've done this, leave them for about two hours.
When you come back again to open the shoes, you'll notice that the wads of newspaper are a lot less wet than the previous batch. The shoes may now be dry enough to wear the next day and you could stop and this point, but I recommend filling the shoes up again with more ads of newspaper and leaving them overnight.
When you open-up your shoes the next day, they should be dry. If not completely dry, you still have your extra pair of shoes. If you decide to wear them, liberally spray 91%-strength isopropyl alcohol inside your shoes to remove any remaining moisture and kill-off any odd-causing bacteria. Let the alcohol work for a few minutes before putting the shoes on. If you decide to wear your other pair of shoes, spray the insides of your drying shoes with the alcohol and leave to dry for the day. When you get back, your shoes should be completely dry and odor-free.
Sure, it takes a bit of work. But, it's preferable than wearing soggy shoes for the whole day.
You're welcome.
Duane Browning
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