We all know that society loves to hit us with absurd wive’s tales that are really more about stopping you from doing something that your mom wouldn’t like than they are about helping us to live better lives. But there is no denying the fact that some of these ridiculous sounding rumors are absolutely true. Is wearing shoes without socks bad?
While it’s always an option to experiment and find out for yourself, the internet is a great place to learn from other people’s mistakes when it comes to finding out fact from fiction.
One common thing that you have probably heard ad nauseam growing up is that you should never wear shoes without socks unless you’re sporting your favorite pair of summer sandals. The question is: is it actually bad to do this? More importantly, what sort of outcomes can you expect if you decide to run out the door in your sneakers without tiny protective clothes for your feet?
Why would you?
Now, there are a lot of reasons to why you might not want to wear socks. First, there’s a really good chance that you don’t have any clean ones. It’s fine, we don’t judge you. If anything, we feel your pain and will absolutely admit to wearing sandals for reasons beyond summer fun.
Then there’s the whole problem with finding matching socks. Even if your socks are clean, there is a good chance that finding two that are the same pattern and size is a feat that you can’t really deal with when you are running out the door fifteen minutes late for work after being told just yesterday not to be late again by your boss (you know, the one that you hate).
There is also the possibility that you just straight up do not like socks, and that’s fine too. A little weird and possibly an indication of serial killer tendencies, but it’s probably fine. Like, don’t come visit us or anything, but you do you.
Whatever your motivation might be, sometimes it is simply a better and easier alternative to run out in your favorite shoes without socks. Assuming, of course, that you don’t mind having disgustingly smelly feet.
Why shouldn’t you?
Yeah, when you go out wearing shoes without socks, there is a guaranteed chance that you will learn the moment you take your shoes off why you never should have done it in the first place.
The kind of foot odor that comes with wearing socks without shoes is easily in the top three on the potential bad outcomes list. You won’t even believe that your feet could smell that bad, and that can cause some trust issues.
You might be thinking, so what? I can just wash them, can’t I? Problem solved. Easy. But, you would be wrong. The odor that brews will linger on your feet beyond a simple washing. We are talking scalding hot water, prayers, and possibly vinegar to get that wretched smell to release its grip on the thick skin of your feet.
And if you think that you’re the real victim here, just think about your shoes. Getting bad odors that severe out of shoes is a full process that involves taking time to air them out, baking soda, and one to three exorcisms.
The worst part is that if you don’t murder the stink where it lies, every single time you wear those shoes, your feet will be coming away with that same smell until you fix it. Believe us when we say this: some shoes simply can’t be saved.
Whats going on down there?
Maybe you’re the kind of person who isn’t worried about having horribly offensive feet, but that doesn’t mean that you’re safe to go out wearing your Yeezy’s without socks.
The smell is just a symptom of a larger problem, and that problem is bacteria. A ton of breeding, thriving bacteria that are crawling all over your feet and filling the fabrics of your shoes.
You see, when you wear shoes without socks, there is nothing to absorb the massive amounts of sweat that come out of them.
Your feet sweat a ton, particularly when they’re wrapped in synthetic materials or cloth as you run around for your day. This generates a ton of heat, and bacteria love heat because it lets them make more bacteria faster.
In fact, the only reason that sweat smells at all is because of bacteria, so your foot odor isn’t just a smell problem, but a full-scale hygiene problem that you absolutely will need to manage.
Wearing shoes without socks is an effective way to not only end up with all kinds of nasty bacteria infections, but a myriad of fungal infections like athlete’s foot.
Basically, if you decide that wearing shoes without socks is a good idea, you are telling the world that you are happy to act as a host for all kinds of nasty toe fungi, and people will have opinions about that.
Considering the fact that wearing shoes without socks is also a great way to irritate the skin of your feet and potential end up with blisters or sores, you really don’t want to increase your chances of infection at the same time you make your skin more vulnerable to them.
It’s a lose-lose, and we are of the belief that no one should ever actively choose to be a loser unless they are playing board games with a young child.
Dont do it people
The moral of the story is: yes, it is exactly that bad to wear socks without shoes. No, we are not saying that if you throw on some shoes without socks to help bring in groceries that you are automatically dooming yourself to a life of infectious stench, but wearing them out for extended periods of time is simply not a good idea.
Anything that involves being smelly and diseased is not something that you should aim for if it can be avoided, and if you aren’t going to do it out of consideration for yourself or your beloved shoes, please think about the general public. No one wants to smell your stinky feet. Don’t you dare do it to us.
Check out Can You Wear Running Shoes Everyday?