- 220
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- Joined
- Oct 23, 2003
Hopefully this is in the right place.
It seems like one of the biggest enemies to any shoe collector; yellowing and dried out polyurethane midsoles are all part of a shoes natural age. I just wanna know the concrete info. on how to postpone this process. I own Nikes and Jordans, both new and worn, from the the late 80s and early 90s so this whole thing isn't new to me. I've been collecting for years now and it's hard to see some of these lives cut short due to improper storing conditions. For example, two deadstock pairs of the Air Force V(1990). Both same age, same condition, except one has a midsole the color of an old banana and is cracking to the point of not even wanting out of the box anymore, while the other pair's midsole is completely white and feels like it did on the day of purchase. One came from someones house while the other has been stored away in a warehouse for years.
Silica packs have long been recommended to help the aging process. Moisture = yellowing (XIs). Silica absorbs moisture. However, I assume moisture also helps keep polyurethane midsoles from drying out, but I'm no expert. Any info on this in particular? Recommended temperatures to keep shoes stored at? I know a couple years ago the thing was to vacuum seal your shoes, but that was soon frowned upon due to it speeding up the polyurethane foam drying out. I know it's just a matter of certain variables such as temperature and moisture levels, I just don't have any certainty in how I'm storing mine right now and don't want my kicks' lives to be cut short due to this lack of info.
It seems like one of the biggest enemies to any shoe collector; yellowing and dried out polyurethane midsoles are all part of a shoes natural age. I just wanna know the concrete info. on how to postpone this process. I own Nikes and Jordans, both new and worn, from the the late 80s and early 90s so this whole thing isn't new to me. I've been collecting for years now and it's hard to see some of these lives cut short due to improper storing conditions. For example, two deadstock pairs of the Air Force V(1990). Both same age, same condition, except one has a midsole the color of an old banana and is cracking to the point of not even wanting out of the box anymore, while the other pair's midsole is completely white and feels like it did on the day of purchase. One came from someones house while the other has been stored away in a warehouse for years.
Silica packs have long been recommended to help the aging process. Moisture = yellowing (XIs). Silica absorbs moisture. However, I assume moisture also helps keep polyurethane midsoles from drying out, but I'm no expert. Any info on this in particular? Recommended temperatures to keep shoes stored at? I know a couple years ago the thing was to vacuum seal your shoes, but that was soon frowned upon due to it speeding up the polyurethane foam drying out. I know it's just a matter of certain variables such as temperature and moisture levels, I just don't have any certainty in how I'm storing mine right now and don't want my kicks' lives to be cut short due to this lack of info.
