Dry Wet Shoes Fast with Newspaper: The Unexpected Fix

In a rainy March of 1994, Marcus walked into his New York apartment with both sneakers squelching from the subway curb. He grabbed a stack of Sunday Times-crumpled page by page-and stuffed each soggy shoe right up to the toe. Years later, shoe shops across Brooklyn still use Marcus’s trick, but what actually happens inside that shoe still surprises almost everyone. Crumpled newspaper isn’t just filling space: its fibers create hundreds of tiny gaps, each one tugging moisture out of the lining faster than air drying alone. Paper towels or napkins can’t compete, since they flatten and trap less air. After just two hours, Marcus’s shoes felt nearly bone-dry, not warped or stiff like with a hair dryer. When he pulled the last wadded headline from his left shoe, there were five damp sheets-each heavier by about fourteen grams, and all that water stayed out of his socks the next day.