Silencing a noisy pair of shoes

[Shamgar]

I have owned many pairs of shoes in my lifetime including sneakers, business shoes, sporting boots and work boots. But I have never worn a pair of shoes as noisy as the ones I wear now! They are casual walkers made of leather upper with a flat but patterned sole made of rubber. It particularly manifests itself on vinyl flooring, which a lot of our house has. It makes a loud sticking and peeling sound (not sure how to describe it), like when tape or bandages are peeled off. As I pride myself on quietness and being inconspicuous, it is something I would like to correct if possible. Since I stay up late into the early hours of the morning working on my PC, they not only drive me up the wall, but especially my family members also. As I find these shoes very comfortable for working at home, I am not willing to discard them just yet. Is there a just and humane way of silencing these shoes?

[swivelguy2]

Try sprinkling baby powder on the bottom of the shoes. That ought to work, at least until it all rubs off.

P.S.: careful, don't slip!

[Reachable]

Try putting a thin pair of socks over the shoes.

Again, be careful.

[jhhoffma]

Maybe tire shine? It'll likely wear off before long, and will definitely make your shoes less grippy (probably downright slippery at first).

The noise is from soft rubber or neoprene in the sole that has not been cured (or vulcanized) to be hard. It has the benefit of gripping better on smooth surfaces, but obviously is noisier.

[Atmosper]

Or just don't wear shoes indoors.

[psiu]

Wax the vinyl flooring so you can see your reflection, then run across it in socks.
Coat the floor in ball bearings.
Strap a banana peel to the bottom of each shoe.
Strap a wet squirming fish to the bottom of your feet.



Are these new shoes? They probably just need to be worn down a bit...go run around outside in some gravel for a couple of days.

[Shamgar]

I've retested on different surfaces and it's not just noisy on vinyl. It has the same problem on laminate, wood and even concrete. On carpet, the noise is gone or at least well contained. Carpet=ultimate shoe silencing material . Not too keen on putting any material on the soles that will mark our floors or cause me injury. I will get into a lot of trouble for that.

The noise is from soft rubber or neoprene in the sole that has not been cured (or vulcanized) to be hard. It has the benefit of gripping better on smooth surfaces, but obviously is noisier.

This is a credible explanation for the noise. The shoes themselves are quite flexible--with a soft, rather than hard sole.

Or just don't wear shoes indoors.

I have always worn shoes indoors since I was a child and it is difficult to change. But this isn't the problem: it's the shoes. If I wore these to work outside of home, it would be quite embarassing and downright annoying.

Are these new shoes? They probably just need to be worn down a bit...go run around outside in some gravel for a couple of days.

I have had them for quite a while; they are not particularly new. The noisiness has actually increased with time. I won't mention the brand, but apart from the noisy outsoles, these shoes were manufactured to a high quality. Many shoes I have bought have literally fallen apart after a few months. These have held up very well.

Hmm, I will give these shoes a thorough cleaning and see if it that helps. If it doesn't, I may try putting some other material on the soles that will reduce the contact noise with the floor. I wonder if there are any places that sell an attachable outsole?
Anyway, thanks for the tips. This sounds like a silly problem to bring up, but I assure you, it's a genuine one. Is kind of silly though .

Strap a wet squirming fish to the bottom of your feet.

Okay, next time I will just buy two live fish and wear them to work. They'll probably make less noise than these shoes.