When you make your feet happy, the rest of you has to go along with them!
So far the experimenting I've been doing, regarding footwear that will keep my feet happy during the pounding they take for eight hours straight every time I put in a shift as a CNA, are proving to be heading in the right direction.
One of the comments I've gotten is that 'They're too flat' - I'm guessing that's based on the knowledge that there are flip-flop soles in them ... and in general that would be true. Here's what makes the difference.
These aren't your typical everyday run-of-the-mill flip flop soles. I'm going to do my homework and see if I can find more of these anywhere on line (I doubt stores are going to be stocking flip-flops at this time of the year although you never know ...). I'm hoping to find some that aren't four sizes too big for my feet. I love the wiggle room for my toes, but it's the space in the uppers that give me that, not the soles. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, these soles do have arch support - and it will be easy enough to add extra any time I want just by putting pads into the slipper liners when I make them.
I don't have extremely high arches but added support never hurts anyway, right?
When it comes to comfort, another thing I appreciate about the felted wool uppers is that they don't bind the tops of my feet. I've had cause to wonder over the years whether they only design shoes for people with flat feet and no arch to the tops of said feet. Even the ones with laces have those seams at the sides where the lacing part begins. Anyway, there's none of that with these things and I'm happy as a clam about it.
So far, so good on the experiments here.
Next on the agenda : for tomorrow's shift I'm going to wear the other almost worn out pair of boots as 'socks' - linings of a sort. Tonight I just took the flat pieces I'd been using as 'insoles' for my regular shoes and they were fine. I just want to do the comparison so as to have a good idea of the difference full foot woolen liners might make.
In the back of my mind is the knowledge that winter is coming, remember. So I'm testing things. I already know that the designs I've used so far keep my feet comfortable whether it's forty below or a hundred above zero (Fahrenheit) I want to find out if that carries over even with a thick non-woolen sole. I think it will, but I want to make sure.
Because I'm going to want to have these boots not just for my shift-work but for regular wear as well.
So we shall see what we shall see.
As I said, so far so good! I'm pleased as pleased can be with this experiment to date. If the changes make the boots/shoes better, good. If not, they're already just fine exactly as they are!
Part of the reason I'm really hoping the full foot liners will work is that they would, in and of themselves, provide the woolen surround and breathing for my feet, assuming the uppers breathe as well. That frees me up to go sweater shopping for whatever design strikes my fancy (a suggestion from a friend, who said make some plaid ones or make some with Nordic sweater designs).
Now, the theory is to take the sleeves off of large sized men's 100% wool sweaters after washing and drying them at hot temperatures to shrink them down to my size and felt them at the same time ... use the sleeves for the boots and have a sweater vest that matches them.
And so the experiment goes on. I get to go shopping at thrift shops which is always fun, and might end up with some great sweater/boot combos! If that part of the experiment fails, I'll at the very least have liners or house slippers or something!
But first things first. I'm still working on design. The outer sole sealer (liquid rubber) is ordered and ought to be here in a week or so - which means I've got to get the main parts of these boots tested and ready to roll so we can continue with the next phase of the experiment!
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