Thursday, August 29, 2013

Listerine Foot Soak

Many moons ago I saw a Pin about a Listerine foot soak.  Since then I've heard a few people saying that they love it.

I wanted to wait until my feet were really dry and cracked before I tried it, but summer is coming to an end and my feet are still in good shape. 

No, I'm not blessed with wonderfully self healing feet,  I mow the lawn in flip flops each week (I live life on the edge), and the only way to get the green stain off is to scrub my feet with a pumice stone. 

I've decided to finally bite the bullet and see how it works.

There are two different soaks I've seen on Pinterest so I tried them both, one on each foot.

Listerine and Vinegar Soak
You Will Need:
1/4 cup Listerine
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup warm water

Directions:
Soak your feet for 10 minutes and when you take them out the dead skin will practically wipe off.  

Listerine and Shaving Cream Soak
 You Will Need:
Shaving Cream
Listerine
Warm water

Directions:
In a bucket, combine equal parts Listerine and warm water.  Soak a towel in the mixture.  Cover your foot with the shaving cream then wrap the soaked towel around your foot. Soak your foot for 30 min then use the towel to rub everything off.  

 Apparently any Listerine will work, but the blue kind is the most popular.  So I grabbed some of that then started with the Listerine and vinegar soak on my right foot.

I had to double the recipe to get it deep enough to cover most of my foot, and I wish I grabbed a bigger bowl.  My toes were cramping by the end of the 10 minutes.


The Verdict: The bad news is, it stained my skin a light blue.  It's hard to see in the photo but if you look closely you can see my toes on my right foot look a bit sickly, but it was gone by the next morning.

The good news is, it worked pretty good.  My foot was really soft and most of the dry dead skin came off. 

Before

After


Eventually I stopped admiring my right foot and started on the left with the Listerine and shaving cream soak.  

I got the cheapest shaving cream I could find and slathered it on my foot.  



I wrapped the soaked towel around my foot and sat back to relax for 30 minutes. 



I got all cozy then reached for my book, which was still across the room where I left it. Crap!

No problem, I'll read the book I have on my Kindle.... which I left on the counter by the fridge. Dang It!!

I was pretty annoyed at myself for not being more prepared, then I spied the TV remote a few feet from me.  I did an awesome scoot shuffle maneuver to reach it then enjoyed this while I soaked.
The Verdict: About 10 years ago I got hypothermia, it's a long story.  I thought I was cold then, but that as NOTHING compared to the cold my foot experienced.  As the menthol slowly seeped into my skin my foot got colder and colder.  I made it 25 minutes before I couldn't stand it anymore, but I quickly realized I couldn't do anything about it.  The cold I was experiencing was coming from the core of my foot where the menthol had set up camp.  My foot was burning cold for an hour.

But it worked, beauty is pain right?




 Overall Verdict: The shaving cream soak took more dead skin off then the vinegar soak, but it's not worth losing a limb over.  I'll be sticking with the vinegar soak. 


54 comments:

  1. hello. passingby again.

    have you ever tried aloe vera? it contains salicylic acid that peels away dead skin cells. the gel moisterize skin.

    i have a pot Aloe vera var. chinensis on the windowsill. she's been with me for over 15yrs, the infamous plant-killer me! :-D when i used 2 dollars to bring her home, she's the size of my index finger. she never complains about her 6" pot/home being too small that limits her developement. she's now 1 foot tall. i wholeheartedly appreciate her contribution and sacrifice for my skin. not a fan to the mouth-feel and taste of it so i don't eat it.

    I snap/cut an inch out from the tip of a leaf(the lowest/oldest leaf. next time, just further snap another inch. when this one is all gone, i use the 2nd oldest leaf which has just become the new oldest leaf)(don't worry about the opening, a couple hours later it will close/dry the wound up), finger nail/knife scratching out the gel and mashes it(about 1 teaspoon of gel) in the basin. then add in hot water and a few drops of vinegar/lemon juice.

    soaking & rubbing & massaging the feet until water turns cold. feet leave water, drip dry.

    quickly put 3 drops of extra virgin olive oil in one palm and slightly rub it against the other palm, then run my palms all over my drip-dried moist feet until all oil is absorbed.

    soft and moisturized, not sticky at all. done. effective, natural, cheap and easy.

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    1. I've never tried that, but it sounds interesting. I may have to look into that more. I tend to have a black thumb though and kill any kind of plant.

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    2. i have the same black thumb, jan, and you can't kill aloe vera. i've pronounced mine dead at least twice, and now it's huge and thriving! it's a magic plant

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    3. Sadly, I have killed an aloe plant :-/

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    4. Me too... ��

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  2. oh, when soaking and rubbing, a cotton hand towel does a good job.

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  3. Im trying the foot soak tomorrow so will let you know as my feet are quite bad fingers crossed

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    1. Did you end up trying it? I'd love to know how it worked out for you.

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  4. Me and my boyfriend need to do this foot soak badly but I think we will stick to the vinegar and listerine version because of your experience :)

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  5. I tried the vinegar and listerine soak, left my feet in for approx. 10 minutes, and when I took my feet out, they were bluish green from the listerine. It stained my feet for days even after continuous scrubbing. Dont do it!

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    Replies
    1. Oh No!!!! I'm sorry you your feet looked sickly for a few days. That's so frustrating.

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    2. Follow-up the blue soak with a pedi egg then baking soda and peroxide. No blue feet.

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    3. I as well did the whole listerine soak everyone loves so much………. And i as well had blue feet, and it didn’t work so well on the cracked heels and/or calluses!!! 👣

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  6. Ok, I love this foot soak and the perfect remedy for the " Smurf Feet" is......don't use the blue Listerine! Simple, huh? I've been using this since last Summer and it really does soften my feet. Except for the smell* which doesn’t last very long) I give this 2 thumbs up!

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    1. HAHAHAHA I tend to get one track minded sometimes. Everything I read said to use the blue Listerine so I blindly did it. Thanks for pointing out the obvious :)

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    2. I plan on using this soon, My feet are pleeing anyways so I'll just help it along, don't want to pull the skin off because I may pull the 2nd or 3rd layer of skin. When I was a kid my big toes would peel 3 layers of skin (I had to cut off with scissors (have no idea why they peeled like this).

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  7. You say vinegar. Is this normal or white vinegar?

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  8. I'm doing the shaving cream and Listerine towel foot soak. I used half blue and half orange Listerine (because I ran out of one). It's honestly not too cold, but it is a little bit.

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  9. Made me think of the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" where the father soaks and heals everything in Windex through out the entire movie.

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  10. How often can you do this vinegar and listerine foot soak?

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    1. I read that some people do it once a week. My guess is you wouldn't want to do it more then that. But I'm not an expert when it comes to marinating feet in food and hygiene products.

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  11. I would think that the shaving cream with menthol got so cold on you is because you had hypothermia and your feet are super sensitive to hot & cold. I wonder if shaving cream without menthol would work?

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    1. That's a really good point. I bet your right. I've always been very sensitive to hot and cold.

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    2. Could try using a non menthol shaving cream

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  12. ummm..you can just use apple cider vinegar and water - it will do the same thing.

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    1. True, but vinegar tends to have a strong scent that people aren't fond of. The Listerine gives a good alternative.

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  13. Can I use scope instead

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    Replies
    1. I would assume so, but I haven't tried it so I can't tell you for sure.

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  14. Hi. Anything minty or menthol will feel refreshing or cooling. Cider vinegar has anti microbial/antibacterial properties, so should help to neutralise smelly feet. Plus cider vinegar's smell is not as pungent and wears of very quickly. I started to have cracked heels a few years ago. When I started excercising hard at the gym, all the dead skin disappeared. Also, deeply cracked heels are a sign of a sluggish thyroid.

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    1. I didnt' know that about the sluggish thyroid being tied to deeply cracked heels. It amazes how sensitive our bodies really are and how everything is tied together.

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  15. my heart sunk when I read about sluggish thyroid and deeply cracked feet! I have hypothyroidism. Even with a pretty pedi my heels look awful :( trying the soak right now.

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  16. The last visit I had to the pedicurist (someone new I went to) they took half my skin (literally it bled) and as it healed it turned into huge cracks and nastiness.In all my years of getting a pedicure this was the first bed experience. :( So I need more time before I go to another shop.
    I tried the shaving cream and towel wrap last night. After seeing your review I was apprehensive. I used a mens aftershave with vitamin E. I don't know if that made a difference. Its the blue kind that foams when rubbed. I rubbed my feet down with a nice layer of shaving cream, then wrapped my feet with kitchen towels that had been soaked in generic blue mouth wash. After sitting for 30 minutes I used the kitchen towels to rub the shaving cream off and rub at the calloused areas then rinse them off with warm water. Oh my lanta it felt wonderful after! No, you don't get the foot massage you get at the salon BUT for probably $3.00 your feet feel new and refreshed! So I did not have the same reaction where it felt like hypothermia.
    Although the soak made a huge difference in my feet when I went to bed last night I did follow up with putting a thick layer of lotion on my feet covered with some small bathroom size trash bags and socks then to bed! This morning my feet are completely softened!

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  17. The shaving cream technique worked really great with the after result photos. I would love to try this out!

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  19. Perhaps this will help:

    Then is a comparison of time. I did this, then I did that. That was then, this is now.

    Than is a comparison of scope, such as dimension or quantity. He is bigger than me. She sang better than Sue did.

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  20. It is possible that some people may not find it as satisfactory as it must be regarding feet care and solving feet skin care problems. There may be some reasons for Listerine foot soak does not work. - See more at: http://www.listerinefootsoak.com/foot-soaks/listerine-foot-soak-fails/

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  21. I had gotten a fungus under my big toe, to the point where I thought I would lose my nail. (Gross) The doctor said the only way to get rid of it is to heal from within with medication that can have some side effects. Also, only get pedicures at a credited salon. Well, I read someplace to soak it in Listerine. After 4 or 5 times it cleared it up! Now, whenever I have a pedicure, I soak my feet in Listerine. (Original to prevent staining).

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  22. WARNING! If you have diabetes or are pre-diabetic stay away from mint, menthol or anything else which causes "tingling". Reason is neuropathy. Over time you lose the feeling in your feet (and hands) so things feel colder o hotter depending on what you're doing. My husband has diabetic neuropathy and it's a serious thing. Regular foot care at home (soak, scrub, rinse, dry, trim) weekly is all you really need.

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    Replies
    1. This is really good information. Thank you

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  24. Mostly people say about blue feets after this treatment, at www.listerinefootsoak.com there are lot of recipes about this kind of soaks.

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  25. You honestly might want to go see a foot dr Hun! Sounds like you have something that might need a Px to help. My feet were doing that at one time and my heals were in so much pain.

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  26. Foot spa benefits are not only confined to feet but also include our general health condition. Foot spa not only reduce the foot cramp and pain but also relax the whole body and therefore induce a sound sleep at night.

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  27. Awesome post. This is the best post I have read in these few days. Keep posting such an valuable information . I suggest you to visit these websites Pedicure& Feet Service Salon Book online | Pedicure & Feet services at home

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  33. Not sure if this was mentioned already, but I used gallon sized ziploc bags for the listerine foot soak. Good alternative to a storage box.

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