New shoes, particularly those with synthetic or leather bottoms, can have painfully slick soles, as can old boots that have been worn flat over time. Slippery footwear, as innocent as it may appear, is a major source of injury, with over 1 million recorded slides, stumbles, or fall-related injuries in the United States alone every year.
Nevertheless, you don’t have to throw out a slick pair of shoes: with a few simple tactics, you can generally easily add some traction back into your footwear for pretty cheap – Let’s take a look!
Scuff The Soles
If you don’t have months to spend wearing a pair of boots, scuffing the sole of your footwear will quicken the wearing phase. This is a fast, simple, and efficient approach to increase grip in a matter of seconds. It’s also easier than strolling about on bare soles and eliminates the need to locate a hard texture to tread on.
Using rough sandpaper on the soles of your footwear is one of the greatest methods to wear them. After about 5 minutes of rubbing, this substance will provide them with plenty of roughness, helping them to grasp surfaces. It’s preferable to use sandpaper with a grit of roughly 50.
If you don’t have any sandpaper to hand at home, you can achieve a similar impact with other products. Emery sheets and nail files can also be used to create texture on most surfaces, and many of us have them lying around in our bathrooms.
Sandpapering or filing with a metallic file isn’t appropriate for all kinds of shoes. This works the best with a strong, long-lasting material like rubber or acrylic. The board texture seen on the bottoms of many shoes and loafers is resistant to scratching.
Score The Bottoms
Using a razor to scrape the bottoms of your shoes has a similar effect to the sandpaper method. Furthermore, it may be faster and involve less effort. You must, however, use caution when creating incisions and prevent cutting all the way through to the bottom of your footwear.
Cut horizontally through the bottom of your shoe with gentle, straight motions. Next, slice in the opposite way once more to create a grate or mesh design. As you rotate, it will provide traction in many directions.
It is critical that the scoring be as even as possible. This isn’t just for show. Tight, consistent scoring will provide more grip than broad, irregular lines. When cutting, you might also want to start measuring and pencil in lines as a reference.
The scoring must be shallow enough just to allow plenty of cushion under your feet while also providing grip on flat surfaces. If you’re concerned about damaging your footwear, you can get flexible box cutters to give you greater control over how deeply you cut.
Grip Pads
Irrespective of how polished the bottoms of your shoes are, these rough pads provide lots of grip right away.
Some gripping pads are made to fit almost any shoe. Compact enough to sit on the flat or heel of your foot, they are great for footwear with heels. There are also bigger choices that can be trimmed to match the actual dimensions of your shoes.
Even if your shoes are brand new, you should clean the underside of them before trying to apply a bonding pad. This will remove any dust, filth, or grime that could interfere with the adhesive’s ability to adhere to your shoe. Simply prepare the sole by wiping it down using rubbing alcohol and a fresh towel.
Grip Spray
Grip spray works similarly to traction pads in that it adds artificial roughness to the soles of your shoes to improve traction. Grip spray is usually more costly than padding, but it is also faster and more efficient to add to the shoe’s bottom.
You shouldn’t have to worry about dealing with heights or unique shoe shapes when you use a non slip spray for footwear.
In a couple of moments, you may attach it to the bottom of any footwear type. To guarantee that the spray adheres to your footwear, clean them with rubbing alcohol beforehand, just like you would with pads.
The main drawback of grip sprays would be that they can be messier than some other non-slip alternatives. If you do get any on your clothes, ground, or furnishings by mistake, it can be extremely impossible to hide. Before you begin, make certain that you have adequately protected yourself and your work environment.
Use Hairspray
For years, people have relied on this easy, quick-fix method to get through the night in slick heels. It’s also less expensive than many other solutions. Furthermore, it is a more temporary solution than some of the others, and it won’t permanently damage your footwear.
Many of us already keep hairspray on hand in our bathrooms. Affordably priced choices can also be found in almost any drug store or supermarket. You don’t have to go with a high-priced brand. Almost any hairspray should do the job.
Use Hot Glue
This is a simple and economical option. Most of us already own hot glue guns as part of our art materials, but if you don’t have one, you can get reasonably priced kits at any hobby shop.
Because glue dries transparent, utilizing a hot glue gun can be more discreet than using bright puff paints, which are a wiser alternative for formal environments. It also lasts a lot longer since it forms a stronger relationship with the sole of your shoes.
When working with glue, wait until the substance is mostly dried but not completely dry.
At this stage, it will still remain flexible and slightly tacky. Slip-on your shoes and stroll over the flat, solid ground to make sure that the adhesive is even and will not interfere with your stride. In the long term, this will also allow the adhesive to bond more effectively.
