This video is for all the guys and gals who have to endure "safety" footwear at work. Having your feet baked in heavy industrial shoes and boots all day can have serious effects on the health of your feet. Ramblers and other outdoor adventurers will also benefit from this information.
There's nothing glamorous about work boots at all. They may have a stylish industrial image, but if you wear them for long periods of time in wet or hot conditions then they can quickly become quite unhygienic to say the least.
This is where two very common old-skool medical treatment chemicals come to the rescue. Potassium Permanganate and boric acid.
Lets start with potassium permanganate. It's widely available on eBay because it has many uses in sterilisation and treatment of water, notably in Koi tanks. But in our case we will use it to bring any angry skin on our feet under control and kill any bacteria or infection that might be causing issues.
Get a decent plastic bucket that you can fit your feet in. A plastic mop bucket is good. Put in some hot water and dissolve a VERY SMALL amount of potassium permanganate in it and top up with warm water to make a nice deep foot soak. Note that the water should be a soft pink colour. Don't make the solution so strong that it becomes a dark purple, as it will stain your feet. Then put a towel on the floor, put the bucket on it, sit down, stick your feet in the water and surf the Internet or watch TV as your feet start to heal. When your feet have had a really good soak and the water is getting a bit cold then take your feet out and towel them dry. Note that the water will no longer be vibrant pink/purple, but will now be a brown colour. That's just the result of normal oxidation.
Potassium permanganate soaks are a very old remedy that seems to have a profound effect in helping control very angry skin conditions. Even ones that have you at the point of despair.
If your skin is bad then do these soaks every evening until your feet clear up. But do not use the soaks on a regular basis once the skin has healed.
Things worthy of note. Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidiser and should be kept in a glass or plastic bottle away from liquids that may react with it. It also stains everything it touches an exciting shade of brown.
Next comes Boric Acid. It's a very weak acid that comes in a granular powder form or as a fine dust. It doesn't actually taste the slightest bit acidic and has a multitude of uses, mainly in insect and fungal control. If you have a major issue with the various fungal conditions that affect human feet then a simple sprinkle of this cheap and readily available chemical in your footwear will absolutely kill all fungal issues in your footwear and on your skin. Seriously. Athlete's foot gone and no stinky boots again. It's that effective. And to give you an idea of how safe it is, it is used as a steriliser in eye-wash solutions and eye drops.
And that's really it. The two natural remedies that could help you recover from the foot damage caused by long hours in "safety" footwear. I wish I'd known about these remedies in the past. Instead I had the expensive medicated foot powders pushed on me and used them to no avail for a very long time.
If you enjoy these videos, you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and exciting eBay chemicals at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
There's nothing glamorous about work boots at all. They may have a stylish industrial image, but if you wear them for long periods of time in wet or hot conditions then they can quickly become quite unhygienic to say the least.
This is where two very common old-skool medical treatment chemicals come to the rescue. Potassium Permanganate and boric acid.
Lets start with potassium permanganate. It's widely available on eBay because it has many uses in sterilisation and treatment of water, notably in Koi tanks. But in our case we will use it to bring any angry skin on our feet under control and kill any bacteria or infection that might be causing issues.
Get a decent plastic bucket that you can fit your feet in. A plastic mop bucket is good. Put in some hot water and dissolve a VERY SMALL amount of potassium permanganate in it and top up with warm water to make a nice deep foot soak. Note that the water should be a soft pink colour. Don't make the solution so strong that it becomes a dark purple, as it will stain your feet. Then put a towel on the floor, put the bucket on it, sit down, stick your feet in the water and surf the Internet or watch TV as your feet start to heal. When your feet have had a really good soak and the water is getting a bit cold then take your feet out and towel them dry. Note that the water will no longer be vibrant pink/purple, but will now be a brown colour. That's just the result of normal oxidation.
Potassium permanganate soaks are a very old remedy that seems to have a profound effect in helping control very angry skin conditions. Even ones that have you at the point of despair.
If your skin is bad then do these soaks every evening until your feet clear up. But do not use the soaks on a regular basis once the skin has healed.
Things worthy of note. Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidiser and should be kept in a glass or plastic bottle away from liquids that may react with it. It also stains everything it touches an exciting shade of brown.
Next comes Boric Acid. It's a very weak acid that comes in a granular powder form or as a fine dust. It doesn't actually taste the slightest bit acidic and has a multitude of uses, mainly in insect and fungal control. If you have a major issue with the various fungal conditions that affect human feet then a simple sprinkle of this cheap and readily available chemical in your footwear will absolutely kill all fungal issues in your footwear and on your skin. Seriously. Athlete's foot gone and no stinky boots again. It's that effective. And to give you an idea of how safe it is, it is used as a steriliser in eye-wash solutions and eye drops.
And that's really it. The two natural remedies that could help you recover from the foot damage caused by long hours in "safety" footwear. I wish I'd known about these remedies in the past. Instead I had the expensive medicated foot powders pushed on me and used them to no avail for a very long time.
If you enjoy these videos, you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and exciting eBay chemicals at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
Aquarists use Potassium Permanganate to kill fungus, bacteria and some parasites. It, and Boric acid have evaded an EU ban, So far….
Does boric acid work on pitted keratolysis? Been battling it for 3 years. Done all the creams, soaks, powders. Hoping if i can sprinkle into my shoes and socks, id finally be able to kick it!
How long do you soak in the potassium permanganate?
Wow! I’ve Landed at The High Voltage ‘ Rubber Booties wisdom of Life River here Clive😂
Found a half pound jug of boric acid for about $6 and a 2oz jug of reagent grade potassium permanganate for $8, both on amazon (ymmv depending on regional restrictions).
Prime shipping, shows up tomorrow, good for me because now I’m doing industrial maintenance in a meat packing plant and, there’s enough water to breach waterproof boots on a near daily basis.
I had been getting by with bleach for the feet and Lysol for the shoes, but then I remembered I’d seen this video years ago. Here’s hoping it does the thing because yeah, bleach hardcore irritates the feet (and Lysol spray is stupidly expensive here).
Update:
I went back to the chemist and they didn't have anymore permanganate.
Another one told me it's out of stock.
Then the one where I successfully got what I wanted less than 2 years ago told me it's now banned !
And when I asked why the clerk told me it's because people have been misusing it.
I then told about my feet issues and got some sort of chlorexidine soap instead.
Ah the joys of living in a EU nanny state ! 😞👎
What an excellent video! If the effects are as good as you and various commenters have stated I'll definitely be making a donation 🙂
I have come back to this video many times, and shared it with friends and family over the years. Thank you for being so helpful. You have been such a help to me since my Grandfather is a microelectronics engineer but he does not have time to show me anything about his trade. Thanks.
Not only can you drink potassium permanganate solution, it can even be used to pump stomach in an event of food poisoning!
I use both mentioned, yes you can consume weak pot. Perm. solution, I'm still alive as proof. 😉
I'll add zinc oxide to the mix. Can buy neat on ebay, or as baby rash power from a supermarket. Curash is a brand here. When camping and water is short, splash a bit of this on your sweaty bits, it's great! May help in shoes too, I've never needed to thankfully.
Anyone still got most of the potassium permanganate left ?? In 2022 😜
thanks clive,i will try this out,the most effective remedy for far for my feet ailments have been going to the beach and soaking down there for an hour or so
Thank you for illustrating the foot procedure. I almost had put my head into the bucket, and my laptop into my washing machine. Being self employed, I would have lost a lot of revenue this way!
I can't remember what it's called but in a book called something like home remedies they don't want you know or something it was big in 90s. There is an astringent that when put on feet it makes your breath minty.