The Best Foot File – Ever!

 

 

Get better feet – fast.

We’re quickly moving towards the spring season, and I know some of you will be ready to get a jump start on spring-ready feet. If you have spent a bazillion dollars on every crazy gadget that promises to give you softer paws, life will change for you after this post. It takes some elbow work, there’s no battery operated magic here, and you’ll want to sit on the edge of your tub to use this, but let me introduce you to the last foot file you’ll ever need…

Swedish Clover Foot File by Flowery

Folks, this is THE foot file. I mean, really – it is the one you need to have, and the one you will cherish above all foot files. Toss away those garbage Ped Eggs, ridiculously expensive rotating foot sanders like Amope, and flimsy files that lose quality within one use or the adhesive sanding paper is coming off within a month. Trust me. Do it.

The Swedish Clover Foot File has two sides – one with a coarse  grit and one with a very fine grit. The key to falling in love with this file is using it properly. Lots of people use these things dry, and you’ll get covered with a funky dead skin cell powder within minutes. You’ll be breathing in the old dead cells from your feet and the stuff goes everywhere. So, please – don’t use it dry. It is MUCH more effective damp (not wet).

Here’s THE BEST way to use it:

With dry feet, sit on the side of your tub (faucet turned off and no standing water in tub). Turn your faucet on to where you have a tiny dribble of water that won’t get near your feet. Take your file, pass it once through the water, turn off the water, and give the file a shake it to get rid of excess.  Now, and only now, do you start filing your feet. Best place to begin is the bottom of your heels – usually the toughest part – give it some decent pressure, and get that arm to moving. Once you’re doing it properly, you’re going to see dead skin start to roll up and off your feet. At this point, you keep going until you’re seeing the skin come off as dry – once that happens, re-dip the file in the same way you did in the beginning – again not saturating your feet or overly wetting the file. Continue on all areas of your feet that need to be softened – avoid tops of your feet, tops of toes, or coming up too far on the sides of your feet – stick with areas that are tougher.

This file means business, so don’t use it on delicate skin or normal body skin.

You can use the coarse or fine side – depending on the state of your feet. If you’ve got Flintstone feet like many of us get during the winter – start with coarse, remove excess buildup and finish with the fine side. If your paws don’t need a major overhaul, go with the fine side. The fine side also works really well if you get extremely dry palms or callouses on the sides of your fingers. The important part is the water balance – we want enough moisture to keep  the dead skin cells from being a dust – but not so much that everything is saturated to the point you can’t get a good polish. If you have a bunch of gray, funky looking rolled up skin cell blobs in the bottom of your tub – you’ve done well. Rinse your feet – pat dry – lotion up. Clean off your file – and go stare at the transformation of your paws.  You won’t need to replace this file for months upon months – if then. I replaced my last one after about a year – not because it didn’t work any longer, but just because I figured I could use a fresh surface.

These awesome files can be purchased at a ton of places online and are also available at your local Sally’s. They’re under $10 bucks, but I would literally pay $30 for this foot file if it was the cost. It’s that good.

P.S. If you struggle with finding something, anything, that will actually moisturize your feet and repair cracks, you’ll want to check out my article The Quickest Fix for Dry, Cracked Hands and Feet.