There are a variety of shoe trees available in the shops and on the web to keep your shoes in shape. Whether it’s your 1880 Loake shoes or your Sebago Docksides, shoe trees do perform a useful function in maintaining the look and longevity of your shoes. Here are the core benefits of using the various types of tree.
The basic plastic or metal tree: These tend to support just the forepart of the shoe and have a sprung rear part which keeps the forepart pushed up into the shoe. These are simply designed to maintain the shoes’ shape. Their key advantage is that they tend to be very light and so ideal for travelling.
The polished wood or metal half tree: Similarly these will keep the shape of the shoe. Because these materials are non-absorbent it is important that they do not fill the entire shoe. A solid non-absorbent tree won’t allow air to circulate sufficiently and therefore fails to let the shoe lings dry out properly.
The Movi Primat hard wood tree which we offer has a curved beach forepart with holes over its apron and so permits air to reach the shoes’ linings. These also have a clever adjustable screw mechanism in their waist which allows the tree to be extended or retracted in order to obtain a snug fit inside the shoe.
The solid lasted shoe tree: These fill the entire shoe and usually come in an extensive range of sizes. Although they can look superb you should avoid the highly polished variety as they prohibit any air from circulating inside the shoes. The only solid lasted trees I would recommend would be those made of cedar wood. Cedar has two wonderful properties: It is highly absorbent and also emits a pleasant cedar aroma which will permeate your shoes – a useful bonus if you suffer from hot feet. They tend to be quite expensive but can make your collection of shoes in the wardrobe look rather fine. However they are inevitably quite heavy so are not recommended for travelling.
In essence I would recommend the Movi Primat tree as it is relatively light, it does allow sufficient air to circulate and with its adjustment mechanism allows you to fit it snugly into any of your shoes. At present we offer the Movi Primat tree with all Loake shoes from their 1880 collection. We also provide the Tricker’s branded solid cedar wood tree with all Tricker’s Country styles.
