I love going barefoot...maybe not as much as you guys, but I greatly enjoy it. There's only a couple problems. I'm think I might have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) because I'm always washing my hands, taking multiple showers a day, organizing things so they're perfect...so I cannot STAND having dirty feet. Not to mention, the educational system has a specific law about NO BARE FEET in school. Does anyone know how I can get over this annoying phobia? I want my feet to be free...!...but, clean.
I know it's not the same for some people...but while I'm not OCD, I also can't stand getting my feet dirty. So flip flops are the next best thing. You can wear the thinnest pair and still feel like you're barefoot. I'm sure I'll get criticism from the purists who think there's no alternative...but for those of us who are not into having dirt on our soles, I think it's a perfectly fair compromise. You can slip them off when you're sitting down or any time you want, and yet your feet will still stay pretty "clean", although that's relative because you're trading one kind of "dirty" for another. :H Or if you want to really go barefoot...just do it. The dirt you get on your soles from going barefoot, while more VISIBLE, isn't any worse really than the accumulation of sweat and bacteria you would get from wearing shoes...So it's a "lesser of two evils" I guess.
Actually shoe dirt is worse. While flipflops and other sandals aren't as bad, closed shoes are the worst for 'dirt'! There may be a lot of bacteria and other nasties on the floor, but they don't really get much chance to grow in a light, dry, well-ventilated, place like the surface of your skin. (Even when walking in the rain, the bare foot dries very quickly as soon as you're on dry ground.) However bacteria and fungi grow like crazy in dark, enclosed, damp places like the inside of a shoe. Even with sandals this can happen under the straps, especially if they are wide and/or made of rubber or plastic. This kind of dirt isn't visible but sure can be smelled... I'm willing to bet the blackest bare sole you can find on this forum barely can be smelled at all, while many a foot that has been in a closed shoe and *looks* perfectly clean betrays its true state to your nose...
With help from a few...'easy going' friends of mine, they've given me a solution. I can go barefoot as much as I want...just DO NOT look at your feet until you wash them. They told me I can look at the tops, but not the bottoms, until I clean them. That way, out of sight, out of mind. Hurrah.
Think of it, honey : you won't get calluses because the floor beneath your soles act as pumice and erodes them; your toes will spread free and won't get deformed. Bye bye to bad smell also because bare feet are almost always dry in the air. The more you go barefoot the more you will think the dirty stinky ones are them. I think like Barefoot Matthew about the blackest sole you can find. After all, plain earth can be dark but never smelly. Also going barefoot toughens the soles (although it doesn't make them get callused) and few things-I'm thinking about dirt, manure,etc._ can go through that natural barrier. So take heart, Rev.
Just my two cents- I'm also OCD and need to have everything clean and smelling fresh. I found that going barefoot everywhere and avoiding shoes at all cost has made my feet way cleaner because they don't get sweaty and smelly from shoes. When I get home, I just hose them off before entering the house and that works great. The dirt that makes bare feet look dirty are just soot particles that wash right off- way way better than the scary stinky germs that breed in shoes and socks. Also, if you go barefoot a lot like I do, your soles get tough and then dirt doesn't even hardly stick to them anymore.
