What Household Products Are Good for Soaking the Feet?

You don't have to go far from the front door to find a luxurious foot soak right at home. The natural ingredients you need to make a personalized foot soak are right in the kitchen or bathroom. When you spend hours on your feet at work or play, you may want nothing more than to immerse your tootsies in a calming and cleansing foot bath. Household products can give you a wide variety of foot stress relievers without costing an extra dime.

Almond oil can be found in many massage oils you might have in the house. Olive oil is often in the kitchen. Both of these add lubrication to the foot soak and soften and soothe the skin. Use just a few drops of oil unless your feet are very dry.

The ancient balm, honey, is probably in the pantry. You can add it to the foot bath to cleanse the feet, act as a humectant and add antioxidants. Combine the honey to a foaming liquid soap and add a drop of vanilla extract and almond oil to make a foot soak.

You might find Epsom salts in the medicine cabinet and baking soda in the baking cupboard. Kosher salt, sea salt or any coarse salt, make good additions to the foot soak. Salts are thought to relax muscles and increase circulation.

Toss lavender, mint, and marjoram into your foot soak. Sage and rosemary are more herbs used in foot soaks. You can use the oils from these herbs if you have any of these in the house, or just tie a bundle of sprigs together and drop them into the foot tub. The herbs add pleasant scent to the water as well as relax and refresh. Pour boiling water over the bundles in the foot basin. When the water cools a bit, soak your feet.

You may wish to add essential oils to your foot soak. Some people have these in the house. If you don't, don't worry, you can make a foot soak without them. But you can add calming and relaxing oils such as rosewood, bergamot or sandalwood to the soak. Or, for an energizing foot bath, try lemongrass, tea tree or orange.