Shoe Dehydrator

September 2011 - December 2011

Four Team Members

As college students living in dorms, we had hard times drying our wet shoes overnight after a rainy day. This problem had affected our lives. Wet shoes are extremely uncomfortable and can deform, especially during the winter. Therefore, my team designed the Shoe Dehydrator that can be inserted into wet shoes and dries the shoes overnight by absorbing water from the shoes. The design is non-electric, reusable, portable, and machine washable.

Inspiration

Interviewed and surveyed college students to gain insights into user needs.

Researched existing products and methods to dry shoes.

Conducted desk research to assess market potentials.

Typical scenario on a rainy day

Shoes get wet easily

http://www.fotothing.com/photos/034/0347822d9ef9e47066cc98b262088129.jpg

Shoe dryers in market

Both products require power supply

http://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dryer-Original-M97-OL-Discontinued/dp/B000087QPM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1322584036&sr=8-8

http://www.amazon.com/DryGuy-Circulator-Footwear-Dryer-Warmer/dp/B0030EIYQ0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1322584036&sr=8-7

Ideation

Brainstormed sustainable and affordable design concepts to dry shoes overnight without electricity for college students..

Created sketches to illustrate ideas and obtain feedback during interviews of college students.

Created 3D models of design concepts that mimicked foot geometry.

3D model of one concept

Implementation

Purchased prototyping materials from local and online stores.

Fabricated three prototypes with different materials.

Fabricated the final prototype through iterations of designing, testing, and prototyping.

Conducted peformance tests and reusability tests on the prototypes.

First prototype

•Diced sponge interior

•Sponge surrounded by microfiber

•Microfiber exterior

•Cotton exoskeleton

Second prototype

•Diced sponge interior

•Sponge surrounded by cotton

•Microfiber exterior

Third prototype

•Whole-sponge interior

•Microfiber exterior

Prototype absorbency test

The absorbency test was performed on all prototypes with three different pairs of shoes. A shoe was first submerged in water to simulation extreme conditions, a prototype was inserted into the shoe for 10 hours in a controlled box, and remaining mass percentage of water was calculated. The lower the remaining percentage, the more effective the prototype is in drying shoes.