PDA

View Full Version : Soaking Feet In Strong Tea



Josh Calhoun
10-10-2012, 10:53
hi all, as some of you know i am starting a thru hike next year on Feb the 16th. i have heard that soaking your feet in a strong tea will help to tough the skin and make you a little less likely to develope a blister. is this true? have any of you already done this? and if so what kind of tea?

thanks in advance for all of your anwsers. this site has helped me out tremendously in my preperation.

SawnieRobertson
10-10-2012, 11:02
Hi, Josh. I think the best way to avoid blisters is to take thyself to the New Balance store. Lightweight hikers and trail runners avoid all sorts of unhappy developments. If you really think that leather hiking boots are the way for you to go, then defy what the salesman will tell you. Get the boots and your Smartwool hiking boot socks. Soak the socks in water. Wring them out. Put them on. Put on the boots early in the morning with the wet socks on. Wear them. They will be perfectly fitted when you remove them that night.

SCGamecock
10-10-2012, 11:29
From Backpacker.com:

Q. Does soaking your feet in black tea before a hike reduce sweat and prevent blisters?


A. Here's a pre-hike soak routine: Boil four cups of water and allow eight black tea bags to steep for 10 minutes. Pour the tea into a basin filled with two liters of cooler water, and soak your feet for 30 minutes, repeating daily for a week. Not into wasting all that good leaf? Wearing two pairs of socks, with the inner as a wicking layer, will keep your feet just as dry–and save 56 tea bags per week of hiking.

Deacon
10-10-2012, 11:34
From Backpacker.com:

Q. Does soaking your feet in black tea before a hike reduce sweat and prevent blisters?


A. Here's a pre-hike soak routine: Boil four cups of water and allow eight black tea bags to steep for 10 minutes. Pour the tea into a basin filled with two liters of cooler water, and soak your feet for 30 minutes, repeating daily for a week. Not into wasting all that good leaf? Wearing two pairs of socks, with the inner as a wicking layer, will keep your feet just as dry–and save 56 tea bags per week of hiking.

I tried this routine earlier last summer and it did nothing as far as toughening my feet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

jakedatc
10-10-2012, 11:43
Yep, good fitting shoes and socks that work for YOU is the best bet. some people like thick socks, some like thin socks, some like 2 socks.. it depends.

doing some multi day hikes beforehand will help you find where any problem areas are. and STOP and FIX any hot spots before they become blisters. if you catch it early you can put some duct tape or mole skin over it then that skin will toughen up naturally.

RED-DOG
10-10-2012, 11:48
The only thing that will toughen your feet is hiking and proper fitting boots, or trail runners.

Josh Calhoun
10-10-2012, 12:29
i use trail runners, wool socks and hike many many miles a year. just wondering if it will help any

SassyWindsor
10-10-2012, 16:02
No doubt this is a waste of potentially good tea.

daddytwosticks
10-10-2012, 16:12
Note to myself...if I run into Josh on the trail next year, DO NOT accept any tea from him. Even if it is served over ice w/lemon wedge on the hottest of summer days! Have a great hike. :)

Slo-go'en
10-10-2012, 17:22
Best way to prevent blisters is not to hike in wet socks or shoes. I know a lot of you don't like them, but I never use anything but goretx lined boots and rarely have a blister problem, at least not from wet feet.

colorado_rob
10-10-2012, 17:26
No doubt this is a waste of potentially good tea. I would disagree here. Seems like a good way of making a good strong teat even stronger!

T.S.Kobzol
10-10-2012, 17:52
Just to be a devils advocate here... I have seen plenty of folks getting blisters on long trail this year and they we're (gasp) wearing trailrunners, especially when wet.

I have had my (gasp) leather boots on and had no blisters at all.

So, I am not denying the appeal of trolleybuses but it is all in how you use it.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

T.S.Kobzol
10-10-2012, 17:52
And replace trolleybuses with trailrunners. My phone irritates me sometimes.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

hikerboy57
10-10-2012, 17:55
I tried this routine earlier last summer and it did nothing as far as toughening my feet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalkdid you use lemon?

HikerMom58
10-10-2012, 17:58
:sun.......................................

snifur
10-10-2012, 18:17
on my thru i did not experiance not one blister or hot spot. not one. i wore hikeing shoes (not boots). each morning i rubbed my feet with mint rubbing alcohol. then put on my nylon liners and smartwool socks and hiked for the day. nylon liners to keep friction off the foot. when my feet got wet i would ring them out hourly or swap to dry socks. then at the end of the day i would use the mint rubbing alcohol again. as far as the shoes go i had to change them out three times due to the size of my feet kept expanding. but again, no blisters or hot spots.

vamelungeon
10-10-2012, 18:24
Will soaking your feet in strong tea keep them from going to sleep? Or should I use coffee for that?

hikerboy57
10-10-2012, 18:26
Will soaking your feet in strong tea keep them from going to sleep? Or should I use coffee for that?

try red bull.
crystal meth might help. it wont toughen your feet, but you wont care anymore.

hikerboy57
10-10-2012, 18:29
i used to use thorlo hiking wicking hiking socks and used to get blisters fairly regularly. since ive switched to thinner socks, and have been blister free for the past few years.you can toughen your feet all you want. once theyre wet for a while, the un-toughen.
ive played guitar since i was eight years old and have calluses on my fingertips. but if i go swimming, the calluses soften and my fingers become tender.

Marta
10-10-2012, 19:51
According to "The Wildly Successful Two-Hundred Mile Hike" and borne out by my own experience, the ingredients that brew up a blister are moisture and friction.

In general trail runners breathe better than boots and hence produce fewer blisters. But it's far from foolproof. In some situations boots can keep your feet dry enough that you're better off than if you wore trail runners.

The worst socks are probably cotton because they absorb moisture and wrinkle up. Various anti-blister sock schemes are two pairs of socks (allowing the thick outer pair to slip up and down over the thin inner pair), one thick pair (allowing boot or shoe to move without abrading the skin beneath), and one thin pair (allowing the boot or shoe to glide up and down without causing friction on the skin).

Some people are blessed with rhinoceros hide tough feet and won't get blisters no matter what they wear or do.

As with so much else in life, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

*Your shoes or boots need to be large enough to allow for the swelling that occurs when you are carrying extra weight and are on your feet for eight or ten hours. If your shoes or boots are too small, none of the following measures will help. You are much better off to have your feet slipping around inside your shoes than to have a snugly secure fit that will turn into too tight five or six hours down the trail.

*During a couple of your daily breaks, take off your shoes and socks, shake out the dirt, take out the insoles, let everything dry. In hot weather, change socks and even insoles. Remove grit and dirt from between your toes. Soak your feet in cold water. Give them a bit of a massage. Sit or lie down with your feet above the level of your hips.

*Cleanliness helps. Wash them off before you go to sleep. Rub them with alcohol or Purell to keep fungi and the like at bay.

*In hot weather, rinse out your socks and hang them to dry during the night. Take the insoles out of your shoes during the night so both shoes and insoles will dry better. Get as much grit as possible out of your shoes every time you go to put them on.

*Be alert to the niggling discomfort that signals that a blister is going to develop. It's just a tiny bit of discomfort, hardly worth mentioning. You can tough it out. You won't want to stop because it will annoy the people you're hiking with, or they'll get ahead of you. But if you don't stop right then, you WILL end up with a blister and you'll be lame for at least a week. Do yourself a huge favor and stop before the layers of skin separate and get fluid between them.

Yeah, this all seems pretty fussy, but even a Ferrari can't go with a flat tire.

Wise Old Owl
10-10-2012, 19:56
He he he ... he said Tea.... :rolleyes: Where's the hiker party?

Marta
10-10-2012, 20:11
As an afterthought: There are more footwear possibilities than trail runners and boots. Many miles have been hiked in sandals (usually Chacos, but Tevas have their fans), and Crocs (yes, Crocs). I'd you're having serious problems working out a system for yourself, it can be worthwhile to have some backup shoes to change into.

shelterbuilder
10-10-2012, 20:18
Back in the day (w-a-y back in the day), this was a trick that was purported to toughen the skin on the feet by exposing them to the tannic acid in the tea. I think (not sure) that this was written about by Colin Fletcher in one of his books from the 60's - 70's (probably The New Complete Walker). I tried it once back then, and it SEEMED to work a bit, but the technology was different back then, too: heavy leather boots, no synthetic sock liners, heavier loads, etc.

These days, I will wear a sock liner between my foot and my wool sock, and I find that, even if I get a "hot spot", by morning, the spot is back to normal. I haven't had a blister in years...and I drink as much tea as I want to!

Six-Six
10-10-2012, 20:41
Before I started this year I treated my feet every day with Tincture of Benzoin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tincture_of_benzoin) for a week before the hike - didn't have a blister problem at all for 770 miles. I also used liner socks and wool socks religiously. I got off the trail for two months due to other issues and failed to retreat my feet before I returned. I immediately got terrible blisters on both heels. Next year when I finish what I started I will treat my feet before leaving again.

Wise Old Owl
10-10-2012, 21:24
Well its crap with tea... experience and miles toughen the feet ... break in the shoes with short hikes and do your best. Thats why kids are called Tenderfoot.

snifur
10-10-2012, 22:29
i have seen some old farts that are tenderfoots. plenty of'em too!

turtle fast
10-10-2012, 23:40
Soaking your feet in tea is folly, soaking ones feet regularly will remove the oils that help retain moisture in your skin and your feet will dry out and possibly crack. The only way to lessen the probability of blisters is to wear properly fitting and broken in boots or shoes with a sock that can distribute perspiration and thwart rubbing. The main thing is to address blisters BEFORE they start so any feeling of a hotspot, apply moleskin and/or fix the sock. Using a sock liner many say helps distribute perspiration and provides a friction layer to offset possible blisters...I myself have used this method with much success...but the obvious is to make sure the boot fits properly as no sock liner can fix a proper boot fit.

shelb
10-11-2012, 01:20
Most importantly: SOCKS!!! Absolutely NO cotton! Smartwool or DarnTough are my favorites, although the Fox one works too!

Next: the Shoe - NOTE: IT has to fit not only the front of the foot, but the HEEL-BOX also! In the past, I ALWAYS got blisters. I have wide feet, so I went with either a wide-width, or a standard width that ran wider. HOWEVER, I never paid attention to the Heel-box (the width of the heel part of the shoe). I have had leather hiking boots, mid-height hiking boots, trail-runners, tennis shoes, and low-rise hikers. This summer, I had my foot measured by a good shoe store- telling them about my blister problem. I was advised that while I have a wide foot (ball area), I have a narrow heel-box. Unfortunately, shoe companies do not cater to this. I did find that while Teva runs wide in the shoe, the heel-box is narrow. I bought some...guess what... This summer was relatively blister-less!

Josh Calhoun
10-11-2012, 08:52
anybody want some tea? i thought it was pretty good! ill just count the tea theory as a myth. thanks yall

fredmugs
10-11-2012, 09:02
According to "The Wildly Successful Two-Hundred Mile Hike" and borne out by my own experience, the ingredients that brew up a blister are moisture and friction.

I couldn't agree more. I used to blister horribly and once I stopped listening to hikers my blister problems are mostly a thing of the past. No more boots and no more hiker socks. No liners. I use wide width trail runners (less friction) that are loosely tied and cheap wal mart socks with cushioned heels. I always bring extra socks to keep my feet as dry as I can. I also try and hike at a pace roughly 75 - 80% of what I'm capable of for that given section.

Instead of soaking your feet in tea try walking barefoot on concrete or some other surface that will toughen them up.

hikerboy57
10-11-2012, 09:29
I couldn't agree more. I used to blister horribly and once I stopped listening to hikers my blister problems are mostly a thing of the past. No more boots and no more hiker socks. No liners. I use wide width trail runners (less friction) that are loosely tied and cheap wal mart socks with cushioned heels. I always bring extra socks to keep my feet as dry as I can. I also try and hike at a pace roughly 75 - 80% of what I'm capable of for that given section.

Instead of soaking your feet in tea try walking barefoot on concrete or some other surface that will toughen them up.

i bought these sox called power socks from kohls 3pr/$12. my feet dont sweat and still gives me enough cushioning.just keeping your feet as dry and clean as possible works for me.

QiWiz
10-11-2012, 13:51
According to "The Wildly Successful Two-Hundred Mile Hike" and borne out by my own experience, the ingredients that brew up a blister are moisture and friction.

In general trail runners breathe better than boots and hence produce fewer blisters. But it's far from foolproof. In some situations boots can keep your feet dry enough that you're better off than if you wore trail runners.

The worst socks are probably cotton because they absorb moisture and wrinkle up. Various anti-blister sock schemes are two pairs of socks (allowing the thick outer pair to slip up and down over the thin inner pair), one thick pair (allowing boot or shoe to move without abrading the skin beneath), and one thin pair (allowing the boot or shoe to glide up and down without causing friction on the skin).

Some people are blessed with rhinoceros hide tough feet and won't get blisters no matter what they wear or do.

As with so much else in life, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

*Your shoes or boots need to be large enough to allow for the swelling that occurs when you are carrying extra weight and are on your feet for eight or ten hours. If your shoes or boots are too small, none of the following measures will help. You are much better off to have your feet slipping around inside your shoes than to have a snugly secure fit that will turn into too tight five or six hours down the trail.

*During a couple of your daily breaks, take off your shoes and socks, shake out the dirt, take out the insoles, let everything dry. In hot weather, change socks and even insoles. Remove grit and dirt from between your toes. Soak your feet in cold water. Give them a bit of a massage. Sit or lie down with your feet above the level of your hips.

*Cleanliness helps. Wash them off before you go to sleep. Rub them with alcohol or Purell to keep fungi and the like at bay.

*In hot weather, rinse out your socks and hang them to dry during the night. Take the insoles out of your shoes during the night so both shoes and insoles will dry better. Get as much grit as possible out of your shoes every time you go to put them on.

*Be alert to the niggling discomfort that signals that a blister is going to develop. It's just a tiny bit of discomfort, hardly worth mentioning. You can tough it out. You won't want to stop because it will annoy the people you're hiking with, or they'll get ahead of you. But if you don't stop right then, you WILL end up with a blister and you'll be lame for at least a week. Do yourself a huge favor and stop before the layers of skin separate and get fluid between them.

Yeah, this all seems pretty fussy, but even a Ferrari can't go with a flat tire.


might be fussy, but its a great summary of excellent advice.

AjR
10-11-2012, 13:55
I use hanes cotton ankle socks, with Merrel Plexus Chameleon tail runners... The only time I ever got a blister, is when I decided to hike for about 3 miles with no socks on. Yet my wife uses boots, with ankle socks and cannot stand trail runners. It's all about the fit, and what you're used to. My trail runners at first sucked because I could feel everything in the ground, but now I love that, and since I wear boots everyday, I find them clunky and clumsy compared to my trail runners. Remember, it's all about your preference, and remember, above all, HYOH....

Deacon
10-11-2012, 19:43
did you use lemon?

No, but I always soaked them at 4:00 pm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk