How to Break in Danskos- Best Shoes for Hairstylists
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What are the best shoes for hairstylists? Are they the best shoes for standing all day? In my personal and professional experience, Dansko clogs are the way to go for both men and women, hands down!
Hairstylists, Cosmetologists, and Barbers, often have trouble maintaining ergonomically correct body postures because of the number of hours spent on their feet all day.
What are the Best Shoes for Hairstylists? Why is it Dansko?
How to Break in Danskos Properly- Breaking in Dansko Clogs
A lot of times when the feet aren’t properly supported and that creates a ripple effect throughout the entire body. Because the feet are connected to the knee bone, and the hip bone, and the back, and the shoulders, and the neck… just like the song… if one doesn’t have enough support, the rest of the body starts to compensate for that support and thus hurts.
That’s why it’s important to learn how to break in Danskos well, so that you don’t hurt your body in the process.
It’s not just those in the Hair Industry who stand all day long. Medical professionals, chefs, teachers, and the list is endless. Eventually, your body feels the wear and tear of the stress on your feet and you start to feel physically burnt out.
I get it! Me too.
But these support shoes won’t do you any good unless know how to break in Danskos properly.
Breaking in Danskos- Best Shoes for Hairstylists
SeeWomen’s Dansko Clogs – Color Options Available – For $134.95
See Men’s Dansko Clogs Black for $134.95
You must first choose your set of Dansko clogs
👉 Are Danskos supposed to be tight? No!
Dansko clogs specifically are not supposed to be tight to your foot.
When choosing your first pair, make sure that your finger can fit between the side of your foot, your heel, and the top of your foot between the shoe and your sock. The shoe will slip on and off easily.
They’re clogs, they aren’t supposed to fit like running shoes. If the Dansko shoes are any tighter than a finger’s worth of space between the shoe and the foot, you will be in pain because of the blisters.
Dansko uses a European size chart, meaning that your foot is measured in centimeters for more accurate shoe size manufacturing and fittings. So the American shoe size system doesn’t exist with this brand.
However that means that you get a more accurate size that fits your foot exactly to the centimeter!
Finding your shoe size in centimeters is very easy, to find your Dansko shoe SIZE please click here
5 Steps on How to Break in Danskos, the Best Shoes for Hairstylists
Step 1- Stretching them out
What if you purchase a set of clogs and they are too tight? What then?
Not a problem! There are several methods of stretching out Danskos to help them properly fit your feet and not cause blisters or other issues from being too tight.
How to Break in Danskos – The Ice Method
No, you are not soaking your brand new, expensive shoes with melting ice.
Simply fill a heavy-duty ziplock bag with water. Maybe put it in a second ziplock just in case. Place the bag of water inside the shoe, and let them sit in the freezer overnight. Throughout the night the water will freeze and expand, stretching the shoe.
If in the morning the shoe hasn’t stretched enough, fill the bag with a little more water and let it freeze again.
The cold will not hurt your shoe or damage the leather.
How to Break in Danskos – The Heat Method
Using a heat gun, or high-temp blow dryer (hairstylists and barbers out there 😉 ) warm up the leather, without burning your hands, and stretch the leather a little bit at a time.
Depending on how much your shoe needs stretching, the heat method for stretching Dansko clogs might take a few sessions.
If your shoes need stretching, be sure to take care of that BEFORE trying to break in the Dansko soles.
How to break in Danskos gradually- don’t rush it!
Step 2- Wear socks
Thick socks may help in the first few days. But the more you wear the shoe and the more the Danskos are broken in you can use regular socks again if you want.
Step 3- One hour at a time
How to break in Danskos properly after they’ve been stretched, if that step was necessary, and you have your socks ready, is to only wear them 1 or 2 hours at first.
Start at home while you’re making dinner or cleaning the floor. This way you can break in the Danskos while moving side to side, standing, walking around, and maybe even going up and downstairs.
Because of the firm internal insert in the Danskos, they advise only wearing them for 4 hours at most. And the next day 6 hours, and the next 8 hours, until the Danskos have formed to your feet.
Step 4- Bring backup shoes when breaking in your Danskos
Take a spare pair of shoes to work with you. If the Danskos become too much in the first day, you’ll have backups ready to use while you are still breaking in your new shoes.
You can hurt yourself if you try to break in your new Danskos too quickly. So know when to give your feet a break.
Step 5- Know when to stop
If you have never worn Danskos before, and you try to use them for a full day before breaking them in, you will definitely doubt that they are the best shoes for hairstylists.
I highly advise that you follow the above Step 4 above. It is very hard on your feet to go from 0 to 100 in these shoes, because from minimal foot support to extra support is just too much.
It’s better to break them in slowly.
There is no harm in switching out your shoes in the middle of the day if you feel them starting to get tired. When this happens, just note how much time it’s been and give yourself an extra hour of wearing them tomorrow.
How long does it take to break in Dansko clogs?
If you have never worn Danskos before, it may take 4-7 days. Though if you are replacing your last pair of Danskos, it may only take 2-3 days.
But remember, if you have to stretch them, factor that into your timeframe. If you need shoes for standing all day because of a new job, be sure to get them early and break them in before you start. It’s a lot easier to start the process before you have to stand in them all day.
All it takes for me, after years of wearing Dansko clogs, I break them in in about 2 days. That’s all it takes.
Women’s Dansko Clogs – Color Options Available – For $134.95
Men’s Black Dansko Clogs for $134.95
You will not wear out your Dansko clogs very quickly. Which is another reason why they are the best shoes for hairstylists.
For some, they feel the need to replace their Danskos every 6 months, but that’s for a very high volume of use. Others may not need to replace their Danskos for years.
Breaking in Danskos is a lot easier than wearing them out.
Why is it important to support my feet even if they don’t hurt?
Just because you have a pain in your neck doesn’t necessarily mean that you have an issue with your neck, it could very possibly be a symptom of another part of your body being misaligned and the neck is just where your body compensates and feels the most stress and tension from it.
This happened to me but from the neck down.
I had issues with my knees and lower back. Naturally, I assumed I needed new shoes and it was just the lack of the correct arch support.
Don’t underestimate the Chiropractor
After a few x-rays at the Chiropractor, it turns out that I had no curve in my neck. Because of this, my body thought I was constantly falling forward, thus my back compensated and made my body lean back. This caused my hips to rotate sideways and forward, and (the ripple effect) caused pain in my knees and feet.
When my Chiropractor had finished a series of adjustments and exercises to correct the curve in my neck, I have ZERO PAIN in my knees and feet anymore! Or my lower back!
It was simply a ripple effect, the pain was a symptom of another issue that needed correcting.
As you learn how to break in Danskos well to fit your feet and body, the rest of your body might be a little bit sore, because now you are finally getting the support you need. The body usually takes a little while to adjust to allowing the shoes to do the work of support, instead of compensating the way it did before Danskos.
None of this is to say that the pain in your shoulder, or wherever, is caused by your need for new shoes and lack of support from another part of your body. The pain very well may be just that, but don’t discount the possibility of the issue being a symptom of something else.
I highly, highly, recommend visiting a Chiropractor regularly, even if you don’t feel pain yet. It’s important to stave off health issues BEFORE they become a pain (like only starting to wear sunscreen after you have skin cancer. It doesn’t do you much good at that point).
What happens when you start to feel pain at work?
Let’s be real. What really happens when you start to feel pain at work?
We assume that it’s the work, right?
Sometimes it is the work that causes pain. The repetition of the motions that our bodies do daily just wears on the joints and muscles and eventually it can be too much.
One solution for the pain is to self-evaluate if you are using ergonomically correct postures.
Are you holding your tools correctly without bending your wrists? Is the chair pumped to the correct height so that you don’t have to jack your shoulders to your ears when the chair is too high, or so low that you have to bend at the waist to reach your client’s head?
For how to be ergonomically correct and other suggestions on avoiding painful burnout, please read Work-Life Balance in the Salon, Preventing Burnout
Why Danskos? Because they’re the Best Shoes for Hairstylists!
When I first began cutting behind the chair I foolishly only wore non-support cowgirl boots or flats. It was a stupid idea.
After I graduated Cosmetology school and began working in a salon it took me about 5 months to realize how bad it was. I was literally starting myself out on the wrong foot!
My feet hurt every day. It was incredibly painful.
My Chiropractor gave me inserts, specialized just for me, and they were great!
But they didn’t last long enough for my changing feet at the beginning stages of my standing-all-day career.
Finally, a co-worker suggested Danskos. And I thought, ‘Why not? What do I have to lose?’
Now, I won’t lie, the first week or so is rough in these shoes. Danskos are designed to have a firm external sole and firm internal arch support, but just soft enough to form and eventually harden to the exact shape of your foot. But it took a little while to learn how to break in Danskos so they didn’t hurt.
Even now, years later, I will wear my Dansko Clogs when I’m not working just because they make my body feel better. And each pair lasts me between 1-3 years when I stand all day, every day.
Dansko offers many other styles than just clogs, don’t worry.
And again, these aren’t just for those in the hair industry, but any and every other profession that requires a physically demanding, standing-all-day kind of work.
I do believe though that they are the best shoes for hairstylists, cosmetologists, barbers, and those in the beauty industry, for sure!
Women’s Dansko Clogs – Color Options Available – For $134.95
Men’s Black Dansko Clogs for $134.95
Remember, dear Reader, please take care of yourself! The price of wearing down your body too early is not worth it.
Take time to refresh your soul, as well as take physical care of yourself. Don’t forget to stretch, use good ergonomics, eat, and exercise well.