I swear my new shoes have shrunk.

Heat does take a toll on anything made of plastic or rubber. Glue starts to soften allowing soles and seams to delaminate. A friend of mine that lives in Australia has told me that most of his camping gear has had to be replaced because of the extreme heat and humidity there. 

I've found that after not wearing a pair of shoes in a while, like 2 weeks or more, they seem to get smaller and the leather gets stiffer. In my experience, they go back to normal after 1 or 2 days climbing in them

Maybe you accidentally swapped with someone at the gym? Check the size vs what you bought. You could also go back to the place you bought them and try them on alongside some new ones to really see if they shrunk.

Systematic wrote:

Except that some LS shoes have issues of early delam and as stated above exposure to heat has a (poorly understood) effect on glue. 

If a shoe delams because it gets wet then it has serious design issues.  There is nothing wrong with getting them wet.  What do you think your feet do when you sweat in them?   

John Barritt wrote:

The reason I said possibly risky is due to the fact that La Sportiva tends to use a mix of materials in their shoes, leather, leather substitutes,  leather-like substances, plastics, rubber etc. without knowing how all the materials in the shoe will respond to water (or interact with each other) take my advice with a grain of salt. While water will swell and relax the leather it could actually shrink something else. It looks like that shoe has leather (suede) in the forward portion of the shoe, wet that first with a sponge. Anything you aren't sure of can be avoided or spot tested. My .02

JB

 

My first pair of shoes are 15yrs old and have had 4 resoles.  Second pair were slippers and were resoled twice.  I have 5 other pairs since then and  now climb on 2 pairs of TC Pros.  These have had 3 resoles between them.  That's 9 pairs of shoes and 9 resoles.  All were broken in by getting them wet.  Zero delams.  Take my advice with a grain of salt, but I'd say water is not a problem with delamination.  Heat from being in the trunk of a car is far more likely a problem.  

PS.  I also climb 30+ weekends a year, with a handful of 1-2wk trips in the Valley, mostly multipitch trad with a full double rack and a backpack.  So my shoes actually get a fair amount of wear on them and don't sit in a hot trunk.  

rockklimber wrote:

My first pair of shoes are 15yrs old and have had 4 resoles.  Second pair were slippers and were resoled twice.  I have 5 other pairs since then and  now climb on 2 pairs of TC Pros.  These have had 3 resoles between them.  That's 9 pairs of shoes and 9 resoles.  All were broken in by getting them wet.  Zero delams.  Take my advice with a grain of salt, but I'd say water is not a problem with delamination.  Heat from being in the trunk of a car is far more likely a problem.  

PS.  I also climb 30+ weekends a year, with a handful of 1-2wk trips in the Valley, mostly multipitch trad with a full double rack and a backpack.  So my shoes actually get a fair amount of wear on them and don't sit in a hot trunk.  

Think we're talking about two different things. I never said anything about delamination. I'm talking about issues with the upper coming apart. I know feet sweat...........I've also seen a few shoes fall apart in 39 years. JB

• To the OP, I just took my skwamas out of the washer (clothes). Totally fine. Normal Gain detergent. Definitely relaxed the leather and they feel great. Nothing to worry about. 

John Barritt wrote:

Think we're talking about two different things. I never said anything about delamination. I'm talking about issues with the upper coming apart. I know feet sweat...........I've also seen a few shoes fall apart in 39 years. JB

Sorry.  Someone else mentioned delams.  As for the upper coming apart from getting wet, wont happen from just water alone.