The problem with fancy sandals is they get stinky. Foot stink accumulates in them until they are unwearable. The same thing happens to some people's shoes. If they are really fancy leather, there is no good way to clean them.
Foot odor is caused by short chain fatty acids (like butryate) which impregnante the leather. I propose that foot odor acids could be destroyed by hyperbaric ozone. The stinky sandal would be enclosed in a small chamber and exposed to 10 atmospheres of ozone. This would quickly oxidize fatty acids down to CO2 without harming the heather.
The ozone would destroy any rubber parts. Therefore the sandals would rest in a pool of silicon oil, protecting the rubber from oxidation.-- bungston, Jun 10 2003 Is the last sentence the reason why cancer patients have to leave their shoes outside the room where they receive ozone/oxygen treatments?-- thumbwax, Jun 11 2003 "harm the heather" - is that a new idiom?-- phundug, Jun 11 2003 I could see a small washing-machine sized piece of kit installed at the laundromat. Would it also work for gloves, watchstraps, thongs etc?-- egbert, Jun 11 2003 Re heather: the Darwin HB function at work, I am afraid. Re watchstraps etc - this idea should work for anything leather. I think you would definitely need to do a few test runs to determine the optimal ozone concentration / atmospheres pressure. Too much and the leather would harden and crack. I recommend cool water handwash with a little Dr Bronner's soap to take care of your thongs, [egbert]. Plus they will smell pepperminty.-- bungston, Jun 11 2003 Who said they were mine?-- egbert, Jun 12 2003 [Thumbwax] - I dont remember seeing that question up there when I last looked at this idea. I am not sure what sort of ozone treatments a cancer patient would receive. Do you mean hyperbaric oxygen treatments? I did not realize this was required of people receiving them. Tell more.. or sneak a shoe in and see what happens.-- bungston, Jul 21 2003 They leave the shoe out side because of static electricity. one spark and patient becomes the human tourch-- duroncrush, Jan 22 2004 random, halfbakery