help me help my feet!

October 24, 2010 6:00 PM

I want to give myself pedicures

I have stubborn calluses on my feet and have decided that I can give myself pedicures to remove them.

So, what do I need?

Warm water
Pumice stone or some other abrasive

And?

I'd prefer to just order something on line that is easy to soak my feet in?

I mean, I can handle to warm water and pumice stone portion of it. But what do you soak your feet in?

I'm not too interested in the toe nail care part of the pedicure, as I think I have that part fully covered already.

Thanks!

posted by dfriedman to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

Best answer: Here are some foot soak recipes.
posted by R a c h e l at 6:02 PM on October 24, 2010

Best answer: So do you know about callus shavers? They are awesome. I couldn't run without them. Be careful!
posted by peep at 6:15 PM on October 24, 2010

Best answer: I use a 16 qt Sterilite plastic storage container to soak my feet in. Feet fit comfortably in together without crowding, and it is easy to clean (I usually use hot water and tea tree oil to soak, and then wash my container with cheap shampoo). And cheap!

I looked at foot baths, but they seemed pricey and the reviews seemed to indicate many of them aren't well made.
posted by jeoc at 6:57 PM on October 24, 2010

This thread covered many of your options.

The two things I always recommend:
Queen Helene makes this really good foot bath stuff that works wonders for getting calloused skin soft and easy to buff. It comes with a "special buffing pad" or some other fancy name for fine-grit wet-dry sandpaper :P Literally, it's the same stuff I used in shop class. The powder kind of looks like it's made for old ladies, but it's not bad at all and TOTALLY gets at the calluses.

Sephora is totally your friend. They have a lot of great tools, like the Pedro buffer with diamond grit on a long handle. You may have to figure out what kind of buffer, etc. works best for you -- if you're careful, the PedEgg and its clones work very well, but they start to stink very easily.
posted by Madamina at 7:42 PM on October 24, 2010

My housemate goes everywhere barefoot (including enough running to qualify for the Boston Marathon). His feet look like they are in good shape, and all he does is wash them with a scrubber sponge, like the kind we use on dishes.
posted by aniola at 8:30 PM on October 24, 2010

To really deal with calluses quickly, you need to use a sort of nasty chemical. I noticed that a lot of salons I went to were putting a liquid on my calluses before rubbing them with a pumice stone. I did a little investigating and wound up buying an at-home version at the drugstore. It's a liquid you apply to your calluses, leave on for about a minute, and wash off. After that, you gently rub the area with a pumice stone to remove the dead skin. I give myself weekly treatments (and only occasionally use a callus shaver). There are a lot of different brands that put out essentially the same product, but the one I started with is called Callus Away Eliminatir by Body Toolz.
posted by pinetree at 9:41 PM on October 24, 2010

Yes, be very, very careful with callus shavers. My bathroom has looked like a crime scene, and I've limped around for at least a week.

Very careful!
posted by jgirl at 5:28 AM on October 25, 2010