Dale's Cottonwood fluff socks. Using Cottonwood fiber inside leather shoes.

I don't like to wear hot socks in the summer. So, I often just go barefoot, inside my regular shoes. I don't have hugely sweaty feet, but still a situation can develop where my heel or toes stick to the leather uppers or to the neoprene or leather insole. The shoes can also become stinky.

When I do wear socks,  at the end of the day , there is often a little bit of worn out sock material between my toes.
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This experiment will show weather Cottonwood fluff is able to alleviate any of the discomfort involved in going barefoot inside a leather shoe. I hope that it will also deal with any smell issues.

I've only had it in for half an hour. Already, my heel feels much better than when resting against the sticky insole. I thought it might come puffing out with each footstep, but it seems to be holding in place.

I'm already known as the guy who travels through the city, spreading joy and light, along with Politically Incorrect humor. I might as well spread some allergens while I'm at it.

Results will be reported tonight.

My feet have been comfortable all day. Once the fluff gets compacted against the shoe, it seems to spread out and coat things.

Let's have a look. The material is a little bit dirtier than it was this morning and it has definitely accumulated a small amount of moisture. It comes out pretty cleanly with a little bit of residue left behind.

This isn't something your mom is going to be happy with.☺  Probably best done outside on both the on and off steps. I imagine that you would get blamed for every Dust Bunny within miles , if everyone knew about this.

After only 5 minutes without the fluff, my feet feel more sweaty and sticky in my leather shoes. I'm going to put some more in there.

I will try this again tomorrow and continue until I reach a final verdict, or get distracted chasing other rainbows. Not bad, so far.

I put more in for the second part of the day. This is definitely more comfortable and now there is no noticeable change in moisture. This time the material is clean enough that I will use it in the morning. The insole is developing a slight sheen, but most of the material sticks to the foot. Quite comfortable.

Your mom wouldn't like this one bit.

I'm using a little more today. It seems more comfortable that way. I noticed the different feel just for the first few minutes. Then it seems to find the crevices along the edge of the shoe and between my toes. My feet are typically about as soft as a baby's bottom. This material has not caused any irritation, except for one chunk of seed pod that accidentally made it in.

There have been a couple of times, when I probably would have kicked my shoes off, but didn't, due to the risk of spreading fluff everywhere.

The large quantity of fluff got a good workout yesterday. Lots of walking and working. It got quite compacted. Surprisingly, there was very little odor. I picked it up and gave it a good sniff. I offered this opportunity to two others who turned me down.

The larger quantity, is definitely better.

Yesterday I put some dried orange peel in the coffee grinder. One day soon, I will try mixing a little bit of that in. It's either going to make my feet Citrus Fresh, or it will produce a gummy mess. Maybe it will burn.

I have tried a few other things, over the years. One of the best is dry powdery soil. I didn't use really good humus. The dirt at my farm is mostly silty rock flour. Shoes get filled with an inch or so, shaken up, and then the stuff is poured on the ground. It's important to give it a good shake and avoid pebbles.

I haven't added anything here for quite a while, but I have used the fiber on a few occasions and I've used the dry soil on even more occasions. It's an availability thing.

I could see improving this product by putting some mint oil or other nice smelling natural substance. Perhaps dried herbs could be run through the blender and then used either on their own or with the Cottonwood fluff.

Sometimes leather shoes and insoles develop a layer of guck when worn without socks which I'm sure is made of dead skin and dirt. After only a couple of days walking around with fiber in the shoes, that filth is absorbed into the fiber and then the dirty fiber is discarded. Much easier than washing socks and a whole lot cooler.

On really hot days I've had good luck using it damp. The feet are quite air condition until the water evaporates. This hastens the cleanup of residue from within the shoe. So the fluff is quite dirty on the first go.