I loved the slippers I made (Pattern: Felted Clogs by Fiber Trends) the other day - they are nice and toasty and I see myself wearing them a lot. I was worried, however, of wearing through them too quickly. Mostly, however, I needed the bottoms to be waterproofed. I plan to wear these slippers on late-night emergencies that my job may have me responding to. And, sad as it is, there is more than a tiny chance that I may accidentally step in vomit. Naturally, I want to protect the bottom of my slippers from such a sad fate. In case you want to do the same, here’s how I did it:
First, you’ll need to gather your supplies:
You’ll need:
- Slippers (or whatever it is you want to make non-slip)
- Silicone Caulking stuff. You can get this at any hardware store. Pick a better color than clear - it didn’t turn real clear for me (you’ll see in the photos later) - there’s a good selection of colors - black, white, brown and I think some other colors too… a good variety. Whatever you pick, however, you’ll probably be able to get at least 3 pairs worth of non-slip out of it - so keep that in mind when you buy your stuff (that was why I chose clear). Also - someone advised me to NOT get the cheap kind (which may peel off in layers) - so I splurged and bought the 7$ bottle. I’m not really sure if I succumbed to peer pressure for any legitimate reason - but he seemed to know what he was talking about.
- A caulking gun - borrow this from someone you know - I bet someone you know has one. I had to buy mine because there aren’t many people in the residence halls who have done any sealing (with caulk) recently - not that I actually asked anyone, by the way.
- Some means of spreading the caulk - you could use an old credit card - or a spreader thing like I did.
- Newsprint - for protecting your table/surface area.
After you cover your surface with newspaper, you’ll need to prepare your caulk tube. Consult the directions on the tube you bought - I had to cut the top off of mine - and poke a hole like below (I used a knitting needle).
Next up, load the tube into the caulking gun. You’ll have to pull the trigger a few times to get the silicone to the tip. From here, the next step is to squirt the gel onto the sole of your slipper. You’ll need a lot. Squirt like crazy. If your trigger fingers get tired (it’s hard), do 1/2 a sole at a time.
Don’t worry if a string of gel goes off to the side or somewhere that you don’t want it - just let it be and don’t worry about it for now - whatever you do, don’t rub it off and smear it into the slipper. Only smear the gel where you want the gel to be - and definitely smear it - rub it into the fibers.
You can try to add a pattern into the slippers with your scraper if you want - try to come up with some sort of “tread” pattern. You can also skip the idea of a solid covering - and use the nozzle of the tube to write “left” or “right” or “hand wash only” or whatever the heck you want. If you’re going for the full coverage affect, make sure you’re erring on the side of too much silicone vs. not enough.
Make sure you’re careful to get the edges (especially if you’re worried about stepping into something gross). Once you’ve covered both soles, let the silicone “cure” as directed by the package - make sure they stay “sticky side up.” Mine took 24 hours to fully cure to the point where I was comfortable walking in them.
Once the soles are fully cured, you can pull off parts of the silicone that aren’t where you want them - like if one of your squirts went awry - or if you covered too much of an edge - just cut or pull off what you don’t want. It’ll come off pretty easy.
In the future, if you wear your slippers so much that you begin to wear through the sole - just-reapply with some silicone. Double (triple) the length of the life of your slippers!
And that’s it - pretty simple.
Nicole…You are a rockstar!
Hey, you have a Ravelry cake! Happy birthday! And thanks for the tutorial! I might want to borrow your caulking gun.
This is brilliant! Thank you for sharing!
great idea! Happy Birthday !
What a great tutorial. Thank you for sharing that. I’m knitting slips for my dad and he can do his own caulking if he finds them too slippery!
Is ‘t yer birthday? Happiest returns o’ th’ tide, me hearty. Yer tutorial be a nice one, thanks fer postin’. I *do* be havin’ a caulkin’ gun, tho. Ye could be havin’ borrowed ‘t.
P.S. Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day
Cool. Thanks for the tutorial. I never ever would have thought of that on my own.
WOW!! Awesome! I’ve been trying to think of a way to make my daughter’s slipper non-slippery, this is perfect. Off to check out my husband’s tools for caulking stuff!
Great idea! Thanks!
wow!
amazing idea!
thanks
This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing!!!
I did this on my felted clogs, too, based on a suggestion from one of my blog readers/commenters. I found clear silicone in a tube that stayed clear when it dried. It seemed “tacky” for a while after the application — I stuck to my kitchen floor! After a few days it lost the stickiness and now is a great non-skid slipper!
Great tutorial! Just one question: what happens when your slippers need a wash?
ain’t it cheaper to buy nu ones?
What a great ideia! GIRL YOU ROCK
Great idea! I wanted to make some felted slippers but I was afraid of slipping.
Thanks for the idea! I was planning on making at least 2 pairs for Christmas and was worried about the stairs with no carpet.
Awesome idea! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! Just learned something new. Gotta do that to my Fuzzy Feet slippers
Hmm–wish I’d known about this 6 months ago when I made my clogs. They are both worn through and I’m thinking about how to patch them.
This will come in handy for the next pair!
Fantastic idea! I’m bookmarking this one!
Gotta remember this one. Hubby needs new slippers! Give us an update in a while on how they wear, please????
This is a great idea! Thank you so much for sharing it.
Nice.
Perhaps mask the edges off with some Painters Tape/Masking Tape next time? You would only have to wait for it to set, before you pulled the tape off.
That’s awfully slick! Tee hee…
Wow!! I’ve knitted and felted slippers for my brothers, their wives and kids, my parents-in-law and now I get them in return “Could you PLEEEEAAAAAAASEE repair them for me???”
I’ve been trying to figure out how to repair the soles - now I know. *slaps forehaed* So simple!!!!
Wonderful idea. I’ve put off knitting these because I didn’t want to sew on the suede sole (not sure it would even be non-skid). This is perfect. Did your slippers dry as pictured in the last photo? Not clear as in not transparent…huh?
Nicole,
That is cool. I made my pastor and his wife slippers and they couldn’t wear them because they were to slippery. I guess they never wore then on the ceramic floor. Now I know what to do for my next slipper gift.
Thanks
This is GENIUS! Thanks for sharing!
Thats just fantastic!!!!
No more Slip N Slide !!!!
I think that looks horribly careless
Hi!
My advice: DON’T USE SILICONE!!!
I did the same on my daughters slippers last year, and it worked very well….for her.
But for the rest of us…very bad! The floor (wooden) was extremly slippery! And it took a long time for it to be normal, even if I washed it. We had to warn our guests, and tell them to be carefull…
She used them for about two days before we understood what had happened to the floor, and it took at least a couple of weeks before the floor was normal again. So; don’t do it!!
Fan-bloody-tastic!!!!! Thank you!
This would be perfect for putting a “backing” on area rugs that lost their “grip” or on a crocheted rug. *Jotting note into my idea book*
Seems like a good idea. I’ve used rug backing for mine, but it gave them a strange smell….
I’m going to experiment with different kinds of caulk for slipper bottoms. KL, thanks for the “don’t use silicone” tip! I wonder if latex caulk will work better… Will report back with my results.
great idea I winder if this idea could have other application for ex. the bottom of my daughters footie pajamas or the bottoms of handmade fabric baby shoes….I’ll try it and see.
I liked the silicone idea & couldn’t wait to do rugs. Now I think I’ll try that by-the-yard stuff for sleeper feet. What a great site for felting & socks & yarn dyeing!
Thank you SO much for the super idea!!
TIP: Silicone is used in the example above, and it may work well, but definitely LATEX is the better material for this application. You can buy latex rug backing materials in stores that carry rug-hooking craft supplies. Mold Builder is a latex product that can be thinned to desired consistancy. It is used for making latex molds but works well for backing rugs or bottoming slippers.
I recommend Shoe-Goo. Silicone caulk, as observed above, makes your floors slippery. Latex caulk, I found, is very sticky even after it’s cured. Shoe-goo gives off dangerous fumes while it’s curing, but in the end you’ll have a hard, rubbery sole on your slippers.
I was wanting to make these for my elderly parents, but hesitated because of the slippery factor.
I think this is a great way to get around it, and they’ll both get slippers for the holiday!
merci pour cette super bonne idée…..
à moi les petites Mary jane!!!!
merci
claire k
Hi I just loved this idea of yopurs Ihave used rug backing lue and this can get rather messy to use thaqnks dear fellow crater/artist hugs for the geat idea!!!!!
Hi, if you are looking for an easy way to make slippers, socks, tights or even stockings non-skid / non-slip, give this product a try:
http://www.grippiesonline.com/home.html
GRIPPIES is the “no-slip solution” for socks, tights and gloves!
No drying time, machine washable, quick and easy to use. GRIPPIES come in a sticker version and an iron-on version, both work very well on virtually any fabric.
Please check it out, GRIPPIES could be a real time saver for you!
Sorry, but I think that is really ugly and ruins a nice pair of slippers. I would never gunk up all that work with that stuff. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to just buy a pair of cheap clogs that would serve the purpose better?
Also, the suede bottoms would certainly be non-slip and would look a heck of a lot better.
I just finished this pattern and am about to felt them. I can’t imagine ruining all my work with such an ugly solution.
I think this is a very clever idea that many people can find inspiration in. I think I’ll personally try Shoe Goo when I knit mine. I’ve found suede bottoms help slippers last longer but are definitely not non-slip. Thanks for the tutorial!