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What Can You Put On The Bottom Of Shoes To Make Them Less Slippery?

What Can You Put On The Bottom Of Shoes To Make Them Less Slippery?

When shopping for shoes, certain things are easy to keep in touch with. The fit, the style, the color, and so on. But do you ever check the sole of the shoe to determine whether they are slip-repellent or not?

Even with the undeniably chic options out there, having to resort to a pair of clunky anti-slip shoes can be a strain. However, it’s not only harsh weather conditions that will cause you to slip and slide. Some shoes are just slippery themselves.

Fortunately, there’s a range of ways you can prep your favorite pair of shoes for those impending surfaces and snowy weather conditions- so you will stay not only cool and dry but also sure-footed. Below we have compiled a list of handy hacks on how to make shoes less slippery.

How To Make Shoes Less Slippery

Scuffing The Outsoles

One of the more common and easiest DIY solutions to make your shoes less slippery is scuffing the outsoles. So be sure to try this before you actually return the shoes.

You can scuff the outsole using a nail fire, sandpaper, or something else with a rough surface such as gravel, brick, or rock. The rough surface grit will scuff the shoes enough, adding traction to the shoes’ surface. This will, in turn, make the outsole to stick to the ground rather than sliding on it.

For the less faint at heart, you can simply grab some pair of scissors, a blade, or something you can cut with. Make cuts into the soles of the slippery shoes. Not too deep, but enough for the much-needed traction.

Traction Spray Shoes

Another easy and probably the most accessible way to make your shoes less slippery is to use traction sprays. Shoe adhesive sprays can be an excellent product for slippery shoes out there. Also known as an anti-slip coating for shoes, traction spray shoes work much like hairspray, only that it lasts longer.

It’s a great way to get rid of slippages on ice and slick surfaces. You can either buy a grip spray and simply apply it to the outsole to add some tackiness, or you can count on hair spray, which is likely to be useful as well. This might not be as permanent compared to using grip and sandpaper, but they’ll do the same job, though for a limited time.

Sand/Salt and Glue

This particular hack is more like a permanent fix for slippery shoes, certainly ideal for winter. Get a mixture of sand and glue, and apply a thin layer onto the slippery soles. This will create traction, and the grit will help you travel through the slickest surfaces.

Track On Puff Paint

Another colorful yet straightforward way to add some traction on slippery shoes is puff paint. Puff paint basically dries down into a bumpy surface to create traction between the surface and outsole.

These bumps serve more like grooves, making it easy to walk more steadily. What’s better, you can have fun with this hack by using whatever color you wish.

Ice Grips

Ice grips are yet another reliable way never to slip and fall on slippery surfaces. It’s also possible that the slipperiness of your shoes is resulting from the shoes being worn too much.

For such cases, a textured grip pad added to the soles will give the shoes the extra life and the much-needed traction. You just need to attach the grips to the soles. Although it might not walk for all shoe types, for example, heels, it is a practical way to transform slippery shoes into versatile footwear.

Professional Service

Remember, you can always reach out for professional services. That’s the case if you’re not willing to hack your shoes. For that matter, a cobbler will help with many shoe problems, including making them smaller, stretching them, and general shoe repair.

It’s important to make your shoe slip-resistant to ensure you’re safe and well-prepared for whatever the surface throws at you.

The Bottom Line

You don’t always have to be stressing about accidental slips due to poor traction on your shoes. You can make any pair grippy and ideal for most surfaces using the above tips. They are all common, tried, and tested, and with all the probabilities, they will serve for a great cause saving you from avoidable falls.

The various hacks discussed above, including the use of hairspray and scuffing soles with sandpaper, are effective and affordable ways to make your shoes less slippery. It is also important to note that these hacks are not always permanent solutions, and some of them will work best on dry surfaces.

For ice, you might want to push the hacks a bit by actually gluing sand or slat to the soles of the shoes. Rock salt will work marvelously for this.

If you’re typically in the snow, whether for work or leisure, you may be better off investing in some ice grips attached to the outsole of the shoes. They are usually expensive and made from durable rubber with some kind of spikes to ensure maximum possible traction.

Still, if you don’t have time to execute any of the above hacks or are simply not great with DIYs, you may end up ruining your shoes; you can always seek professional services from a cobbler. Shoe professionals will carefully modify the sole or even replace them with slip-free soles. Which is exactly what you’re longing for.