Help me get rid of the squeak in my shoe
November 17, 2006 7:24 AM   Subscribe

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 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
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


Best answer: 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


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