3 Reasons You Need Cedar Shoe Trees

So, you’ve bought yourself a few pairs of high-quality leather boots. Congratulations! Your wardrobe and I thank you. Not only have you upped your fashion game, but you’ve made an investment in yourself, which is arguably one of the most empowering things you can do with your hard-earned cash.

But now that you’ve spent the money, how do you ensure that you get the most bang for your buck? Aside from the physical maintenance you can do with conditioners and scrub brushes, one of the best ways to preserve your leather beauties is to support them with shoe trees.

What Exactly is a Shoe Tree?

A shoe tree is a foot-shaped device one nestles inside a shoe to help retain its shape and prevent the development of creases. The gadget is also useful for wicking away potentially harmful moisture from the interior of leather boots. All in all, this accessory is a practical must-have for anyone serious about taking care of their favorite kicks.

When it comes to picking shoe trees, you have a few options, but it basically comes down to choosing ones made of plastic, stamped sheet metal, or cedarwood. While all three are technically fine for maintaining the integrity of your boots, most experts agree that the only shoe tree really worth its stuff is one built entirely of cedar.

The Benefits of Cedar

Though they might seem innocuous, there are quite a few reasons to opt for a cedar shoe tree, which I’ll highlight below.

Smell

One of the most obvious benefits of cedar is its fragrance, a woodsy scent that’s both pleasant to the olfactory system and remarkably good at covering up offensive odors. When incorporated into a shoe tree, this potent perfume results in a fresh-smelling closet free of the noxious stench of well-worn boots.

Moisture

Cedar is a resilient type of wood notable for its imperviousness to water. Whereas other materials may warp, bend, or rot when exposed to the moisture released from leather boots, cedarwood has been shown to preserve both its shape and quality in the face of it. In fact, it actually absorbs this moisture, resulting in dry boots all season long.

Repellent Properties

Cedar wood contains natural oils that actively repel pesky insects, including termites, cockroaches, beetles, and cloth-eating moths. Keep a collection of cedar shoe trees at the ready and not only will your closet smell effortlessly wonderful, but it will also be rid of creatures that could damage your clothes and footwear.

Okay, But What’s it Going to Cost Me?

I would be remiss to write about cedar shoe trees without acknowledging that they are more expensive that ones made out of plastic or metal. They can run anywhere from $16 to $27 a pop, which adds up to a pretty sizeable sum if you’re in the market for more than just one.

My advice? Order a couple online and try them out for a month or two. My guess is that you’ll know soon enough whether or not investing in a trove of cedar shoe trees is going to make sense for you.

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Nick

By day: Manhattan-based journalist with reporting experience on four continents, published in Vice, Men's Health, Popular Science, and a bunch of other places.By night: ravenous consumer of anything and everything related to high end men's boots.Stridewise is where I nurture a maniacal obsession with footwear and share my findings. Say hey: [email protected]

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