5 Easy Foot Scrubs You Can Make At Home For Supple, Smooth Soles

So if you haven't thought twice about exfoliating your feet, well, consider this your sign to send some love to your soles. Below, five foot scrubs that will buff those calluses baby-smooth:

Gloria L. Williams, Oprah's pedicurist and founder of Footnanny, swears by this simple sea-salt/sugar scrub to buff away calluses. "This is something easy for you to try at home," she offers. 

Baking soda has a slightly abrasive texture that can gently slough off dead skin—that's why it's formulated into many body scrubs, face scrubs, and even scalp scrubs. Here's what you'll need for this two-ingredient wonder: 

Use whatever physical exfoliator you have on hand—brown sugar, sea salt, and finely ground flours all make top choices. Might we suggest oat flour, as the ingredient can help soothe inflammation and support barrier function (perfect for more sensitive soles).

Coffee and caffeine are lauded in skin care circles for stimulating blood flow, which can make your soles appear radiant and bright. Not to mention, the confection smells just divine. Feel free to add a few dashes of vanilla extra for even more of a dessert-inspired scrub. 

ACV is naturally full of AHAs, specifically lactic, citric, and malic acids, which can give your foot scrub a chemical boost. Since you're adding a chemical exfoliator, you might want to go easy with your physical base—perhaps use finely milled oat or almond flour instead of abrasive sea salt. You don't want to irritate the feet, here. 

Don't just slap on the scrub and call it a day. Mind these tips: 

Simply fill your tub, sink, or basin with lukewarm water and soak for five minutes; you can also drop in some Epsom salts or add a few drops of a nourishing oil or soap for extra skin softening. 

Remember: With physical exfoliators, you control the pressure—and while you may benefit from medium pressure on tough heels and calluses, be careful not to scrape up the more delicate skin on your soles. "Rubbing too hard can aggravate your skin," Plescia warns, which can only result in angry, irritated feet. 

The moisturizing step is, arguably, just as important as the exfoliation bit. After scrubbing, you want to seal all those skin-healthy oils and lipids into the skin, as well as the water you just used to rinse. An oil, lotion, or foot cream keeps everything locked in—without it, your skin may appear even drier than it was before. 

Find a foot cream loaded with emollients, which have the ability to sit in between skin cells, fill in any micro-cracks, and soften irritated skin. (Here, our favorites.) Hot tip: You don't need to get a foot-specific cream, if you don't want to. Hand creams effortlessly play double-duty for both your hands and feet.

When it comes to any type of exfoliation, a once-a-week cadence is a solid place to start: See how your skin reacts, and work your way up from there. 

For soft, supple feet, foot scrubs work wonders. The skin runs a bit tougher (especially on tough calluses), so you can have a bit more freedom with DIY ingredients that wouldn't necessarily work for other parts of your body or face. As always, though, make sure to patch-test before slathering on—painful, tender soles are certainly worse than dry heels.