slippery floors....a modern phenomenon?

[Smuterella]

I'm having a hig heels issue, the flooring in my work is wood effect laminate and I keep finding that the heels of a good few pairs of shoes skid a little on it, not good when you are carrying a hot cup of tea in one hand and a bowl of yoghurt in the other.

i haven't actually fallen over yet but I'm getting so paranoid about it that I've started only wearing flats which is a terrible pity.

any ideas for making me shoes less slippy, seeing as the flooring is out of my control?

I also had a similar almost falling over experience on the over polished marble floor of a department store...in the shoe section. you'd think they's consider this problem before putting the flooring in

 

[dollydaydream]

I have similar issues. Yes. Stupid floor people.

or is it a floor/sole problem. Some shoes have a kind of hard rubber sole instead of a rubbery one which would grip. I do talk nonsense sometimes. It's why you love me

 

[Vintage Raven]

Thank god... It seems I am not the only one with this problem!

I have also had a few near misses with heels on slippery floors, and I think the explanation is that

a) shiny floors are pretty
b) these floors where designed by men who have no idea that it might be a problem for stilleto-wearing ladies.

I usually just grab the nearest man for support, during those bambi on ice moments. Never heard any complaints so far

 

[KittyT]

any ideas for making me shoes less slippy, seeing as the flooring is out of my control?

Yes. Take a rough piece of sandpaper and scuff up the bottom of your shoe. For even more grip, you can buy special non-slip thingies for the bottoms of your shoes. There are some at http://www.stiletto-heel-tips.co.uk/shoe_repair.htm, which is a UK-based site you can order from. Foot Pedals also makes some - http://www.footpetals.com/cgi-bin/footpetals/Sole Stopperz.html. Many drugstores here also carry the ones made by Kiwi -

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's not imagination: modern floor finishes -- urethane, vinyl, etc. -- *are* more slippery than those used in the past. Linoleum or asphalt tiles, or old-style varnished wood, even when waxed, are much less slippery. Kitty's advice about sandpapering soles is the best way to deal with it -- it's especially important to do this with leather soles. Another option is to smear on some shoe-goo type adhesive and sprinkle it with fine sand.

 

[Laura Chase]

Oooh yes, leather soles are not only lethal, they are also very sensitive and get ruined quite easily. Kitty is absolutely right. Though, if you are very unhandy, like I am, you can also have a cobbler roughen up your shoes for you or have him put some new anti-slip soles on them. Good luck!

 

[dollydaydream]

You can also support the local cobblers & take them there to be done. Quicker than internet buying

 

[artful dodgette]

yes! support your local shoemakers!!!!

sandpaper is a good tip...

sometimes though when dancing there's nothing better than a slippy floor!
at a club i go to the floor is talc'd for extra slide when dancing!

 

[Lauren]

Like mentioned, the shoes back then would have been leather soled, more than likely, and since they had less pairs of shoes than we do now in our closet, theirs would more than likely have been scuffed up from concrete and walking. My grandma still says "go outside and scuff your feet" when you get a new pair of shoes- so it's something they had to deal with as well!

 

[KittyT]

at a club i go to the floor is talc'd for extra slide when dancing!

I wonder if the club owners know that this is extremely dangerous for dancing? It creates dangerous, invisible, super-slippery patches, and any change in slipperiness/stickiness from one area to another isn't safe.

 

[dollydaydream]

But blooming good fun

 

[Miss 1929]

Masking tape!

We often have a problem with this at the Gatsby Summer Afternoon, as we never know what the surface of the portable dance floor will be like until it arrives. And with 20 bathing beauties trying to do a dance routine in their vintage shoes...
So if you happen to go to the office in your shoes that are not yet made scuffy, just put an X of tape on the sole of the shoe. It gives you just enough grab and comes right off when you want it to. Will not affect your vintage shoes either!
I prefer not to permanently scuff my vintage shoes, as I want the slippery soles for dancing on wood floors. So this is a good temporary fix.

 

[Smuterella]

its not so much the soles as the heels, hmmm, perhaps I can cut the non slip sole things into teeny tiny heel things...

thanks ladies

 

[BitterEpiphany]

Alas, I can only offer a bit of commiseration. I worked at a company that required, as its dress code, that women wear skirts and stockings. Which was fine, except that the floors went from carpet to tile in two places... it was a nightmare waiting to happen. It was OK in the supply room (which doubled as a lot of our usable office space and was the only way to cut through to the other side of the building) because there was a massive sorting table/work station in the center of the room and cabinets, counter tops and encoding machines lining all of the walls. There was always something to grab as you whipped around the corner and skidded on the tile.

The real problem was in the cafeteria, where the coffee machines, ice makers and temperamental refrigerator doors combined to create an obstacle course that even a drunken celebutante wouldn't dare traverse. I cannot begin to tell you how many falls and how many more graceful recoveries I saw in that office.

In the end, I actually went to a cobbler and paid them to remove the existing "stoppers" from the ends of all of my heels and attach rougher ones and I sandpapered the toes myself on the concrete outside. (I also sandpapered my knees a few times in a similar manner!)

 

[artful dodgette]

I wonder if the club owners know that this is extremely dangerous for dancing? It creates dangerous, invisible, super-slippery patches, and any change in slipperiness/stickiness from one area to another isn't safe.

no, it's the dancers who talc the floor, it helps us to do certain moves..not quite golden era, more 60s.. google 'northern soul dancing' and you'll see why!

 

[KittyT]

no, it's the dancers who talc the floor, it helps us to do certain moves..not quite golden era, more 60s.. google 'northern soul dancing' and you'll see why!

That doesn't change the fact that it's considered a dangerous practice. If the floor isn't slippery enough, dancers should get different shoes or modify the ones they have to accommodate their dancing style.

 

[artful dodgette]

i know what you mean, but we wear leather soled shoes, and the dancefloor isn't swamped in talc its just a dab!

smutterella - i know what you mean now about the heel tips! i get this problem sometimes! i still haven't found a cure i guess just try and put your toe down before your heel!

 

[bigshoe]

Ladies
You will find that in the last few years the material used in ladies heels has changed considerably. They used to be made with a rubber type compound that had considerably more grip then the new ones. The new ones are all plastic. Which makes them about $00.0000001 cheaper per thousand to make.
In the 50's stilleto heel tips were actual rubber which gave more grip. I would suggest you find an older repair shop that may have some of the older type heels in stock. If they have them with the diameter pin you need buy them all as they won't make them any more. The modern plastic ones are extremley dangerous on wet flooring.
Tom

 

[Smuterella]

thanks everyone, i'm so glad i posted this thread. Its made me realise I'm not just a clutz

 

[Paisley]

I'd hate it if somebody broke a wrist just because I wanted a slicker dance floor.

My floor at home is much slicker than where I go dancing. I don't throw anything on the floor where I dance, though. I just wear stickier shoes at home.

Here's part of a thread from the yehoodi board:

Dancers and particularly dance teachers should NEVER recommend application of substances to a dance floor (other than by the proprietor) or to dance shoes which could be transferred to the floor. This is VERY dangerous and can cause people to fall and get badly hurt. The best way to compensate for a bad floor is to change shoes. Adding substances to
the floor (or your shoes and then to the floor) almost always creates
an uneven distribution which will cause people to slip.

Adding substances to your shoes (other than water) at best is only
temporary and is still inconsistent.

In many cases, a floor will seem too sticky or too slick because someone
is wearing improper shoes. In other cases, it's a matter of preference,
e.g. many older dancers like to shuffle across the floor rather than
step. I remember one competition where a person was stepping in a pile of soap flakes (put on carpet making a big mess) which then ended up making slippery spots on the floor. This floor was PERFECT! The person adding the soap was not wearing normal dance shoes with suede soles so she may have thought it was slow. The person was repeatedly told not to add substances to the floor and did it anyway. Unfortunately she was not disqualified.

The competition had to be stopped several times so the floor could be
cleaned. I think USABDA should have a rule that anyone caught adding
substances to a floor at a competition will be immediately disqualified
(or shot).

If you wear suede shoes you can compensate from a slick floor by putting
water on your soles, and a slightly moistened sole will not transfer water to the floor. However, do not make puddles of water on the floor for someone else to inadventantly step in. Adding water will not help if the the floor is slick from added shuffleboard wax or soap. In this case, the entire floor must be cleaned and everyones shoes must be individually cleaned. (That is why a person adding soap to a floor should be shot.)

You can also brush suede soles to compensate for a slightly slick floor.

If the floor is too sticky you should change shoes, perhaps to an old
pair where the suede is polished or a pair with leather soles.

If you are organizing a dance and need to fix a sticky floor, I know of a
case where a large floor was fixed by adding a liquid which can be spread
evenly with a mop which when dried left an almost even film of wood dust
(I think). When first applied, it is still somewhat spotty, but after a
few weeks of grinding in by dancers, it was OK. I don't know the brand,
but if someone really wants to know I can try to find out.

Another solution for a sticky (or possible too slick) floor is to buff
the floor with a steel wool mat (by machine of course). This worked
in one case I know of for a too sticky floor, but it took a couple of tries
and then a month or so of dancers "buffing" the floor before it was
good.

Remember, don't add soap, talc, or wax-- change to leather shoes!​