Smooth feet without a trip to the ER?

November 2, 2018 11:59 AM

I've been using a homemade scrub (literally olive oil + coarse salt) to tame the calluses on my feet (along with a pumice stone). I'm really happy with the results but my routine seems more hazardous/clunky than necessary.

My process:

1) Sit on edge of tub and wet feet.
2) Open scrub container (screw top gelato container if you must know).
3) Sit cross-legged, grab handful of scrub and scrub first foot (as oil and salt splatter on the tub floor)
4) Switch legs and scrub second foot (see above)
5) Wash oily hands and then wash and rinse each oily foot and leg
6) While still seated tub edge, elevate feet on soap/shampoo ledge
7) Wash tub floor with soap and scrub brush without toppling over to avoid slipping on splattered oil when showering
8) Wash salt/oil/soap residue out of tub
9) Close and wash scrub container
10) Commence with shower
11) Pumice feet and rinse pumice stone
12) Bask in glowing, warming glow of smooth feet

I don't take huge handfuls of the scrub and feel like no matter how much (or little) I use, it's going to make a mess. I've tried keeping my feet in a portable plastic basin *in* the tub, but still manage to make a mess. Putting a towel down would likely eliminate/greatly reduce making the tub an oil slick but I'm not thrilled with the idea of washing oily towels on a regular basis.

Anyone else have a better routine?

posted by Twicketface to Health & Fitness (20 answers total)

Best answer: Can you sit in the tub itself, to be closer to your feet/closer to the drain, for less spatter?
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:03 PM on November 2, 2018 [4 favorites]

Could you get some kind of antislip bath mat? This one is machine washable and it might give you some more traction in the tub even when oil has happened.
posted by foxfirefey at 12:06 PM on November 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Sit in a chair, put a towel down and use a large basin of warm water. Keep soap and an extra towel handy. I agree, your current routine is way too precarious !
posted by pintapicasso at 12:31 PM on November 2, 2018 [5 favorites]

This isn’t a direct answer but I just have to tell you—after 35 or so years of messing around with every kind of implement and product imaginable, I recently found myself with nothing on hand and in desperation used the kind of pumice stone you buy for scrubbing hard water rings out of your toilet (Pummie brand) and it is freaking genius. I could cry. So cheap, so effective.
posted by HotToddy at 12:31 PM on November 2, 2018 [9 favorites]

I'm lazy when it comes to self care. If it takes too much time or too much clean-up or too many ingredients, I just won't do it no matter how good I know it'll make me feel. That's why I stopped using mud masks and charcoal toothpaste. For some weird reason, I really hate dealing with my feet, so I'm especially prone to laziness when it comes to their care.

My simple effective routine:
1) Get one of these battery operated foot buffers, place towel in front of tv, turn on Netflix and buff away for ten or fifteen minutes. Works best when your feet are dry.

2) Get your foot soaking tray, fill with hot as you can take it water (also in front of your netflix spot), add epsom salt and soak as long as you please. I take about fifteen minutes.

3) Shower and scrub feet with loofah at the end.

4) Exit shower (preferably on a bathmat or towel) . Use jojoba oil all over body and feet. Put on robe and slippers and air dry. That's it! No mess beyond the usual when taking a shower.

I've given up on using oils or anything slippery in the tub. Too many close calls; not worth it.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 12:33 PM on November 2, 2018 [9 favorites]

Babyfoot. Really.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:34 PM on November 2, 2018 [16 favorites]

I'll second doing a Babyfoot foot peel, and then using a foot cream with AHA daily at bedtime with socks (hope someone else can recommend a brand, B&BW had a great one but it's not currently for sale). The daily AHA cream will keep your feet as smooth as the scrubbing without all the mess.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:37 PM on November 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

Do the scrub after you shower (bonus: the skin on your feet is softer after being in the water). Then you can get out and rinse the tub like normal instead of your balancing act.
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:38 PM on November 2, 2018 [3 favorites]

(Can confirm that that Babyfoot thing is pretty amazing, too.)
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:39 PM on November 2, 2018

If you like a scrub for your feet, you can mix salt (or Epsom salts) with honey, which rinses off when you are done, and isn’t slippery. I have also used a Microplane foot file after a shower, which is very effective.
posted by Lycaste at 1:25 PM on November 2, 2018 [3 favorites]

I have ignored my feet for forty years until last month when I got this microplane style foot shaving rasp results were amazing and it works better when skin is dry. The dryer and harder the callus, the better the tiny blades work at planing off tiny shreds of the callused skin. Somehow, it does not cut or abrade soft skin.

I'd swap that rasp for the oil based scrub pre-shower and then follow up with the pumice. The oil sounds like a slip and fall accident waiting to happen, not to mention a tedious clean-up.
posted by sol at 1:35 PM on November 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

If you're wedded to this happening in the bathtub: Tiny camping stool + anti-slip rubber mat inside the tub = elimination of edge-of-tub balancing act?

OR, do what I do (this requires a tiny bit of flexibility but makes clean up lots easier): Lay bath mat in front of bathroom sink. Stand in front of sink on mat, barefoot. Lift one foot up and put it in the sink. Lean forward, grab hold of foot, and pumice, scrub, rinse, etc. Swap feet. Afterwards, wipe out sink, then dry off feet. Wiping out the sink is miles quicker and easier than scrubbing the entire dang tub, and if you miss a spot you can't slip to your death on it.

OR, if you have a real bathroom counter instead of a pedestal sink, do what my roommate did for years: Sit right on the counter with your feet in the sink basin. This was not problematic because we kept the counter clear and she always cleaned the sink afterwards.
posted by DSime at 1:35 PM on November 2, 2018

To keep my calluses at bay, I use a single-edge razor blade and slice them off. I've done this for decades, and know how to go laterally to avoid a slash-fest.
posted by BostonTerrier at 1:39 PM on November 2, 2018

I've recently been given a thing of O'Keefe's Skin Repair that I was told was like Babyfoot, but I haven't tried it yet (O'Keefe's also appears to have a foot-focused version). If it doesn't work I'll be doing BF. I am afraid of razor shavers, but I'm a new member of the callus club, so that could change.
posted by rhizome at 2:21 PM on November 2, 2018

Came in to recommend Baby Foot also, it's gross while in process (don't google pics!) but gets amazing results.
posted by JenMarie at 2:53 PM on November 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

It seems to me the problem is that you like that oil based scrub. If you could moisturise your feet in another way you‘ll avoid the slippery tub. There are lots of amazing foot moisturisers, I like mine to contain urea including nice rich ones to use at night and/or under socks.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:03 PM on November 2, 2018

Best answer: So I oil up my bathtub really frequently with various hair and body preparations. The easiest way I have found to keep myself safe from slipping and falling is to squirt a generous quantity of dishsoap into the wet and oily bathtub (I keep dish soap in the bathroom for cleaning), swirl it around all over with my foot (because lazy), and use the showerhead to spray it clean. It takes like 25 seconds.

You can also do your foot scrub post-shower and then you only have to clean the shower once.
posted by windykites at 3:56 PM on November 2, 2018 [3 favorites]

Babyfoot is amazing and disgusting/delightful in a great body horror way (and definitely buy the Babyfoot brand -- I've tried others and it's really the best) but it's more a place to start from.

I've done coffee scrubs on my legs (mostly coffee grounds and olive oil) and I've found being in the tub/shower over a garbage bag (or other plastic sheeting, but I have those around) helps tremendously with clean up. It won't catch everything, but it will get a lot of it.
posted by darksong at 5:55 PM on November 2, 2018

I use oil in my hair and a big squirt of dawn dish soap, paddled around with one foot and then rinsed with hot, is my solution for a slippery tub. Put your shower head on a hose if it isn't already.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 4:13 AM on November 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

Nthing Baby Foot. Don't think twice, this is the solution.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 3:42 PM on November 3, 2018