Moisture and Odor Begone! Stuffitts to the Rescue!

The other day, I got an email from a sales rep about a new product great for athletes. Emily, the manager at our local running store (Off'n Running Sports) had told her about the blog and suggested that I might like to know about their product—Stuffitts Shoe Savers. The email was brief, but basically it said they wanted to send me a pair of Stuffitts to try out. Basically, Stuffitts help keep your shoes moisture and odor free. Well, if you've been reading the blog for a while, then you know that I'm a regular waterworks when I run and I'm usually drenched afterward, especially during the summer months. So, I quickly responded, "Yes! Send them on!"

When I received the package and opened it, I was greeted with the pleasant aroma of cedar. Yep, basically stuffitts are foot-shaped sacks filled with cedar chips. It's a simple principle, but man do they work! The sacks are constructed of a technical fabric that allows the moisture from the shoes to pass through and be absorbed by the red cedar chips.

It's February and I wanted to test the Stuffitts at their max, but I knew I wasn't going to get them as wet as I would have during a summer run....until I remembered the snow and slush outside. So, I got in a run and got my feet good and wet. After my run, I rinsed off the dirt (which got my shoes even wetter). Now typically when my shoes get wet like that, I take the laces out, pull the tongue back and set them turned over atop a heat vent and know they won't be ready to wear for at least a day.

This time, instead of pulling my shoes apart and using the heat-vent method, I slipped in the Stuffitts. The research on the Stuffitts' website says that about 60% of the moisture will be absorbed in about an hour. So, I checked after an hour and while I can't be scientifically positive that 60% of the moisture was gone, I can report that I was amazed at how dry they were! My run was about 7:00AM and they were already pretty dry by 9:00AM! By the time I went to bed, they were dry! Plus they smelled good!

Wondering what to do when the cedar looses it absorbency? I was too. You can order replacement bags of the cedar chips. The chips are nicely enclosed in sacks that you slip into the zippered technical fabric enclosures. So, there's never any messy cedar chip debris to deal with. If you use the Stuffitts on a regular basis, it's recommended that you replace the cedar bags every 6 months.

How much does all of this cost? The initial purchase of a pair of Stuffitts is $24.95. About what you'd pay for a pair of athletic shoe insoles. A pair of replacement bags is $9.95. Not too bad, especially if it'll extend the life of your shoes!

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To find out even more about how Stuffitts work, check out this video clip below from Daily Grommet.



Note: Although, Stuffitts contacted me and sent me a free pair of Stuffitts to try out, I was not paid to do a review nor was I encouraged to write a positive review. My review is strictly a report on my experience using Stuffitts Shoe Savers.

And the Winners are...

The lucky winners of the $50 Gift Certificates from RunningCompanyShoes are Becky Thompson of Virgina and Kevin Leathers of Tennessee!

Thanks again to RunningCompanyShoes for providing such an awesome prize. If you haven't already, please be sure to check out their website. Their unique setup will save you a lot on your running shoes! I saved so much that I bought 2 pairs of my favorite shoes!

Be on the look out for details on the next RunnerDude's Blog contest coming soon that's sponsored by Champion USA!

New Contest Sponsored by RunningCompanyShoes.com!

RunnerDude's Blog is excited to announce that the wonderful people at RunningCompany Shoes.com are providing the prize for the next RunnerDude contest! And what a prize it is—two $50 gift certificates! Yep, there will be two winners for this contest!

RunningCompanyShoes.com is a company of runners who know the importance of a great running shoe. Knowing the frustration of finding your shoe at a great price, they set out to create a customer friendly, efficient, and low priced online running shoe outlet.

RunningCompanyShoes.com is quite a unique company. The purpose of their website is to provide you the shoes you want at the least expensive prices possible in a very simple manner. There are no special passwords or account names to remember, no frequent shopper cards, no telephone sales. They carry the major brands—Asics, Brooks, Mizuno, Saucony, New Balance, and Under Armour. They want to make sure they have all their shoes in stock, so they don't carry many models and you don't have a choice in the model color of your shoe. They just ship what they have in stock. But, with those limitations, comes some great deals!!

I just ordered two pairs of my favorite Saucony running shoe and I saved a ton! It was kind of fun waiting to see what color I got!

How to Enter:
To enter, simply email RunnerDude at runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com by 11:59PM (EST) Sunday, January 31st. Be sure to put "Running Shoe" in the email's subject line and put your name in the body of the email. That's it! Each email will be assigned a different number based on the order that the emails are received. The winning numbers will be selected by The True Random Number Generator at Random.org . The winners will be announced on Monday, February 1st. Just in time for Valentine's Day! "Whatcha" waiting for? Email RunnerDude today!

While you're waiting to see if you've won, be sure to checkout RunningCompanyShoes.com!

Running Green: Recycle Those Old Running Shoes!

It's funny, running shoes are like books to me. After I've used them, I have a hard time parting with them. I have such a sense of pride and accomplishment after I've finished reading a book (fiction or nonfiction). I feel like I've learned so much and I'm the better for it. Same thing with running. After a season in a pair of running shoes, I have that same sense of pride and accomplishment. It's hard to part with something like that.

If you're like most runners, you go through at least a couple pair of running shoes each year. But what happens to those used shoes when you don't need them any more? Are you like I used to be and have a "Mount Run-No-More" of shoes piled up in the corner of your bedroom? Eventually, after my wife complained enough I'd usually decrease the pile some by taking a few to Good Will. But most of the shoes were so worn out that I felt guilty dumping them on Good Will and I felt bad about tossing such a good and loyal friend in the trash bin. So, what's a running to do?

Luckily there are some wonderful organizations that will help you recycle those faithful friends of yours. We all have those shoes that just never did fit right and as a result you never wore them too much. As mentioned before, Goodwill Industries is a great organization for recycling your more gently used shoes. Soles4Souls is another wonderful organization that will take your less-worn shoes and distribute them to people who need shoes all over the country and the world. Soles4Souls has a simple mission: To impact as many lives as possible with the gift of shoes. For the nearest Soles4Souls donation center [click here].

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In Canada? Then check out Sole Responsibility, a non-profit organization formed by a group of runners in Ottawa who want to donate gently used running and walking shoes overseas. Each spring, this organization collects shoes at Ottawa running events. We also have drop-off sites throughout the Ottawa.

For more shoe recycling organizations all over the world, [click here] to check out a wonderful list comprised by RunthePlanet.com.

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But what about shoes that are so worn out that can no longer be worn? Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program will take such shoes and break them down. Each part of the shoe is then recycled into other products such as the bouncy flooring used on indoor basketball courts. For more information on how to donate to Reuse-a-Shoe [click here].

So, put that growing mound of old shoes to some good use and check out one of the wonderful organizations above!