Just bought my first Chaco sandals!

[Blueberry]

Welcome to the Chaco cult

I've not counted how many I have - probably too many! Wish I could wear the flips - but my feet are too wide...

Those look perfect for Belize...

[KnottedYet]

If you find the straps slipping too easily (tightening at the front while walking is the painful one I notice) you can stand in water next time you're at the beach and floss some sand into the channels inside the sole.

(pull the straps in and out and drag some sand in there)

The sand increases the friction on those little boogers and they won't slip tighter on you any more.

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks for all the tips! Last year on our trips to Belize I had to change among several different pairs of sandals/thongs every time we went out walking around b/c each one rubbed me in a different place, so I am sure these will also take some breaking in, and I can certainly deal with that. But they are so much more comfy out of the box than most sandals I have now or have had in the past, I'm optimistic. They at least seem far more promising to walk in than most of what I have now.

I'll always be a multiple-sandal gal, tho, because I like them to at least kinda go with whatever I happen to be wearing that day. So, I'll still have my brown leather Tevas, a few pairs of simple thongs (I have some leather Patagonia ones I got on the cheap at STP that are really comfy), and trail runners for the more rugged stuff. Also have some little slip-on neoprene water shoes. I will probably need a decent-size duffle bag just for shoes!

[Reesha]

Congrats on the Chacos! I've had mine for 5 years now and I LOVE them. They do have a tendency to get stinky when all kinds of stuff gets embedded in the grid on the top of the sole, so I give them a good soak in a warm water and oxyclean solution once per month. Sometimes I use an old toothbrush to get the soles clean.

Have fun wearing them EVERYWHERE. You will want to

[KnottedYet]

When my Chacos get stinky I throw them in the washer with a pair of jeans.

That's also what I do before I send them to Chaco to be resoled. (well, actually, now they are sent to Wolverine World Wide to be resoled since Merrell bought Chaco)

[Reesha]

Haha, yeah I could do that, but the sound of thu-thunking sandals in the wash is unnerving to me I'll have to try it.

[badgercat]

I've been a proud Chaco owner for 4 years. I, too, went through a (brief) blister-causing breaking-in period, but I wear them more often than any other pair shoes and am pretty fond of my perpetual Z-tan (and holy cow, do I love that they're machine-washable). But, since their repair/resole services have come up in this thread, I feel compelled to share my pretty-bad resoling experience that has tested my faith in the company. (and by now, I've been without my sandals so long that the tan is starting to fade--unacceptable! )

I have a leg-length discrepancy, and had a custom shoe lift installed by a Chaco-'partnered' cobbler who is in Colorado near their original headquarters. After Chaco was bought out and moved to Michigan, they said they could take care of all repairs (even on customized sandals) in house. So, I sent them off for resoling, and when they returned, my lift had been mangled. Grooves cut into it, glue everywhere (including on the footbed and one of the straps), a split that hadn't been there before (and one that was there before was worse), and some of the height of the lift had been taken off. I was absolutely appalled that they left the plant looking this way. (I have a picture, but I'm already hijacking the thread more than enough.)

After calling Chaco, they asked me to send them back. A few days later, they call me to say "Oh, yeah, they did look pretty bad, but they had tried to fill a gap they found and the compound got a little out of hand, we've now cleaned them up with a buffer. Oh, and just FYI, this is probably the last sandal with a lift we'll work on, because we're not comfortable with the material." Nope, not good enough. I'm normally kind of a pushover, but I held my ground. They're sending me a completely new pair of shoes via the same cobbler in CO. I'm sure I won't have them for my camping trip in a week, though, and a query about whether I can have my old sandals back to wear in the mean-time has not been responded to.

All's well that ends well, I suppose. I don't tell this story to be a debbie-downer or to discourage people from buying Chacos, because I still get excited every time I hear someone has gotten a new pair and I am so looking forward to getting my new ones. I just want to provide fair warning that Chaco customer service may not be all it once was. I do sincerely hope that if any of you take advantage of their repair/resole services, that you have a much, much, MUCH better experience than I have.

[Blueberry]

When my Chacos get stinky I throw them in the washer with a pair of jeans.

That's also what I do before I send them to Chaco to be resoled. (well, actually, now they are sent to Wolverine World Wide to be resoled since Merrell bought Chaco)

Merrell bought Chaco

I really wish Chaco had stayed in the US and independently owned

[emily_in_nc]

Merrell bought Chaco

I really wish Chaco had stayed in the US and independently owned

Bummer...I didn't know that. I saw Michigan on the box and assumed they had been made in the US, which I really liked.

I also read on the website that they could be washed in a washing machine -- I thought that was pretty darn cool!