Do you spend a lot of time in the kitchen? That isn’t a bad thing, especially not if it’s how you make your living or the way that you practice your hobby, but it can get tiring extremely quickly. Buying shoes and shoe inserts specifically for use in the kitchen can seem absurd at first, but it’s actually a great way to look your best and stay professional while crafting your favourite dishes for a customer, cooking a nice meal or just messing around with whatever food combinations you have lying around.
Slip Resistance
Slipping over is never a fun experience, but it can be much more dangerous in a kitchen. Even if it doesn’t leave any food splattered on the floor, you’re usually on solid surfaces and surrounded by sharp cutting utensils – combine that with the fact that kitchen floors are usually mopped often and you can see why slip resistance makes such a difference. Well, these kitchen shoes with a small grip pattern on their soles can be enough, and stick rubber makes this even more noticeable. Just remember that you still need to move around comfortably, so don’t focus too hard on slip resistance above everything else.
Non-slip boots are often the first thing people think of when they buy kitchen shoes, which isn’t a bad decision. Still, put some effort into your search and find a pair that suits you – slip resistance matters, but not so much that you should make yourself uncomfortable to get it.
Comfort
Standing around in kitchens for a long time can get tiring on your feet, even if you don’t have to walk around very much. A good amount of padding and some comfortable insoles or insets can be more than enough to rectify this problem, but you should still adjust it for your foot shape and body weight if you can. After all, you’re the only person who’ll be wearing your shoes (at least, that’s normally the case), so tailoring them specifically to your needs and the way you move can be a good way to avoid foot fatigue and pain. It doesn’t have to be much – you can just go for some basic padding and you’ll usually see the benefits straight away.
Too much comfort can sacrifice other features, so make sure you don’t go overboard. Feeling comfortable is always good, but it shouldn’t leave your shoes with no structural integrity and no way to protect your feet from any of the hazards that you’ll find in a regular kitchen.
Breathability
Kitchens can set stifling and hot, usually getting even worse if you’re cooking in a way that produces a large amount of smoke. Once you’ve found a pair that have breathable exteriors and good amount of ventilation, these kitchen shoes should keep you much more comfortable and get you through the day without as much sweat on your feet. Not only that, but good ventilation helps in hot weather, too: most kitchens that aren’t in a restaurant will have large windows that let a lot of heat inside, and tile floors can warm up quickly.
Breathability and waterproofing can actually be achieved at the same time with the right materials, so a mixture of both is usually a very desirable combination: they protect you from both water and heat, two things that kitchens have a lot of.
Protection
Proper foot protection is a must in a kitchen environment, especially one that other people share. While dropping a spoon onto your foot won’t hurt, an entire plate probably will, and dropping a sharp knife directly onto your feet is a quick way to end up in a hospital or having to bandage yourself up. A small amount of durability can help with this, absorbing most of the impact: your toes might still hurt slightly, but it’s not going to be as serious, and you’ll be able to keep cooking without needing to take very long to rest and let the pain fade away.
This matters even more in industrial kitchens or crowded restaurants where multiple people are having to use various appliances in a limited area. You never know when something can fall or get dropped, and these kitchen shoes are a good way to protect yourself.