If your shoes announce your arrival before you can even knock on the door, it is time for you to know how to stop shoes from squeaking on linoleum or on any other hard floor.
Nothing irks as much as making that squeaky sound when walking across a room. It will be irritating to you as well as the other people in the building.
But:
You do not have to live with a pair of shoes that you don’t like, you know, like your shoes making sticky noise. You can do something about it. That is why you are here. We shall show you a few actionable tips to help you stop your shoes from squeaking on the floor.
Why are my shoes making sticky noise?
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The sole-on-floor squeaking from shoes indeed feels as if it is your shoes sticking to floor. And indeed, they do stick just a little bit. As you pull your leg up to walk, the soles leaving the floor produce the squeaking noise. Particularly, if you have squeaky rubber soles, they will seem to stick to the floor.
Material stuck onto outer sole
Another reason for squeaky shoe soles is when they have material stuck in the lugs or on the sole. In this case, you would have to remove the stuck things. This is different from the treatment that you would give sticky rubber soles. If you have been on the beach lately in the same shoes, chances are the sand stuck on the soles is making them to squeak on linoleum floor.
New shoes can squeak
Some shoe types tend to squeaky on hard floors when they are new. This can include rubber soles, synthetic soles, leather soles and so on. Basically, any sole can squeak on the floor if everything is not fine.
Do not be surprised when you have doc martens squeaky soles. It can happen to any pair of boots or shoes. Usually, if the main cause of the shoes making noise when I walk is their new state, as soon as the soles have scrubbed the floors for some time, the noises go away.
Too much friction between sole and floor
Sometimes, the design of the outer soles could be faulty. Perhaps the lugs are too sharp or too sticky such that they produce noise from the friction that occurs when they are in contact with the floor.
The method that you can use for how to stop shoes from squeaking on linoleum depends on what causes the squeaking.
How to stop shoes from squeaking on hard floors
Squeaky noises from your shoes on the floor are very irritating. However, you don’t have to live with them. You can do a few simple things to stop it.
The most important thing though is to ascertain that the noise is indeed coming from the sole on the floor.
Shoes can squeak in many places including the insole on the sole, the place where the upper and the outer sole meet and the places where the leather is not seamed properly.
Once you have ascertained that the Timberland boots squeaking comes when in contact with the floor, try the following things:
1. Visually inspect the bottom of the shoes
This is the first thing to do. Give the shoes a thorough check on the outer sole. You want to check whether there are stuck pebbles or small rocks in the lugs. Such are notorious for causing squeaking noises on tiled, stone, wood, linoleum and other hard floors.
If there is a small stone stuck in the lugs, just get it out and the noise should stop. However, if it does not, perhaps the problem is with the design of the soles.
If there are no items stuck on the bottom of the soles, perhaps it is the design or the material of the outer sole.
2. Give the new soles additional traction
When outer soles are too smooth, they lack proper traction and that makes the shoes squeak on hard floor. In this case, you need to rough up the soles just a little to remove that smoothness. That way, when you walk with them on smooth linoleum floor, they will not feel sticky.
Use rubber sole spray
Buy some rubber sole spray. It is a form of shoes adhesive that you can spray on the rubber soles. This is going to make the shoes less slippery and make it easy for you to walk.
Apply the spray evenly on the entire sole. This always works for how to stop shoes from squeaking. Follow the instructions of the rubber sole spray that you buy so that you get it just right.
See below a good rubber sole spray that you can use:
Give the shoes enough time to dry in the air. You will actually not realize that they have been sprayed with anything. It addition, the shoes should never squeak again on any type of floor.
Sand the soles with a fine grade sand paper
To stop shoes sticking to floor without using the sole spray that we have discussed above, you can sand the soles. Don’t worry, it is not extreme and it is not going to damage your outer soles.
You can buy fine grain sandpaper from the online stores and use to sand the soles lightly. You can keep testing them to know when the squeaking sound stops.
This is something that you can do even when you are in a hurry. Actually, you can even do it from the office and no one will be the wiser. If your shoes squeak on hard floor, your solution could be a piece of sandpaper away.
If your shoes have leather soles and they are squeaking on hard floor, you may need to use bigger grit sandpaper. Leather is harder to sand, so you might need a fuller grain sand paper.
This method works very well for new shoes.
With these two methods for how to stop shoes from making noise, you will have solved your problem. You can use the one that is most appropriate for you.
3. Dry the shoes interior completely
Why do my new shoes squeak? If you have been in the rain, listen carefully to the shoes and you might notice that the squeaking noise is coming from the place where the upper is attached to the sole. If this is the case, you need to dry the shoes completely.
To do that, remove the laces, the insoles and every other part that is designed to be removed. You can then proceed to dry the boots and its parts in the air or by using a boot dryer.
Once the moisture is gone, the boots lose the squeaking noise. It is an effective method for how to stop bottom of shoes from squeaking on all types of floors.
4. Use a dryer sheet to rub the sole
This is a very effective method for how to stop my shoes from squeaking. Dryer sheets are readily available in the local stores.
You can rub the soles a few times, walk with them on the hard floor and if the squeaking is gone, you are good to go. Even if you rub the soles several times, the dryer sheets cannot cause any damage.
5. Fix any loose parts in the shoes
This is the last method for how to stop shoes from squeaking that we will discuss here. If the shoes have moving insoles, they could be causing the noise. Try thicker insoles. You can also apply baby powder to the space between the sole and the insole.
Conclusion
If the bottom of shoes squeak sound comes when they are in contact with the linoleum floor, sanding and using dryer sheet on the soles will work perfectly.
If the squeaking does not stop, then you have to try other methods for how to stop a shoe from squeaking, such as we have discussed here.