How long do you wear your shoes for before you replace them?

[curious_george]

I typically buy shoes used at garage sales for 1-2 dollars a pair. Then I wear the shoes until the soles are falling off, or until I have worn through the sole of the shoe and my sock is on the ground.

I used to buy shoe glue and glue the soles back on, but eventually realized the shoe glue costs more than several pairs of shoes at a garage sale, so I stopped using the shoe glue.

Lately I have been questioning if this practice really makes sense from a health perspective. Some people have told me it is bad on your knees and back and joints to wear the same pair of shoes for years and years. I wore my last pair of shoes for four years, and walked over an hour every day in them on concrete.

My questions are:

Is wearing shoes for years and years bad for your knees and joints?

How do you know when to replace your shoes? 🤔

Thoughts?

Thanks.

[NotJen]

Depends on the shoe.

Work shoes (for desk job) or dress shoes - I wear until they fall apart because they don't get much use.

Shoes/boots for walking, running, hiking - I replace at least once a year, sometimes more because they get heavy use.  If the year isn't up, and I'm having knee or hip pain, I replace.

For my running shoes, I've had great success trolling Poshmark, looking for basically unworn models.  I know exactly what model/number I'm looking for - nothing too old, and I look closely at the photos of tread wear.

[G-dog]

I wear my shoes until they are unwearable - though I buy them new (typically on sale).  Daily wear is sneakers / trainers.

IF you are having foot, knee, or back pain then think about getting new shoes.  If you are not, don’t borrow trouble.

Now if you are running or walking a lot (like training for a race), I would advise tracking approximate mileage on your shoes (lots of guidance in the internet) and downgrade them from training shoes to casual shoes at some point.

[Kris]

Until I start to notice walking issues due to wear.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Until I start to notice walking issues due to wear.

This, but very much depends on the type of shoe. For running shoes, I replace as soon as I notice additional impact on my knees/ankles. I have dress shoes I've had for 15 years, and have paid cobblers to repair several times.

I also buy reasonable to high quality shoes. I broke a bone in my foot years ago while running, and it took almost a year to heal. I prioritize being able to work out, run, ski, walk long distances, etc. I'd prioritize your health & fitness.

[bacchi]

For "wearing around" shoes, like sneakers or sandals, when they start to fall apart. They'll be flapping and held together by glue before I get rid of them.

For sports shoes, when a cleat falls off or the top separates from the sole.

My last hiking boots delaminated on the trail. Not fun. I now have expensive hiking boots that can be re-soled and will do so at the first sign of sole delamination.

[happy]

I typically wear my shoes until they are no longer fit for purpose. In some cases this means holes in the side or soles, but in others they are discarded before that: it depends on the shoe and what it's for. I have weird sized and shaped feet so I usually buy new and need to try them on.

[jrhampt]

I replace my running shoes roughly every 4 months or so based on mileage recommendations, or at the first sign of twinges in my lower legs.  My legs will tell me if I've forgotten to replace them.  This is very important unless you want to suffer consequences.  Hiking shoes once a year or so as needed (trail runners, so when the tread starts to go).  I typically throw these out when I'm done rather than use them for other purposes. Edited to add - I don't donate these because typically after sweating profusely in them for long enough to wear them out, they have begun to stink badly.

Back when I used to wear dress shoes for work I bought good leather ones and had the heels/bottoms redone as needed.  Now my slip on vans get replaced when they start getting holes in them and/or the bottoms wear out. 

[Metalcat]

My body is a whiny bitch, so I replace my shoes as soon as my body starts whining about them.

[curious_george]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Very interesting.

I think this is another one of those cases where my old thinking of prioritizing money over everything else in my life is now limiting my potential to live a full, healthy life.  I feel like, based on these responses I now have permission to throw away my old shoes when they start hurting me, instead of hanging on to them until I get every last amount of use out of them. Basically I am going to prioritize my health more over money, since I have tons of money now anyway.

Thanks everyone. :) 

[Metalcat]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Very interesting.

I think this is another one of those cases where my old thinking of prioritizing money over everything else in my life is now limiting my potential to live a full, healthy life.  I feel like, based on these responses I now have permission to throw away my old shoes when they start hurting me, instead of hanging on to them until I get every last amount of use out of them. Basically I am going to prioritize my health more over money, since I have tons of money now anyway.

Thanks everyone. :)

It all depends on what you define as "use."

Are shoes usable if they don't literally fall apart while you are wearing them, or are they usable if they provide protection from the elements AND support for your joints?

If the only thing you need shoes to do is literally cover your feet, then why not wear plastic bags and duct tape?

What is the purpose of the shoes you are wearing? Are your existing shoes intact enough to serve those purposes?

What is the value of those purposes?

You get to define for yourself what "usable" means when it comes to shoes and you get to define for yourself what value those uses have.

It's entirely up to you, you are the expert on what is valuable to you.

[ChickenStash]

I replace them when they wear out or start falling apart. For dressy shoes that meant when they no longer looked decent or, more commonly, when the stitching started to fail - at most a year. Back when I was in better shape, my running shoes would be replaced when I would start to notice a slight twinge of knee pain - usually around 400mi. Nowadays, my shoes usually get replaced when the tread wears off - every 6 months or so.

[Samuel]

It took me way too long (and the development of issues like plantar fasciitis and heel spurs that I'm still affected by) to finally learn the lesson that shoes you're putting any kind of mileage on should be tossed at the first sign of discomfort and not by any measure of age or appearance.

It still rankles me to discard shoes that look perfectly fine but it really is cheaper in the long run.

[lhamo]

A little surprised at how many people say they toss shoes out after a few months.

I typically buy a new pair of walking shoes about once a year.  I try to get them at Costco or with a coupon from Big Five -- current pair are slip on sketchers that I got last summer for about $30.  I buy a new pair of Birkenstocks for summer wear about every 4-5 years.

Older pairs become wear around the house/garden shoes.  My 10 YO Birkenstocks were garden shoes for about 5 years after I stopped wearing them as main warm season shoes -- soles finally delaminated late last summer. 

I get a new pair of winter boots every 5 years or so.  Like the other types of shoes, the old ones become backups for muckier tasks so that the newer ones last longer.

If you ever need to paint, it is nice to have an old pair of shoes you don't mind getting messed up.  If you sometimes do day hikes or beach walks where you have to cross streams, an extra pair of shoes you can throw on temporarily so your main hikers don't get wet is also worth considering.  Wouldn't want to lug wet shoes around on an overnight hike, but if you are just out for the day an old pair of runners isn't much extra weight.

Also, there are many ways that shoes and their parts can be recycled.  Please consider that option as opposed to sending them to the landfill:

https://www.treehugger.com/shoe-recycling-guide-5194664

Oh, another way you can extend the useful life of shoes is to replace the insoles when the originals start to get too worn/squished down

[Metalcat]

A little surprised at how many people say they toss shoes out after a few months.

I typically buy a new pair of walking shoes about once a year.  I try to get them at Costco or with a coupon from Big Five -- current pair are slip on sketchers that I got last summer for about $30.  I buy a new pair of Birkenstocks for summer wear about every 4-5 years.

Older pairs become wear around the house/garden shoes.  My 10 YO Birkenstocks were garden shoes for about 5 years after I stopped wearing them as main warm season shoes -- soles finally delaminated late last summer. 

I get a new pair of winter boots every 5 years or so.  Like the other types of shoes, the old ones become backups for muckier tasks so that the newer ones last longer.

If you ever need to paint, it is nice to have an old pair of shoes you don't mind getting messed up.  If you sometimes do day hikes or beach walks where you have to cross streams, an extra pair of shoes you can throw on temporarily so your main hikers don't get wet is also worth considering.  Wouldn't want to lug wet shoes around on an overnight hike, but if you are just out for the day an old pair of runners isn't much extra weight.

Also, there are many ways that shoes and their parts can be recycled.  Please consider that option as opposed to sending them to the landfill:

https://www.treehugger.com/shoe-recycling-guide-5194664

I don't toss them, I donate them because someone else can probably get more value/use out of them even thought they're no longer useful to my standard of "useful."

[jrhampt]

I edited my earlier post to add that I toss my running shoes when I'm done w them because they stink by then.

[Cranky]

I replace my athletic shoes that I use for walking about once/year when they stop feeling cushy. I have terrible knees (one has been replaced and is not all that great either) and I don’t notice too much difference with the shoes as far as that goes. The old shoes become garden shoes. I mostly wear hiking sandals in the summer. I have good snow boots for snow. I have some nicer shoes for church.

I buy pretty much all of my shoes at the thrift store and pay $10 to $15/pair, but I look for shoes in like new condition. There seems to be a whole category of shoes that people bought for some occasion, wore once, and tossed in the donation pile. Sometimes they need washed.

[Samuel]

A little surprised at how many people say they toss shoes out after a few months.

I typically buy a new pair of walking shoes about once a year.  I try to get them at Costco or with a coupon from Big Five -- current pair are slip on sketchers that I got last summer for about $30.  I buy a new pair of Birkenstocks for summer wear about every 4-5 years.

Older pairs become wear around the house/garden shoes.  My 10 YO Birkenstocks were garden shoes for about 5 years after I stopped wearing them as main warm season shoes -- soles finally delaminated late last summer. 

I get a new pair of winter boots every 5 years or so.  Like the other types of shoes, the old ones become backups for muckier tasks so that the newer ones last longer.

If you ever need to paint, it is nice to have an old pair of shoes you don't mind getting messed up.  If you sometimes do day hikes or beach walks where you have to cross streams, an extra pair of shoes you can throw on temporarily so your main hikers don't get wet is also worth considering.  Wouldn't want to lug wet shoes around on an overnight hike, but if you are just out for the day an old pair of runners isn't much extra weight.

Also, there are many ways that shoes and their parts can be recycled.  Please consider that option as opposed to sending them to the landfill:

https://www.treehugger.com/shoe-recycling-guide-5194664

I don't toss them, I donate them because someone else can probably get more value/use out of them even thought they're no longer useful to my standard of "useful."

Of course I also donate them if they're not thrashed. And I always have a nearly done for pair as my designated mud shoes. I also swap around insoles often but the underlying structure of well used athletic shoes does degrade faster than the rest of the shoe if you're putting miles on them.

My foot issues began in 2020 when I spent the first 6 months of the pandemic maniacally walking 3 hours a day in shoes that still looked fine while ignoring the growing complaints from my body. Turns out foot trouble really sucks and I'm still dealing with it years later. I'm not making that mistake again. I'll wear clothes until they're ragged but don't mess around with athletic shoes anymore.

[GilesMM]

I typically buy shoes used at garage sales for 1-2 dollars a pair. Then I wear the shoes until the soles are falling off, or until I have worn through the sole of the shoe and my sock is on the ground.

...

After socks and underwear the next category on my "not sharing with strangers" list is footware. I hate to think what sorts of conditions random shoes were subject to so no interest in putting my feet in there. Is this a weird phobia?

[G-dog]

I typically buy shoes used at garage sales for 1-2 dollars a pair. Then I wear the shoes until the soles are falling off, or until I have worn through the sole of the shoe and my sock is on the ground.

...

After socks and underwear the next category on my "not sharing with strangers" list is footware. I hate to think what sorts of conditions random shoes were subject to so no interest in putting my feet in there. Is this a weird phobia?

With athletes foot and toenail fungus - I would say “no”.  If I bought used shoes I would want to wash / decontaminate them before wearing.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

A little surprised at how many people say they toss shoes out after a few months.

I typically buy a new pair of walking shoes about once a year.  I try to get them at Costco or with a coupon from Big Five -- current pair are slip on sketchers that I got last summer for about $30.  I buy a new pair of Birkenstocks for summer wear about every 4-5 years.

Older pairs become wear around the house/garden shoes.  My 10 YO Birkenstocks were garden shoes for about 5 years after I stopped wearing them as main warm season shoes -- soles finally delaminated late last summer. 

I get a new pair of winter boots every 5 years or so.  Like the other types of shoes, the old ones become backups for muckier tasks so that the newer ones last longer.

If you ever need to paint, it is nice to have an old pair of shoes you don't mind getting messed up.  If you sometimes do day hikes or beach walks where you have to cross streams, an extra pair of shoes you can throw on temporarily so your main hikers don't get wet is also worth considering.  Wouldn't want to lug wet shoes around on an overnight hike, but if you are just out for the day an old pair of runners isn't much extra weight.

Also, there are many ways that shoes and their parts can be recycled.  Please consider that option as opposed to sending them to the landfill:

https://www.treehugger.com/shoe-recycling-guide-5194664

Oh, another way you can extend the useful life of shoes is to replace the insoles when the originals start to get too worn/squished down

I recycle my shoes when they are at the true end of their lifecycle. A local sporting good store near me accepts shoes for recycling.

I also move my no longer fit for running shoes into every day shoes (errand running, etc).

However, for actual running shoes, there's a very clear time to rotate them out, and that's when it impacts your knees & joints. If you're not doing that, for me it falls into penny wise, pound foolish. The goal of running is to maintain my health & fitness, not to put off expenses in a way that creates pain & potential injuries while doing so. How many miles you put on the shoes will vary greatly by everyone, which is why you might see some folks swapping out before others.

[curious_george]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Very interesting.

I think this is another one of those cases where my old thinking of prioritizing money over everything else in my life is now limiting my potential to live a full, healthy life.  I feel like, based on these responses I now have permission to throw away my old shoes when they start hurting me, instead of hanging on to them until I get every last amount of use out of them. Basically I am going to prioritize my health more over money, since I have tons of money now anyway.

Thanks everyone. :)

It all depends on what you define as "use."

Are shoes usable if they don't literally fall apart while you are wearing them, or are they usable if they provide protection from the elements AND support for your joints?

If the only thing you need shoes to do is literally cover your feet, then why not wear plastic bags and duct tape?

What is the purpose of the shoes you are wearing? Are your existing shoes intact enough to serve those purposes?

What is the value of those purposes?

You get to define for yourself what "usable" means when it comes to shoes and you get to define for yourself what value those uses have.

It's entirely up to you, you are the expert on what is valuable to you.

You know I never really thought about this very much. My biological parents bought me shoes as a child, I never really questioned their use or value.

As an adult I always just viewed shoes as a necessary cost of fitting in with society and, occasionally, as protection from walking on debris and injuring my feet.

The more that I think about this though the more I feel like my shoes should help protect my feet and joints, so I should make sure they serve this purpose.

I would hate to spend 10,000 dollars on knee replacement surgery someday when I'm older because I refused to spend 50 dollars on shoes when I was younger...

[curious_george]

A little surprised at how many people say they toss shoes out after a few months.

I typically buy a new pair of walking shoes about once a year.  I try to get them at Costco or with a coupon from Big Five -- current pair are slip on sketchers that I got last summer for about $30.  I buy a new pair of Birkenstocks for summer wear about every 4-5 years.

Older pairs become wear around the house/garden shoes.  My 10 YO Birkenstocks were garden shoes for about 5 years after I stopped wearing them as main warm season shoes -- soles finally delaminated late last summer. 

I get a new pair of winter boots every 5 years or so.  Like the other types of shoes, the old ones become backups for muckier tasks so that the newer ones last longer.

If you ever need to paint, it is nice to have an old pair of shoes you don't mind getting messed up.  If you sometimes do day hikes or beach walks where you have to cross streams, an extra pair of shoes you can throw on temporarily so your main hikers don't get wet is also worth considering.  Wouldn't want to lug wet shoes around on an overnight hike, but if you are just out for the day an old pair of runners isn't much extra weight.

Also, there are many ways that shoes and their parts can be recycled.  Please consider that option as opposed to sending them to the landfill:

https://www.treehugger.com/shoe-recycling-guide-5194664

Oh, another way you can extend the useful life of shoes is to replace the insoles when the originals start to get too worn/squished down

This is interesting - thanks for sharing this.

My local goodwill actually has standards for what sort of shoes they will resell and my shoes...do not meet their standards when I am usually done with them.

So it's nice to learn about the other recycling options.

[RunningintoFI]

My runners get replaced somewhere between 500-600 miles and then downgraded to my everyday walkers at that point. 

Then I keep the cycle going until that new pair of runners is worn down and then I recycle my walkers.

https://www.sneakerimpact.com/

Something to consider for recycling shoes in bulk. 

[Cranky]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Very interesting.

I think this is another one of those cases where my old thinking of prioritizing money over everything else in my life is now limiting my potential to live a full, healthy life.  I feel like, based on these responses I now have permission to throw away my old shoes when they start hurting me, instead of hanging on to them until I get every last amount of use out of them. Basically I am going to prioritize my health more over money, since I have tons of money now anyway.

Thanks everyone. :)

It all depends on what you define as "use."

Are shoes usable if they don't literally fall apart while you are wearing them, or are they usable if they provide protection from the elements AND support for your joints?

If the only thing you need shoes to do is literally cover your feet, then why not wear plastic bags and duct tape?

What is the purpose of the shoes you are wearing? Are your existing shoes intact enough to serve those purposes?

What is the value of those purposes?

You get to define for yourself what "usable" means when it comes to shoes and you get to define for yourself what value those uses have.

It's entirely up to you, you are the expert on what is valuable to you.

You know I never really thought about this very much. My biological parents bought me shoes as a child, I never really questioned their use or value.

As an adult I always just viewed shoes as a necessary cost of fitting in with society and, occasionally, as protection from walking on debris and injuring my feet.

The more that I think about this though the more I feel like my shoes should help protect my feet and joints, so I should make sure they serve this purpose.

I would hate to spend 10,000 dollars on knee replacement surgery someday when I'm older because I refused to spend 50 dollars on shoes when I was younger...

I honestly don’t know whether shoes protect you from that, though. My lifelong policy has been not to run unless I’m being chased by a bear, but I’ve done loads of walking and I think I’ve least had decent shoes for that because I like to be comfortable. My joints wore out anyway.

[Metalcat]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Very interesting.

I think this is another one of those cases where my old thinking of prioritizing money over everything else in my life is now limiting my potential to live a full, healthy life.  I feel like, based on these responses I now have permission to throw away my old shoes when they start hurting me, instead of hanging on to them until I get every last amount of use out of them. Basically I am going to prioritize my health more over money, since I have tons of money now anyway.

Thanks everyone. :)

It all depends on what you define as "use."

Are shoes usable if they don't literally fall apart while you are wearing them, or are they usable if they provide protection from the elements AND support for your joints?

If the only thing you need shoes to do is literally cover your feet, then why not wear plastic bags and duct tape?

What is the purpose of the shoes you are wearing? Are your existing shoes intact enough to serve those purposes?

What is the value of those purposes?

You get to define for yourself what "usable" means when it comes to shoes and you get to define for yourself what value those uses have.

It's entirely up to you, you are the expert on what is valuable to you.

You know I never really thought about this very much. My biological parents bought me shoes as a child, I never really questioned their use or value.

As an adult I always just viewed shoes as a necessary cost of fitting in with society and, occasionally, as protection from walking on debris and injuring my feet.

The more that I think about this though the more I feel like my shoes should help protect my feet and joints, so I should make sure they serve this purpose.

I would hate to spend 10,000 dollars on knee replacement surgery someday when I'm older because I refused to spend 50 dollars on shoes when I was younger...

I honestly don’t know whether shoes protect you from that, though. My lifelong policy has been not to run unless I’m being chased by a bear, but I’ve done loads of walking and I think I’ve least had decent shoes for that because I like to be comfortable. My joints wore out anyway.

I think it's fairly reasonable to assume though that if am old pair of shoes hurts your knees and a new pair doesn't that the old pair is causing damage.

[Cranky]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Very interesting.

I think this is another one of those cases where my old thinking of prioritizing money over everything else in my life is now limiting my potential to live a full, healthy life.  I feel like, based on these responses I now have permission to throw away my old shoes when they start hurting me, instead of hanging on to them until I get every last amount of use out of them. Basically I am going to prioritize my health more over money, since I have tons of money now anyway.

Thanks everyone. :)

It all depends on what you define as "use."

Are shoes usable if they don't literally fall apart while you are wearing them, or are they usable if they provide protection from the elements AND support for your joints?

If the only thing you need shoes to do is literally cover your feet, then why not wear plastic bags and duct tape?

What is the purpose of the shoes you are wearing? Are your existing shoes intact enough to serve those purposes?

What is the value of those purposes?

You get to define for yourself what "usable" means when it comes to shoes and you get to define for yourself what value those uses have.

It's entirely up to you, you are the expert on what is valuable to you.

You know I never really thought about this very much. My biological parents bought me shoes as a child, I never really questioned their use or value.

As an adult I always just viewed shoes as a necessary cost of fitting in with society and, occasionally, as protection from walking on debris and injuring my feet.

The more that I think about this though the more I feel like my shoes should help protect my feet and joints, so I should make sure they serve this purpose.

I would hate to spend 10,000 dollars on knee replacement surgery someday when I'm older because I refused to spend 50 dollars on shoes when I was younger...

I honestly don’t know whether shoes protect you from that, though. My lifelong policy has been not to run unless I’m being chased by a bear, but I’ve done loads of walking and I think I’ve least had decent shoes for that because I like to be comfortable. My joints wore out anyway.

I think it's fairly reasonable to assume though that if am old pair of shoes hurts your knees and a new pair doesn't that the old pair is causing damage.

Maybe? There seems to be a whole group of people who believe that wearing shoes at all is bad for you?  I agree that if new shoes are more comfortable it’s worth buying some, but that doesn’t mean that not wearing new shoes inevitably leads to joint damage.

[use2betrix]

I’m going to be the anti mustachian here and state I genuinely find pleasure in owning high quality footwear. My leather red wing heritage boots will likely never wear out in my life time, due to the amount of wear they receive and quantity of pairs that I own. If any did wear out, the manufacturer can install replacement soles.

My running shoes are typically replaced between 250-400 miles, if I don’t decide to change styles/models first because of issues with the old ones. I recently donated around 12 pairs of running shoes, most with less than 50 miles.

I wouldn’t recommend my shoe buying habit to anyone unless they enjoy the quality of well built leather shoes. Most people will never notice the difference so it’s not reasonable.

[Metalcat]

I think it's fairly reasonable to assume though that if am old pair of shoes hurts your knees and a new pair doesn't that the old pair is causing damage.

Maybe? There seems to be a whole group of people who believe that wearing shoes at all is bad for you?  I agree that if new shoes are more comfortable it’s worth buying some, but that doesn’t mean that not wearing new shoes inevitably leads to joint damage.

As someone who has spent the past 3 years quite obsessed with the mechanics of leg joints, I'm fairly confident that if a specific pair of shoes is consistently causing knee pain, the shoes are causing harm.

Sure, barefoot may be the best mechanical situation for some people, but even if that's true, a worn out shoe is not closer to barefoot than a new shoe.

Shoes wear down asymmetrically, creating seriously suboptimal pressure on stabilizers, which is the opposite of the goal of barefoot walking.

My point was that if *only* worn shoes hurt your knees, they are almost certainly creating poor mechanics.

[curious_george]

Just to update this thread - I did switch to a new pair of shoes and my knees do seem to feel better.

Placebo effect? Who knows...but at this stage of the financial journey I need to start spending the money on something, and it was either new shoes or therapy or something. (Cue Metalcat eye rolls. :p )

[Metalcat]

Just to update this thread - I did switch to a new pair of shoes and my knees do seem to feel better.

Placebo effect? Who knows...but at this stage of the financial journey I need to start spending the money on something, and it was either new shoes or therapy or something. (Cue Metalcat eye rolls. :p )

Lol...someday...I'll wear you down like an old janky shoe that hurts your knees.

[curious_george]

Just to update this thread - I did switch to a new pair of shoes and my knees do seem to feel better.

Placebo effect? Who knows...but at this stage of the financial journey I need to start spending the money on something, and it was either new shoes or therapy or something. (Cue Metalcat eye rolls. :p )

Lol...someday...I'll wear you down like an old janky shoe that hurts your knees.

Lol - yes - that is honestly what I need sometimes...