Warm Shop Shoes

[Glen]

Does anyone have a recommendation on warm shop shoes or pads. My feet get cold from walking around the cement slab in my garage/workshop. I only heat my shop when I use it. The cement slab stays cold long after the shop warms up. I wear wool socks and loafers. I like loafers so I can slip them on and off and don't track sawdust in the house. My duck boots have a felt pad and are plenty warm, but they are too much trouble to lace up and take off everytime I come into the house.

[-MIKE-]

Before you spend 20 bucks on shoes, try 2-3 buck on some Dr. Scholl's inserts. That little bit of padding might be all you need to keep the heat of you feet from transferring through the shoes and into the concrete.

[todd]

What is the sole of your loafers made from? In my experience, leather soles are colder than rubber. For an alternative, how about this?

[-MIKE-]

$125!!!?

You could get insulated steel toe boots and a couple steak dinners for that.

Or maybe install radiant floor heat. :-)

[Robatoy]

What do you expect to pay for decent footwear?

[Mark & Juanita]

Maybe you can get some carpet remnants to put down around various work areas that will keep you from contacting the cold concrete.

[Puckdropper]

Glen wrote in news:8cc45af2-91f2-41eb-843c- [e-mail]:

How about a radiant heating mat instead? This one looks like it's meant to be stood directly on, and not installed under a hard floor.

[-MIKE-]

Did you see the link? Dude's feet would be sweating puddles. And they have no protection whatsoever.

[todd]

For the unimaginative, I guess I should have said something "like" the picture. I have a pair (that I use inside the house) that my wife gave me for Christmas one year. I promise she didn't pay anything near $125. My guess would be no more than $30. The point is that they have a rubber bottom and a shearling inside.

todd

[MikeWhy]

Anti-fatigue matts, maybe. They're easier to clean and have some insulating value, but I can't comment since my shop is heated. I have the opposite problem. They get pretty sweaty and stinky if I go sockless.

[todd]

a) they OP said his feet are cold. I'm pretty sure he's not going to go from that to "sweating puddles" with what I suggested. b) how much protection do you think he's getting from the loafers he's wearing now? Apparently, that's not his primary concern. c) the OP doesn't want insulated steel toe boots. did you even read the original post?

todd

[RicodJour]

You could use electric socks with rechargeable batteries. You could put down anti-fatigue mats. The commercial ones are expensive, but there are alternatives.

won't last as long, but they're a hell of a lot cheaper. Or you could get these if they don't make your toes curl:

[Robatoy]

Uhhhh, yes?

Those would not make good shop-boots. I wasn't commenting on the booties. I was pointing out that $ 125.00 is not outrageous for quality (and protective) footwear.

[-MIKE-]

Yes, I did. I was only using that as an example of what one could buy for that money... with a smiley. From you other post, yeah, it would help to say "like" those. I've worm something similar to what you showed and your feet sweet a lot, even outdoors in cold weather. In any case, we should be encouraging shop safety, no? :-)

[-MIKE-]

Lots. I can attest.

[-MIKE-]

I'm right with you. The price is what made me think of steel toe work shoes. My Umpire shoes (which do fine in the shop) were $69, on the low end.

I tried on some cheaper steel toed sneakers that were only $50 and they were very comfortable. Seems like a reasonable alternative if your someone who wears though shoes fast.

My original point was that if you're spending that much, why not get real shoes (which would insulate your feet from the floor)?

But if Glen is set on slip-ons, I suggest Crocs or their cheaper alternative, which have several interesting benefits...

1. They insulate from the floor, without insulating from the air. No swamp foot. b. They are antimicrobial, meaning no septic foot. III. They offer a surprising amount of protection from dropped items, as I can attest to.

[Greg O]

You could use electric socks with rechargeable batteries. You could put down anti-fatigue mats. The commercial ones are expensive, but there are alternatives.

won't last as long, but they're a hell of a lot cheaper. Or you could get these if they don't make your toes curl: you are real cheap even some cardboard boxes broken down and laid flat work for floor mats, as long as everything is dry. Greg

[-MIKE-]

On this season of "This Old House," they visited a shop that made all the hardwood pegs for the tenon and mortise joints on the timber frame house they were building.

The entire shop (big barn) had about 6 inches of compressed sawdust and chips from all the tool stations. Norm asked the owner why they didn't sweep them up (baiting the reply). The owner said that it made the shop floor very comfortable to work on all day.

[luigirecnorm]

Kamik hunter boots, good to minus 40.

$0 bucks at Crappy tire, $60 for the steel toes & sole plate safety ones. Trust me, that's what I use on my unheated shop floor and I live in the Yukon

Luigi Zanasi

[Robatoy]

Holy snappin farts, Batman.... LUIGI!!! How the hell are you ?