School shoes for sweaty feet! (any alternative to Geox?)

[DiaDeLosMuertos]

Here's a lovely topic!

8 year old DS gets very damp / sweaty feet, always has. Discovered this when he was at nursery, wearing Clarks shoes all day - he got terrible athlete's foot. So ever since I've spent hours on ebay searching for leather lined shoes every time he needs new ones. Moved on to Geox a year ago after reading about their Respira technology. Can't afford new ones, so off to ebay I go. But he has big (and fast growing) feet for his age (size 3 already) and it's getting very hard to find decent second hand ones in bigger sizes.

But also - almost all Geox trainers and school shoes have a synthetic or leather + synthetic lining and with this he's STILL getting damp feet and the athlete's foot is coming back. Scoured the Geox website and can only find 1 or 2 pairs of totally leather lined shoes but both aimed at much older boys, expensive, and not very nice to look at.

Can anyone recommend another make that has excellent breathability and is leather lined? Loads of the euro makes look great but can't afford to splash out without knowing what they're going to do to his feet - help!

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I would also look at wool or cotton socks and some have an anti-bacterial
/anti-fungal agent built into them (you may need to buy adult socks).

[Mouthfulofquiz]

Must have cotton socks as well - no good searching out good shoes if the socks are synthetic.. (Have this issue with DH!)

[DiaDeLosMuertos]

Yes, he only wears cotton socks, Can't stand synthetic!

[DiaDeLosMuertos]

Good point on the anti-fungal agent Lonecat - I'll look out for some of those.

[Thespiderinthebath]

Kickers.....

[DiaDeLosMuertos]

Kickers are good, yes. He had them once before. Was a long time ago though, so can't remember how breathable they were... Also seem to recall they were quite wide and of course, he has very narrow feet, just to add to the general shoe complication!

[cgehansen]

Spent ages trying to find some decent breathable black shoes for school. Ended up getting some Plae shoes which are excellent. No sweaty feet at all even when worn all day. Hard to find in the UK but there are independent shops that sell them.

[DiaDeLosMuertos]

Ooh not heard of them cgehansen! Off to google I go... thankyou!

[May09Bump]

Also, get some dermol wash and soak his feet every now and then, or add to bath, it will reduce the bacteria loading. I think they now have a shower wash too. Have a look on amazon.

[IguanaTail]

Pure cotton socks are not good for sweaty feet. 60-70%Wool, 30-40% man made mix are better. See below

www.embarrassingproblems.com/problem/sweating/sweaty-feet

[nightsky010]

Cotton socks are actually a pretty bad idea - you may want to read some of the information on clothing aimed at winter mountaineers? They have to be very careful to wear materials which wick the sweat away from the body so they do not get frostbite. Cotton is a bad choice because it traps the moisture next to the skin. Mountaineers nearly always use wool socks as wool has good wicking properties. There are lots of sophisticated synthetic materials in clothing and shoes to wick away sweat, but I doubt many are available in kids school shoe format, and I've never heard of synthetic wicking socks, though it's worth googling.

My DS also has v sweaty feet! Can you use an anti perspirant on his feet? And anti fungal? Special insoles?

[Helenluvsrob]

The only answer for us was 2 pairs of eye watering expensive school shoes and strict rotation do they dry properly.
Do his feet absolutely honk - like something has died in his shoes ? If so he probably has pitted keratolysis which is bacterial. Dd had it and treatment with a acne dabber antibiotic worked a treat ( we saw dermatology). Only works for this clearly and the smell - well you'd know !
Excess sweating might respond to the new sure antiperspirant -the £5 cream stuff in a box - this is aluminium based and you use at night. It's been utter magic for teen pits that dripped sweat !

[DiaDeLosMuertos]

Hey thanks everybody - hadn't checked in here for a few days as had so much on so apologies for my lack of response. Very interesting re: cotton socks. Will check out the link and info you've shared on socks and on the dermol wash. His feet don't smell that bad, socks get a bit wiffy if he doesn't change them every 2 days, but they don't absolutely honk so fairly sure he doesn't have the problem you describe Helenluvsrob. Looks like sock replacement would definitely be a good way to go so I'm off now to find some small sized wool mix or bamboo fibre ones! Thanks again all...

[nightsky010]

"When combining hydrophobic qualities and mechanical fiber qualities, the fibers that wick moisture best are, from best to worst: CoolMax®, acrylic, polypropylene, wool, cotton."

www.aapsm.org/socks-and-your-feet.html#sthash.ML0S4qRb.dpuf

So it looks lie Cool Max are the ones to get!

[Moonatic]

Your son has very sweaty feet, yet he wears the same pair of socks for two days? That must be part of the problem.

[Helenluvsrob]

He doesn't change his socks every day? Gosh I thought that was a given!

[nightsky010]

Wait, I missed that! Is that correct that he only changes them every 2 days? I've never heard of a DC (or adult) wearing socks for more than a day. I'd definitely change them every day for him!