Interesting advice from Zappos.com on adding traction, and stopping your foot from slipping, odor control, and more.

======================= === ADDING TRACTION === =======================

“I was wondering if anybody has ever bought a pair of Italian made sandals that are slick on the bottom. I am afraid that I might slip in them, therefore I am scared to wear them. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to solve this problem?...”
Roberta

I have tried the stickers that go on the bottom of shoes that are like sandpaper… you can buy them at most shoe stores and they worked great.

Anna

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Stylists for runway shows will “score” the sole of new shoes with a knife or sand them a little bit with sandpaper to remove some of the slick finish and provide better traction. You can buy (in the
drugstore) patches specially made to stick to the bottom of your shoes and provide traction, but patches can come off, and scoring or sanding is cheaper and quicker when you have a number of shoes to modify.

If you need to cut slickness factor temporarily and don’t want to modify the shoes, take another tip from stylists and tape the soles with regular masking tape. Masking tape has a slight texture to the surface that adds friction, the tape comes off when you’re done, and any residual stickiness can be removed with a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball.

Hilde

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Shoe repair shops have a thin, clear, rubbery sole covering that they can glue onto the bottom of your shoe. The real purpose is to protect the sole from wearing down, but it does add traction too. If you can’t find a shop that has these, you could try a spray like Tyre-Grip (which I buy from the Improvements catalog); it’s made to spray on your tires to give them greater traction in ice and snow, but it works on the soles of your shoes too.

Just be sure to let the spray dry completely before you walk in the shoes, because otherwise the stuff sticks to your floors and is hard to get off. It’s made from a natural pine resin of some kind. (It’s great to use on your tires too, LOL).

MissPammy

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I’m assuming the soles of your sandals are leather. The only thing I’ve done for leather soles is to wear them outside on concrete and scuff/drag them until the top shiny part of the sole wears off a bit. I use a wire brush to keep my ballroom dance shoes from getting too slippery, but my dance shoes have suede soles; I’m not sure how effective this type of brush would be on a smooth leather sole.

Eileen S.

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I have had luck taking a little sandpaper to the bottom of the shoe for traction. Just rough up the sole a little bit and you should be fine.
Others have recommended putting masking tape or the nonslip stickers made for bathtubs and showers. I don’t care for those methods because if you sit with your legs crossed, they can show.

(Especially if you have to kneel during your wedding, like I did! Can you imagine being in a beautiful gown, kneeling during the service and having plastic stickers on your soles?)

Lastly, a shoe repair person might have something he or she can put on the sole of the shoes.

Mary

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I had some slippers with the same problem, except that they became smooth from wearing. I used sandpaper to rough them up again. If that were not enough, I would have tried a wood file next, or anything else that would rough up the surface. I hope you get some imaginative and useful responses. I think the human mind is endlessly creative, especially when we work together.

Love,
Virginia

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Footpetals makes a product that you can stick on the bottom of the foot of your shoe - they are like of like sandpaper on the outside – are designed to solve this problem. However, I have tried them and they came off in one day’s wear.

So, I would suggest the method they use on the runways - take the shoes outside and scuff them up on your asphalt driveway or other surface that will scratch up the soles and thus provide traction. This is the best method I’ve found and have used it on some very high heels with slippery leather soles.

Hope this helps.
California shoe lover

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Go to a good shoe repair place and ask for a “Cats Paw” or dancer’s sole. They come in various thicknesses in either beige or black. You can get the thinnest one in beige to blend right in with the leather color.
Good luck!

Michael

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=== PANTY LINER INSERTS === ===========================

”...I don’t know why I didn’t think about doing this a long time ago but recently when I was having that problem with my feet sliding to the front of my shoes, it came to me to try panty liners as a cheap method for a shoe insert to stop the problem. All women know that one side of the panty liner is sticky. So, Iremoved the paper from that side and placed the liner into my shoes. I sure hope Zappos will print this because it really worked for me. If the liner is to long or wide, all you have to do is trim it wherever it may be showing and it will stick to your shoes until you remove it, at least it did for me. The liners are just the right thickness and shape for a shoe. They are also soft, and will keep your feet from sliding forward. What a difference it made for me, so, I hope you will print this so that other women can try this method. It’s a lot cheaper then purchasingother inserts for all your shoes…”
CJB, Dallas,TX.

Hi,

It sounds like a good solution that really rules.. Do you mean the kinda puffy ones or the flat ones.. I’d have to be really careful not to take off my shoes. I guess if I had to take them off I could go to the bathroom and toss them..? Which ones?

Cindy

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Do you think they would work equally well in men’s shoes? lol! I’m considering giving it a try! Any pointers about how to make a good selection? :)

Michael in DC

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This is an excellent idea for all of your foot problem issues. Foot slippage, Sweaty feet, and even smelly feet. For all you ladies out there who still use and wear pantyhose as we all know your feet tend to swear in closed in pumps when dressed for business. The pantyliner would certainly prevent foot odor as well as sweat build up. Pantyhose has a tendency to make feet sweat and it never wicks away nor dries. So keep an extra box of them around for your shoes as well as your personal needs. Oh and yes they also make great absorbent bandages if held on with gauze over an open wound. But only if the bleeding is not too intense.

Wynonna Rose

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I haven’t tried this yet, and was surprised to see it, but it sounds like a fantastic idea to me. There are different types of liners, tho, and the ones that have the “sewn down” padding as opposed to the “free form” padding would be best for not skirting around the inside of the shoe when one walks, I would think.

Holly, Santa Cruz, CA.

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Yes, they do work! My husband recently had a bout of “weeping edema” of the lower legs. This is a type of edema that results in the extra fluid in the body seeping out of pores. It is odorless and colorless. Anyhow, I used the ultra-strong thinnest non-perfumed sanitary napkins I could find, non-sticky side next to the leg. I wrapped the legs ingauze and they stuck to the sticky side of the pads. They worked better than any other first aid gause pad available. I guess the thicker flat pads would work in the shoes too if there was a real gap or size difference of feet.

Grandma Kathleen

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I hope this works as well for you as it has for me. Another thing about these liners…you can always use more then one at a time if you have to since they’ll stick together (for building up the shoe).

And…If you’re wearing pumps and the shoes don’t fit right in the toe box or the heel, just cut the liner in the shape of the inside of your heel or the inside top part of the shoe and stick it in. It works for me…so again…I hope it works for lots of women that have all these frustrating things going on with their shoeseven though we LOVE SHOES!!!

Oh yeah, thanks Zappos for printing my suggestion. I almost didn’t send it in because I didn’t want anyone to be offended by it but since it had worked so well for me I decided I’d take the chance and see what happened. Thanks again!!!

CJB, Dallas, TX.

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