Being a chef entails more than just creating scrumptious dishes. Long hours of working in the kitchen require a lot of mental and physical activities. Not to mention being at your feet almost all day. This is why chefs should also have the ideal shoes for their daily needs.
What Are Kitchen Shoes?
To a chef, kitchen shoes are considered one of the most important pieces of footwear they can invest on. Unlike any other footwear, chef shoes are designed to meet the needs of a chef or any individual that works in the food industry business.
Working in a kitchen can be a challenging job. Having to be at your feet all the time while making sure to avoid accidents is something that chefs and kitchen workers need to do on a daily basis.
Kitchen shoes provide comfort to chef’s and kitchen workers while they put in long hours of work. It also ensures that their feet are protected from any possible accidents like spilled liquids, slippery floors, and falling objects around the kitchen.
The kitchen is filled with utensils, tools, and equipment that needs to be handled with utmost care to ensure safety. However, there are mishaps or accidents like malfunctioning tools or falling utensils that can injure a chef’s leg or feet.
The same goes when working for liquids. These can cause slippery floor and as a result, can do more damage if the proper footwear or shoes if not worn while in the kitchen. Not only that, but hot liquids can also cause accidents when spilled.
All these can be prevented if the proper shoes or footwear is worn. That is why chefs look and invest in the ideal shoes. Additionally, kitchen shoes should also be lightweight and comfortable to wear. After all, the goal for you is to be at ease while working inside the kitchen.
When scouting for the ideal pair of kitchen shoes, keep in mind that it will be a pair that will keep your feet protected at all times, it should be slip resistant, waterproof, and most of all, lightweight and comfortable to wear.
How to Clean Kitchen Shoes?
Cleanliness is important in all work environment and for maintaining good personal hygiene. To keep your kitchen shoes or footwear clean at all times, here are some things you can follow.
1. Wiping it down regularly. When working inside a kitchen, accidents like spilled sauces and other liquids often happen. These also often leave a stain if not removed or clean immediately and properly.
To keep your kitchen shoes or footwear clean at all times, make sure to wipe them down regularly. You can do this easily using a damp cloth or rag. Alternatively, you can take a piece of cloth and damp it with water.
Avoid waiting too long before cleaning your kitchen shoes because stains can be harder to remove if this happens.
2. Washing it with plain water. In some cases, dirt and stain especially the ones that have hardened over time will not be wiped away easily.
In this case, it is better to wash your kitchen shoes or footwear with plain water. Give it a gentle scrub to get rid of any accumulated dirt and stain. Afterward, you can let it dry.
3. Washing it with soap and water. For stubborn dirt and stain that might have attached itself on your kitchen shoes, the best thing to do is to wash it using soap and water.
For this option, you can opt for any type of soap, preferably a detergent to soften the dirt and stain. Using a small brush, gently give it a good scrubbing. Once done, rinse it thoroughly with water and then let it dry.
Additional Tips:
Ideally, your kitchen shoes should be water resistant. However, if you have kitchen shoes that are not, you can easily waterproof them by using protective sprays.
Make sure to dry your kitchen shoes properly after washing it. This is to make sure that your feet will not feel wet while wearing your kitchen shoes. The last thing you want is to develop smelly feet as a result of this.
Avoid overwashing your kitchen shoes. While it is best to keep your kitchen shoes clean, you also need to avoid washing it too often. Overwashing can degrade their durability and appearance.
Can I Wear Sandals in the Kitchen?
Often times when we hear the term sandals, what comes to mind is open-toe footwear with straps to secure your feet in place. If you think about using that type of sandals inside a kitchen, then you better think twice.
With all the possible mishaps that can happen inside a kitchen during work hours, wearing something like the common concept of sandals may not be the best idea. It is not enough to protect our feet from possible work-related accidents.
Be that as it may, there are now sandals that have full toe coverage. These types can be footwear that you can use while working in a kitchen. They are also designed to be slip resistant, lightweight, and waterproof.
Wearing sandals inside the kitchen will greatly depend on the specific design of the sandals itself. As long as it has full coverage to protect your toes as well as being waterproof, and slip resistant, then it is a possible option.
Where to Buy Kitchen Shoes?
Once you have the right kitchen shoes in mind and you feel like you have determined the specific features you need for it, you can begin to scout for it. There is a wide range of kitchen shoes that are available at local shoe stores around your area.
Be that as it may, as an alternative to visiting stores one by one, you can opt to search online for that perfect kitchen shoes. There are websites that cater to kitchen supplies that may also offer a variety of kitchen shoes you can choose from. Another viable option is going to Amazon for search and shop for it.
