Remove the Bite from my Crocs!

March 24, 2016 9:57 AM

I have sensitive feet bottoms - nubs hurt! If I buy these Crocs Freesail clogs, could I grind, cut, or melt the nubs off? Maybe with Dremel? Other than the nubs, these are perfect.
posted by bluesky78987 to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (11 answers total)

I have those. You can put inserts into them. Some of the Croc models do have fakey sheepskin lining which might be better for starting. Just a note: the nubs are soft like the Croc material themselves, so they might be tough to buff out (especially down near the toes). I think I'd start with some footbed liners if this is the model you're set on.
posted by jessamyn at 10:01 AM on March 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Croc nubs are pretty soft to start with - have you tried them on in person yet? They also squish down pretty quickly with regular wear.

If they are unacceptable, I'd snip them w a pair of scissors... I don't think grinding the Croc material would work very well.
posted by Fig at 10:01 AM on March 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

You could just cover them with a layer of Sugru.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 10:55 AM on March 24, 2016

Do you mean the little texture bumps on the footbed inside the shoe, or the traction ridges on the bottom of the sole? If it's the sole, you won't want to smoothe those out: I know from much experience (and a permanently ruined knee from wiping out) that flat Crocs bottoms are *extremely* slippery and lead to falls. If you mean the bumps on the inside of the footbed, you most likely won't even notice those, they squish right down into nothing. Crocs are sort of like soft plastic sponge, they're very malleable like marshmallow -- the footbed isn't anything like, say, the nubby hard surface of Teva or Chaco sandals (which I've also found irritating myself). I'd suggest wearing them a while & you'll probably see that you don't need to modify the Crocs. If you still want to though, I think your best bet would be melting the bumps down with something like a soldering iron, or perhaps a hot glue-gun tip with no glue in it.
posted by cuddles.mcsnuggy at 11:09 AM on March 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Can you add an insole over the top of the nubs? I think they may be difficult to remove so I might layer on top rather than try eliminate.
posted by countrymod at 11:32 AM on March 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

FWIW, Crocs now also have a lot of loafer-style shoes with a fabric footbed. I recently got a pair of the "Stretch Sole Loafers" and they're even more comfy than my regular Crocs (those particular ones have the "nubs" on the plastic footbed but I don't even feel them). If what you want is the bouncy Crocs squishy-soled comfort for walking around, one of those styles might work better for you. (But if you prefer the waterproof all-weather uniformity of traditional Crocs though, then stick to your original style.)
posted by cuddles.mcsnuggy at 11:41 AM on March 24, 2016

Response by poster: Hi All, Thanks for all this so far. Sounds like the consensus is maybe that the plastic isn't hard enough to grind them off, but cutting might be an option, if in fact they turn out to actually hurt.

My feelings about the nubs came from ordering a (different) pair previously, and nubs were pretty hard and pokey. Maybe they have changed the formula of them?
posted by bluesky78987 at 11:54 AM on March 24, 2016

I'm wearing those right now. I wear crocs all day in my office at my standing desk and put on adult shoes for meetings. I think they were more pokey when I bought them, but now the nubs are pretty unnoticeable.

The nubs are so low that you could not trim them with scissors. Maybe you could do it with a flat tip toenail clipper. It would be tough to get the correct angle inside the shoe by the toes. I think that the nubs serve two functions, reducing slipperiness inside the shoe and maybe (just maybe) lifting your foot enough that your feet don't get all sweaty.
posted by 26.2 at 1:41 PM on March 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'd think whatever cutting you do would be even more irritating as you would leave unfinished edges, and would probably never get them completely even.
posted by kapers at 1:52 PM on March 24, 2016 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Hmm y'all are making some good points here. I guess I will get them and see how it goes. Thanks!
posted by bluesky78987 at 3:06 PM on March 24, 2016

Crocs are very slick on wet tile or wet, smooth surfaces. Take it from me, if you cut off the nubs, then you will be vulnerable to falls indoors.
posted by Oyéah at 10:28 AM on March 25, 2016