If Heel Slipping Destroys Your Shoes, Here’s Something For You To Try

I’m going to admit something: I’m a genetic freak.  In more ways than one, I’m sure.

That acknowledged, we’ll just deal with one of my tragic genetic mutations: the fact that while the ball of my foot is fairly wide, it turns out that my heel is fairly narrow.

That means, of course, that I’ve got to buy wide shoes to fit the ball of my foot, but wide shoes and narrow heels don’t go together so well.

So the result is that my heel slips in my shoes as I’m walking.

For whatever reason, heel slippage has generally not caused me discomfort in my shoes and boots.   And I usually don’t end up with a lot of blisters.

What I end up with is destroyed shoes, as the inside lining gets shredded by my slipping heel.

It was a bad enough problem that I pretty much started wearing all-leather shoes and boots several years ago.  And I’m not just talking about “all leather” on the outside, but on the INSIDE of the shoe/boot as well.  That way, my heel could slip to its little heel-heart’s content, and there was something substantial to rub against rather than that comfy spongy fabric crap they pad the inside of most shoes and boots with these days.

Everything seemed good.

But yet another genetic defect began to rear its ugly, malformed little head: it turned out that I didn’t have the best arches in the world.  Oh, and I had a hammer toe.  Probably a bunch of other freaky foot things as well, given the fact that my left foot is a little longer but slightly more narrow versus my right foot which is a little shorter but slightly wider.

Do you know how difficult it is to buy all-leather boots with good arch support?  Try your glass slipper on in size “impossible” there, Cinderella.

I had to have a custom orthotic.

Now, in the dark ages they would have just left me out to die or euthanized me in some other manner.  But in these humane times they give freaks like me orthotics so we can walk around with the normal humans – you know, the people who AREN’T freaks.

Anyway, my orthotician told me I needed to start wearing boots with good arch support for my walks.  He suggested Hi Techs.

But it turned out that EVERY Hi Tech boot I saw had the same spongy, cushy lining.  Which my slipping heels tore up and destroyed in a matter of two weeks or less.

I tried those heel slippage inserts that have the adhesive and stick inside the heel of your boot.  They lasted about a day or two.

Normal people don’t have to live like this, you know.  Just us abby normal freaks.

I finally figured out a trick that has worked seriously well for me.  And it only cost about sixty or seventy cents for enough material to last for several months.

What you do is go to a fabric store.  I went to the fabric section of Wal-Mart.  And you get the most leather-like fabric material that they have (leather would be GREAT, but it’s hard to find).

Have them cut a yard of fabric between 2-3″ wide.  Like I said, it costs about seventy cents.  By making it 2-3″ inches wide, you make it wide enough to stick in the back of your shoe where your heel rubs.

What you’re going to do is cut off a section of that fabric and stick it under your insole or orthotic to hold it down.  I cut it so I can have about 5″ under the insole/orthotic.  It won’t slip out that way as you’re walking.

And then leave it just long enough to stick out slightly over the top of your heel.

So how much you cut off the yard of fabric depends on a) how long your foot is and b) how high whatever kind of shoe or boot you’re wearing is.

I’ve had the same boots now for over four months and the inside fabric is still intact.  Which is like a miracle.  I use a shoe horn to put my boots on, and what I do is push the material against the heel of my boot with the shoe horn as I put my foot in so the fabric stays in place between my heel and the heel of the boot.  And then I lace up the boot.

Every couple of months the fabric will wear out and you’ll have to do the job again.  But that’s a lot better than the inside of your shoe or boot wearing out, you see.

Like I said, if you could find leather strips about 2-3″ wide, it would be ideal.  Maybe Michael’s sells leather strips?  I haven’t been there to find out.

I just thought I’d pass that tip along.

We freaks need to stick together, you know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: boots, heel slip, heel slippage, heel slipping, insole, narrow heel, orthotic, shoes, trick