Those are not shoe trees. Shoe trees are used to help preserve the shoes shape. Your link is for shoe stretchers, which you would use on a pair of shoes that are too tight in a particular area of the shoe. These do look like a good deal (although I don't know the exchange rate between Australia and the US). If you think you might ever need shoe stretchers, I'd say get them. Just be aware of what they're used for.

 

If they are shoe stretchers they look different from any I've seen. I'm not doubting you, just saying they look different.

The shoe stretchers I've seen have some sort of mechanism to expand the device.

 

Those are trees, not stretchers, in the Woodlore Epic style. Looks like a pretty good price, actually! Here are the same trees on Amazon I think:
https://www.amazon.com/Lotus-Wood-Stretcher-Shaper-Women/dp/B008CAABCW
I have no idea what Lotus wood is though.

 

Incidentally i ended up buying this instead :

Because it was cedar and i wasnt sure how well lotus wood performed. But given the price difference and the fact that the lotus wood one does look better...i might have made a bad choice there. Does type of wood even matter much?

 

I think you did fine. Most of my non-lasted trees are Woodlore Epics, which are basically the same style with a brass knob instead of a grip: https://www.woodlore.com/mens-epic-twin-tube-shoe-tree-pair/
I've never heard of "Lotus wood" before and it doesn't show up in "The Woodbook," a giant wood reference book I have published by Taschen. (I do a bit of amateur woodworking.) I'm not sure how much the type of wood even matters for shoe trees, but I'd take cedar over the mystery wood.

 

Lotus Wood - one of the cheapest woods from China, Lotus Wood is most commonly found in very cheap hotel hangers. It does not feature any noticeable woodgrain, is bland in appearance, and not particularly strong. Generic Hardwoods - a lot of non-specific generic hardwoods are used in the manufacturing of hangers.

 

Those are trees, not stretchers, in the Woodlore Epic style. Looks like a pretty good price, actually! Here are the same trees on Amazon I think:
https://www.amazon.com/Lotus-Wood-Stretcher-Shaper-Women/dp/B008CAABCW
I have no idea what Lotus wood is though.

I stand corrected. I thought they looked like the nicer shoe trees, but the description called them stretchers. Live and learn.

 

I stand corrected. I thought they looked like the nicer shoe trees, but the description called them stretchers. Live and learn.

Wouldnt they also functions as shoe trees in the sense that they keep the shape and wick moisture?

 

Stretchers are different. They can be used to stretch the width or bump out a small area to relieve pressure.



You can't really stretch a GY welted shoe in length.

 

I was also looking at those lotus wood shoe trees, but purchased these instead as they are cedar and are pretty much the same price:

 

These look like trees to me, irrespective of description. I also wouldn't be the least surprised if they turned out to be cedar too.

Concerning the difference between cedar and other woods, cedar may have a bit more fragrance, but unless the wood trees have be sealed with a finish, the performance of each should be very similar.

I have a very similar pair of English trees, and they're very well made, and work fine. The one drawback is that as with just about all current trees, they do not really allow for the proper shape of shoes. I.e., well made shoes should be shaped like commas with the toe curved inward from the center axis with the heel. This double piston version tree does not allow much lateral movement of the forefoot piece to better conform to the shape of a properly shaped shoe.

 

I think you did fine. Most of my non-lasted trees are Woodlore Epics, which are basically the same style with a brass knob instead of a grip: https://www.woodlore.com/mens-epic-twin-tube-shoe-tree-pair/
I've never heard of "Lotus wood" before and it doesn't show up in "The Woodbook," a giant wood reference book I have published by Taschen. (I do a bit of amateur woodworking.) I'm not sure how much the type of wood even matters for shoe trees, but I'd take cedar over the mystery wood.

Not related but I noticed Woodlore now carries size petite. Woohoo, I could probably use shoe trees properly now. XS shoe trees seem too big for my size-6D shoes.

 

Does type of wood even matter much?

I heard from a fairly reputable source that the main reason cedar shoes trees are popular in North America is due to the availability of cedar and not due to the fact that they are any better than other woods.

 

I think that you guys are missing the intent of the original auction. The auction is for wood shoe trees made by or for the Lotus Shoe Company. They are not actually made from any Lotus wood. They appear to be cedar-ish (not red cedar). Of course, I could be wrong.

 

In this picture, it is pretty obvious to me that the wood is not cedar:

What we would call persimmon trees are called lotus trees in some parts of the world, according to wikipedia. From my rough google of persimmon wood, I would say that it is possible that these are made from that.

ETA, to clarify, these are the more tropical persimmon trees, also called date palms. They look like this as opposed to the larger, single growing persimmons:

 

In this picture, it is pretty obvious to me that the wood is not cedar:
What we would call persimmon trees are called lotus trees in some parts of the world, according to wikipedia. From my rough google of persimmon wood, I would say that it is possible that these are made from that.

Sounds plausible... I am many things, but a botanist is not one of them.

 

What makes you say that wood is not cedar though?

Also, i was wondering if regular shoe trees work for boots? Seems like the "tall" sides of the boot would make it difficult to insert the shoe trees in...

 

What makes you say that wood is not cedar though?

Because it doesn't look anything like cedar...

Cedar has a pinkish hue, is often bicolored, often has knots, and is never, at least that I have seen, varnished when used for shoe trees (like the picture appears to be). Varnishing it would defeat the purpose of using cedar as it would be both odorless and unable to absorb moisture.

Cedar:

Persimmon:

Also, i was wondering if regular shoe trees work for boots? Seems like the "tall" sides of the boot would make it difficult to insert the shoe trees in...

Regular shoe trees are fine for boots. I'm not aware of any special "boot" tree.

 

Regular shoe trees are fine for boots. I'm not aware of any special "boot" tree.

I just use regular shoe trees too, but you can get special boot trees. Here are some shots of Jakezero's boot trees for his Vass boots he posted on SF.

 

I just use regular shoe trees too, but you can get special boot trees. Here are some shots of Jakezero's boot trees for his Vass boots he posted on SF.

I knew as soon as I typed that that someone would come along and show me what I've been missing. :biggrin:

Those are pretty cool, and I can see why they might be useful for boots that lace that high. I generally only wear chukkas, chelseas, and jodphurs, and my regular shoe trees seem to work just fine for those. If I were to throw my boots in a pile or stack them on top of each other, I guess I might need something to protect the shape of the upper part, but I've never had them lose shape up top under normal care.

 

Perhaps it is a different cedar, as there a couple dozen species. Virginia red is going to be a common site in the US, but there is a lot more out there.

 

Because it doesn't look anything like cedar...

Cedar has a pinkish hue, is often bicolored, often has knots, and is never, at least that I have seen, varnished when used for shoe trees (like the picture appears to be). Varnishing it would defeat the purpose of using cedar as it would be both odorless and unable to absorb moisture.

Cedar:

Persimmon:

Regular shoe trees are fine for boots. I'm not aware of any special "boot" tree.

Oh i see, thanks. How do you tell whether wood is varnished or not though?

 

I just use regular shoe trees too, but you can get special boot trees. Here are some shots of Jakezero's boot trees for his Vass boots he posted on SF.

Wow. that must not have come cheap.

 

Two anecdotes, a statement, and finally an observation.

Anecdote #1. While debating lasted vs un-lasted shoe trees during a recent purchase, the store manager told me that when shoes come back for re-soleing they can’t tell which ones have used lasted or un-lasted trees, only which ones have used trees vs no trees.

Anecdote #2. Back in the good-old days of air travel I would frequently swap out my wooden trees for the much lighter plastic travel trees sold by J.Fitzpatrick. On occasion, I forgot to swap them back upon my return, but even after an extended period of use, I didn’t observe any material difference in the shoes that used plastic travel trees vs. wooden trees.

Statement. Boot trees are lovely but harder to come by so I only have them in 2 pairs, with the rest using shoe trees. There is no noticeable difference between the boots that use boot trees and those that use shoe trees. (I am guessing it might be a different story with very tall boots but I don’t own any.)

Observation. The only thing that really matters is having something in your shoe to maintain it’s shape, particularly around the vamp/throat, and the rest is frills.

 

Two anecdotes, a statement, and finally an observation.

I don't have the same experiences as you, but have always guessed at your conclusion and I think we both are correct though I doubt you've stuffed your shoes with crumpled newspaper stuffed inside a plastic sandwich bag and pressured into the foot of the shoe with the handle end of a hammer, but in a pinch it works well and even tho the pinch ended many years ago I still sometimes do it.

Good post, yours.