Have you ever watched someone slip on a hard tile or wood floor? Maybe you have even been the one to slip? Let me tell you, it is absolutely horrifying when you see your almost-two-year-old slip on the tile floor in the kitchen.
It is like time goes in slow motion where you see every wobbly movement the child makes so clearly while still moving too fast for you to do anything to stop the fall from happening. By the time your body reacts to what you’re seeing, you somehow can’t get there in time to save this sweet toddler from falling and crying out. Of course, you get there to soothe and comfort your child who is usually more scared from the incident than hurt, but it is heartbreaking nonetheless.
Unfortunately, this happens more often than we’d like when babies are learning to walk and when we run on hard flooring with socks on (weren’t we all told never to do that but still do?). Even more unfortunate is the need to wear socks on the hard flooring because it is so cold on bare feet in the winter (or even in the summer in my case!). So what to do?
Well, if you have ever purchased children’s socks before, you know that most of them come with a little bit of anti-skid material on the bottom. That is fantastic and all, but I have found that the material is rarely on the heel and toe of the sock. It is usually on the middle where the arch of the foot is. I don’t know about you, but this seems rather illogical to me… the part of your foot that really needs the anti-skid support is actually missing it.
When I considered the problem of inadequately equipped non-stick socks for my daughter, I thought immediately to what my sister-in-law had mentioned in passing to me some time ago. My sister-in-law, who is a nurse who works with children, once told me that they use bubble paint in the hospital to make non-skid socks for the children there. Brilliant! I decided to try this method to solve my problem.
I purchased bubble paint (also called dimensional paint) from Amazon. I chose basic white since it would look great with everything, but they have dozens of colors. The one I bought was this one. Then, I simply folded/flattened the clean socks so the bottom was exposed and put dots of bubble paint on the areas of the socks that I felt needed more non-skid material.
I could not believe how well it worked! I only had to do one coat because I put a nice thick dot down each time. I let the socks dry for two days to make sure they were completely ready, and then they were good to go. They have now been through several washes and I have seen them in action with my daughter (who thinks they are just cute little polka dots).
This paint truly helped solve the slipping-on-hard-floors problem. Now, I can get whatever socks fit my children the best and turn them into non-skid socks. Not only that, but this same method could work for adult socks if needed. You can even put cute designs or messages on the bottom of the socks… the possibilities are endless and fun for all ages!
