Help me get rid of the squeak in my shoe

November 17, 2006 7:24 AM

There is a squeak in my shoe and it won't go away. Help!

The heel of my right shoe squeaks nearly every time I step on pavement in my normal walking style. This is not an "air-escaping" type squeak; it's rather a "rubber-rubbing" squeak that is quite annoying. I can't, for the life of me, determine where exactly it is coming from--whether it's a crack in the rubber (nothing visible shows that) or just pieces of the tread rubbing together. The left shoe is completely silent.

I can cause it to stop if I under or over-pronate, but that's uncomfortable and could lead to problems later. Walking on grass, or surfaces softer than concrete also cures the problem temporarily. Any other time it sounds like a pig is following me.

The shoes are Columbia in brand, Prima in style. [Zappos link] - and here's an image I've created detailing the offending area.

I've tried WD40 which--aside from causing me to almost fall on my ass--only fixed the problem temporarily.

Anyone have any ideas as to how I can fix this so I don't have to buy new shoes?

posted by c:\awesome to clothing, beauty, & fashion (5 comments total)

Do you drag your heels or have a majority of your weight rest on your outer heal? If so, you can take an exacto knife and just shave down that rubber area where I assume the little nubbins are being smushed together whenever you walk. Or just shave down the sides of each nubbin.
Nubbin. hehehe.
posted by banannafish at 7:34 AM on November 17, 2006

I have some hiking boots that did that--the squeak came from internal layers of the sole material rubbing together. The previous owners of the boots had returned them to REI for that very reason, and I got them way cheap, so I was willing to deal with it. Nothing but time fixed it. Sorry.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:55 AM on November 17, 2006

There was an old belief that shoes squeak when they have not been paid for. Pay off your credit card(s) and see if that helps.
posted by zadcat at 8:14 AM on November 17, 2006 [1 favorite]

This probably won't help your specific problem, but a little baby powder under an orthotic is magic for ending that kind of squeak.
posted by callmejay at 8:28 AM on November 17, 2006

Depending, baby powder in the insides will work its way into the layers and stop that. Depending on where it's coming from.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 9:39 AM on November 17, 2006