You are part right brer.....the problem soles are made of composite or synthetic materials and the problem footwear covers everything for ladies lightweight sandals to mens steelcapped workboots.
There is no way to know if or when the problem will appear but it can be anywhere from a year to 6 or more years after the shoes are purchased and the amount of wear has nothing to do with it.
I first noticed it when clearing out my late mother's wardrobe. I picked up a very nice, lightly worn pair of sandals and flexed the soles which promptly split across the width of the sole where I had flexed them.
The next problem was a new pair of steel capped workboots issued to my OH.....they were supplied by a new company and we knew nothing about them but they were supposed to be very good quality. After about 6 weeks of constant wear we had a very wet day.
My OH had blisters on his feet because the shoes were not waterproof.....I could hear his socks squelching. On further inspection the soles of both shoes had several cracks the whole depth of the very thick soles. I was just glad it was only water that penetrated and not some corrosive material that he could well have been walking in.
And finally, I have a pair of Hush Puppy walking shoes that were bought last winter and only worn a few times. I wore them for the first time this year and discovered that the edges of the padded soles are splitting and peeling off, exposing the spongy inners which are turning to powder.
There were several posters last year who had complaints about similar things happening and were very annoyed with the sellers but enough other members had had similar problems and were able to reassure them that it was not necessarily the seller's fault.
From my personal experience it seems to be a fault that can occur for no apparent reason than that the shoes have not bee used for a while, although that does not cover my OH's work boots.
