Soaking your feet is a great way to relax, de-stress, and pamper yourself. DIY foot soaks are also therapeutic for relieving pain when your feet feel sore or over-worked. As a podiatrist, I’m always recommending homemade foot soaks to my patients. Making your foot soak recipe at home with essential household ingredients is low-cost and takes about 5 minutes of your time! Keeping reading this blog post to learn more about these simple foot soaks.
Aside from the household ingredients that I will list, all you need for your DIY foot soaks is warm water, a foot tub or basin (or even a bathtub) and a towel or paper-towels to dry your feet when finished. I will organize each foot soak by ingredient so you can easily see what you have at home. (This post contains a few affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. I’ve medically reviewed this post for general information. For personal medical advice please consult a podiatrist or trained professional. See Terms. )
How long should you soak your feet for maximum effectiveness?
To reap the benefits of a therapeutic foot soak, I generally recommend at least 15-20 minutes of soaking time. This window allows enough time for your skin to absorb the ingredients and gives your foot muscles enough time to relax. Also, anytime you soak your feet, you should always use a clean water basin. This one from amazon works just fine. Up next are the household ingredients for your foot soaks but first, a few safety tips.
Safety tips for your foot soaks:
- Never submerge your feet in piping hot water–a healthy bath water temperature works just fine. For instance, the foot soak temperature should ideally be between 90° F and 104°F.
- If you are a diabetic or neuropathic, have someone else check the water temperature or use a water thermometer like this one before submerging your feet.
- Some household ingredients may irritate your skin; it’s best to perform a patch test before submerging your feet in them. In addition, if you experience an adverse reaction to an ingredient, remove your feet and wash off immediately.
- If you have a deep cut or open wound on your feet, check with your physician first before soaking.
- Always discard the foot soak after use; never save the water or re-use it. Also it’s good practice to throughly clean your foot basin and disinfect it after each use.
DIY Salt Foot Soaks:
Should you use Epsom Salt or Table Salt?
Epsom salt is the by far the best thing to add to warm water for a foot soak. It’s historically found near the town of Epsom in Surry, England, and it contains Magnesium and Sulfate. The magnesium in the salt helps relieve inflammation in joints, muscle aches, arthritis pain. It’s also been known to increase serotonin – the brain’s happy hormone. Though more research is needed about magnesium’s transdermal (through the skin) absorption, I personally think epsom salt soaks work great! I often recommend it to patient’s for bunion and foot arthritis pain. It’s also inexpensive, a win-win!
Click to shop epsom salts on Amazon cost $12.99 (USD) for a 5 lb bag. To soak your feet, I recommend adding one palm full to your foot basin and dissolve it the warm water. Submerge your feet/foot for at least 15-20 minutes to feel the soothing effects. If you’re going to take a bath with it–try adding 4 or 5 cups of salt to the bath and enjoy! Up next, you can also mix epsom salt with oils.
Epsom Salt + Essential Oils
Epsom salt + Lavender oil:
If you happen to have Lavender oil at home, it will elevate your epsom salt foot soak. Add a few drops of the oil after dissolving the epsom salt. The fresh scent of lavender is known for its relaxing effects on the mind and the body. The lavender oil will ease anxiety and help you fall asleep. If you don’t have this essential oil at home, Dr. Teals sells epsom salt with Lavender oil sells on Amazon for $22.95. You can also try tea tree oil, I will explain this next.
Epsom salt + Tea Tree oil:
Tea Tree Oil, which smells like eucalyptus, is great for calming skin conditions like athletes foot and psoriasis. Add a few drops to your epsom salt bath after the salt dissolves. Amazon sells epsom salt enriched tea tree oil as well, click here to shop.
Table Salt
Table salt and warm water foot soaks are also very therapeutic. I sometimes have patients soak their feet in warm water and table salt after ingrown toenail surgery or for mild ingrown nails at home. It also works well to soothe skin from eczema and dermatitis flare ups.
For muscle aches or for foot pain you can use 1/4 cup of table salt + 1/4 of baking soda in a warm water basin. When added to a bath though, you may grow a mermaid tail like Darryl Hannah did in the 80’s movie SPLASH J/K!
Lemon
Lemon DIY foot soaks are some of my personal favorites. Lemon’s are full of Vitamin C, a cancer fighting vitamin. Soaking your feet in lemon juice + warm water not only helps freshen and deodorize your skin it may also help with nail and/or skin lightening. To prepare this foot soak bath I cut the lemon in half; I’ll juice one half into my warm water. The other remaining half I will thinly slice and float the lemon slices in the foot soak. To make it feel more like an at home spa for instance, I’ll add flower petals (+ a glass of wine in these gorgeous spa-like wine glasses) and enjoy…ahhh!
Ginger + Lemon Foot Soaks
Ginger root helps decrease inflammation in the body. So why not add a few ginger root slices to your lemon foot bath?! Most importantly, inflammation is what causes us to feel aches and pains in our feet – from tendonitis and plantar fasciitis. Allow me to explain this further. Inflammation is your body’s way of fighting cellular injury. When something damages cells in our bodies, our body releases chemicals which triggers responses from our immune system. In summary, I’m not saying to solely treat your tendonitis by soaking your feet in warm lemon water and ginger, but as an addition to your lemon spa – it may help. Simply remove the skin on the ginger and add a few slices to the lemon water. Soak your feet in the mixture for 20-30 minutes. Have sweaty feet? You will appreciate the upcoming foot soak ingredient.
Tea Bags
This one might sound weird, but I recommend it in practice all the time for hyperhydrosis or really sweaty feet. All you do is add 3-4 Lipton Tea bags to your warm water foot bath and soak for 10-20 minutes. Tea is a drying agent, therefore it desiccates your foot sweat glands from excessive sweating. On the contrary if dry skin is your issue, this next household ingredient should really help.
Milk + Honey Foot Soaks
Milk and honey are two household ingredients that are perfect for a soothing foot bath. This is because honey is antimicrobial and milk helps rehydrate dry skin. In short, mix one cup of milk with 4 tablespoons of honey. Add in 1 teaspoon of baking soda and vanilla extract for neutralization and aroma. Place the mixture in your warm water foot bath and soak for feet for 20 minutes.
Apple Cider Vinegar + Tea Tree Oil
Apple Cider Vinegar has many homeopathic and detox uses but one in particular can help combat toenail fungus. Simply add 1/3 cup of vinegar with a few drops of tea tree oil to a warm water foot basin. Try to use organic Apple Cider Vinegar like this one. Soak feet for about 30 minutes and dry well. Apply tea tree oil immediately after with a Q-tip to toenails and allow to dry. Apple cider vinegar (also known as ACV) has a number of healing and antibacterial properties, making it a go-to for many homeopathic treatments.
Olive Oil for Callus Care
Calluses are thickened skin on the bottom of the foot. Everyone experiences some form of foot callus in their lifetime. The best way to treat calluses is to soak your feet in warm water and 1/4 cup Epsom Salt for 10-15 minutes. Afterward, apply carrier oil, like olive oil, directly to the callus for 5 to 10 minutes. Massage the olive oil onto the skin, then exfoliate with a pumice stone to remove dead skin. I linked my favorite pumice stone here. You can also use a foot file to remove dead skin linked here.
With any luck – you’ll have some of these ingredients in your home to make yourself a relaxing therapeutic DIY foot bath. What are your favorite household ingredients to mix into your foot baths? Please share!
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