What causes dead skin on the feet?

Dead or loose skin forming on the feet is your foot’s way of naturally exfoliating and shedding dead skin cells.

Dead skin can build up because of a lack of moisture if your feet are constantly in closed shoes or socks, or from the friction of walking or running. It can also form if you don’t regularly care for, exfoliate, or scrub your feet.

Dead skin on the bottom of your foot may appear dry, cracked, or loose or hanging. It’s usually not painful unless it’s a result some type of infection. If you suspect that’s the case, see your doctor for treatment. Otherwise, you may want to remove dead skin for cosmetic reasons or because it’s more comfortable.

Here are 4 options for removing dead skin.

1. Paraffin wax

Many SPA and nail salons offer paraffin wax as an add-on for a pedicure treatment. Paraffin wax is a soft wax that’s melted at a medium temperature of around 51°C (125°F). The wax shouldn’t be hot enough to burn or irritate your skin.

You can also do a paraffin wax treatment at home using an at-home paraffin wax bath, or you can melt the wax in a sauce pan and then transfer it to a bowl for dipping your feet.

During a paraffin wax treatment, you’ll dip your feet in the wax several times. After several layers of wax are applied, wrap your feet in plastic.

After the wax hardens, you can remove the wax. Any dead skin on your feet will be removed along with the wax. Your feet should feel soft afterward.

2. Foot scrub

You can make your own scrub by diluting two tablespoons of sea salt into equal amounts of body oil and lemon juice.

To use a foot scrub, apply the scrub directly to your foot and rub gently with your palm. Or use with a foot scrub brush or sponge to remove dead skin.

Rinse scrub thoroughly with warm water after use. We can also recommend you to use refreshing foot cream from Vegan Fox. This light texture gel-like cream absorbs into skin quickly and promotes the formation of skin’s natural protective layer rejuvenation.

3. Foot Brush

We think pumice stone is the most popular way to solve this issue. We found an amazing product from AfterSpa to tackle just that. And yes, you can try it out in this month’s Out’n’Proud pack, no worries.

This two sided foot scrubber is made to scrub and exfoliate dead skin cells, corns, calluses and rough skin on your feet. The pumice stone is for exfoliating rough skin while the brush is best for cleaning off dead skin and debris.

4. Vinegar soak

Vinegar soaks may help soften feet and allow you to remove dead, dry, or cracked skin.

You can use almost any type of vinegar. Apple cider vinegar or white vinegar are popular options, and you may already have them in your kitchen.

Use cool water to create the soak, as hot water may dry out the skin more. Use 1 part of vinegar to 2 parts of water as a general guideline. Soak feet for 5 to 10 minutes to start.

If desired, follow the soak by using a pumice stone to remove dry or loose skin using the guidelines above. Apply moisturising cream from Vegan Fox before putting on socks to seal in moisture after doing a vinegar soak.

Only do this treatment a few times a week as it can be further drying on the skin.

Dead skin is usually nothing to worry about and can often be removed at home.

Always see your doctor or podiatrist if you have an excessive amount of dead skin, calluses, cracked skin, wounds, or rashes that don’t go away on their own or with home remedies.