Can Korea Help My Feet?
November 10, 2020 7:50 PM   Subscribe

This is a question for a temporary problem - how good would a Korean Bath Towel like this be for scrubbing the bottom of some gnarly and neglected feet?

Yep, coping with a broken knee. I'm still pretty unsteady on my feet, and so my hygiene for the past month has consisted of unsteady seated showers. But my broken knee has to stay straight, so even in the shower, I have to have that sticking out and balanced on the tub, and I can't wash it with the rest of me. To wash the broken leg - and I've done this a couple times - I need to bring a basin to my bedside and sit in bed, remove the brace, and VERY VERY VERY carefully sponge it down, keeping my leg straight the whole time.

All of that is actually still nevertheless doable. There's just one place I can't reach - the sole of the foot that's on the broken leg. I'd love to somehow give the sole of that foot a really good scrub, since it DESPERATELY needs exfoliating, but - without bending my knee I can't really reach QUITE far enough to do that. I've checked out other "bathing assistance aids" online, but they all seem to be either brushes-on-sticks that aren't angled for you to reach the bottom of your foot, or they're sandal-like contraptions with bristles that you need to use in the shower while teetering on one foot (and I'd rather not be unsteady). But - the extra-long scrub towel here made me wonder if I couldn't loop that around my foot and then sit back and scrub.

Has anyone used such a towel on their foot, or in such a way? Is it a) long enough, and b) scrubby enough?

Thanks!
posted by EmpressCallipygos to Health & Fitness (18 answers total)
 
That looks similar to the much loved Salux cloth. It'll do what you want it to do. It won't be, like, as vigorous as going at it with a pumice bar, but it's nice and scrubby. You won't be disappointed.
posted by phunniemee at 7:55 PM on November 10, 2020 [1 favorite]


If you find the Korean towel does not work for what you need, try a pair of Baby Foot masks for exfoliating. It takes a while for it to really take effect, but it sure will exfoliate. (Available on amazon and probably from the dozens of k beauty stores in the city.)
posted by bilabial at 8:51 PM on November 10, 2020 [2 favorites]


Try getting one of those long loofah scrub things shaped like a loaf of bread. First soak your feet in the tub filled with nice soapy water to loosen dead skin and get surface dirt off. Squirt some body wash onto the loofah and drop it into a tub of hot water. Roll the bottom of your soles onto it, back and forth. They are much easier to find in a Target or Walmart and it will require less physical effort for you, I think. Good luck!
posted by HeyAllie at 9:08 PM on November 10, 2020


I came in to recommend Baby Foot as well. Note: I tried the knock-off brand and didn't have nearly the same luck as I did when I went full Baby Foot. The name grosses me out. Watching your skin shed like a reptile is also gross but you might be fascinated by it. I was.
posted by Juniper Toast at 9:08 PM on November 10, 2020 [2 favorites]


Baby Foot is fun but a nightmare for someone who has to keep their leg straight, c'mon y'all.

If you're soaking your foot regularly, it can't be too dirty. Any long towel, a little soap and water is going to get your foot clean
posted by emjaybee at 9:36 PM on November 10, 2020 [7 favorites]


I've picked up similar items at Daiso a couple of times. They are pretty good at exfoliating after a long soak but you might have some trouble getting it hooked under your foot like you want it to. Different ones have had different levels of scrubbitude, I think it probably depends on the exact way the mesh is manufactured and maybe the size of the holes, but none of them have been terrible. Seems worth a try, at least.
posted by Mizu at 11:01 PM on November 10, 2020


Not sure the Amazon link is correct, it goes to a scrubbing brush on a long handle for me, not a towel.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:03 AM on November 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: ....Because I clearly need to say some facts more clearly and louder -

Baby Foot is fun but a nightmare for someone who has to keep their leg straight, c'mon y'all.

Reiterating emjaybee above. I know I said my foot needs exfoliation, but it more urgently needs CLEANING. I have not washed my right foot in two weeks, and a Baby Feet foot mask will not address that problem.

Moreover, the reason I have not washed my right foot in two weeks is because I am not able to get it into a tub. So it has not been soaked.

Finally, any solution that requires me to stand up in a tub - like the "get a big loofah and stand on it" - also will not work, since I am recovering from a broken knee and am very unsteady on my feet without my crutches right now. The only option I have for washing my right leg and foot must be something that I can use while sitting down on my bed.

So. I have ordered one Salux brand cloth from Amazon and one other cloth from a brand that's called Cure (I think), how long do they typically last?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:18 AM on November 11, 2020 [3 favorites]


A long scrubby washcloth/towel sounds like the perfect tool for this. I had a knockoff brand of one of these for back scrubbing and it lasted at least four years of machine-washing and hanging dry.

I always kind of wished it was twice as long for back scrubbing, though. If one cloth turns out not to be long enough to comfortably reach your foot with your leg straight, could you sew two cloths together? Doesn’t have to be pretty or done by machine. Or tie some extra non-scrubby cloth to either end of the scrubby cloth to serve as lengthening handles, like dish towels or something.
posted by snowmentality at 5:01 AM on November 11, 2020 [3 favorites]


how long do they typically last?

I have thrown out my salux cloths due to (probably overprotective) suspicion that they're harboring secret skin and filth before they started to show any signs of wear. Months.
posted by phunniemee at 5:09 AM on November 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


I know you said you can’t do the Babyfeet things, but just in case you consider it, don’t do it. The goo inside makes your feet very slippery. I once took one off and tried to stand in the tub to rinse off and wiped out spectacularly.
posted by artychoke at 6:34 AM on November 11, 2020


Response by poster: To put one more nail in the Baby Feet coffin -

Friends, this entire AskMe was launched by my saying that I cannot reach far enough to wash my feet. If I am not able to reach far enough to wash my feet, how would I be able to reach far enough to put on a Baby Feet bootie?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:12 AM on November 11, 2020 [4 favorites]


I just tried it with my fake Salux towel and it works for me. My towel is the same length (~90cm/3ft) as the one you posted. I'm ~5'5" and it is long enough and scrubby enough for me. I put my towel in the washing machine and dry in the sun. It's lasted for over a year, but I don't use it everyday.

And, I know you didn't ask, but can you put a chair in the tub? I've put a camping chair in there and it works in a pinch.
posted by hooray at 7:37 AM on November 11, 2020


Sorry! I was suggesting you don’t even use Baby Feet once you’re healed because they are so slippery and you could re-injure your knee.
posted by artychoke at 7:42 AM on November 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Hoorray: Apologies it wasn't clear in my initial question, but yes, I already do have a chair in the tub. That is how I wash the REST of me. The problem is that with the chair in the tub, there is no room to fit my legs in without bending my knees - which I can do for one leg but not the other. So one leg is happily bent and gets washed, while the other is wrapped in garbage bags and sticking out over the edge of the tub to balance on the toilet. I'm focusing on ways to get that garbage-bag-wrapped leg some attention, which can only happen separately, via a sponge-bath while I am seated on my bed with my leg straight.

Everything I have read about the cloths I've ordered suggests this would work. Amazon says they will be delivered tomorrow, I'll give it a whirl and report back.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:11 AM on November 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


I know you've already committed, but I wanted to give you the pre-relief that yeah, the Salux will do you right and last you as long as you need.
posted by lauranesson at 11:09 AM on November 11, 2020 [3 favorites]


Okay, we've been waiting since your 11/11 11:11 update! Did it work?

(I mostly just needed to point that out.)
posted by lauranesson at 10:20 AM on November 13, 2020


Response by poster: I have just completed washing my whole right leg and foot with an extra-scrubby, extra-hard Salux cloth and my leg feels so good, I was making such ecstatic noises noises about how good it felt that my roommate was looking at me funny.

We have a winner. Thanks!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:11 PM on November 13, 2020 [1 favorite]


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