homemade booties

Homemade Booties (to keep your feet warm & dry)

Step 1: Find a pair of thick socks.

Getting a pair that are a bit bigger than what you normally wear is advisable (see Step 2).

As for material, wool is great, because wool retains about 50 percent of its insulation properties when wet. Cotton is terrible, because it has negative insulative value when wet (as the mountaineers say, cotton kills). Some kind of thermal polyester or wool-poly blend is best (see Step 4).

Step 2: Put them over your cycling shoes.

Step 3: Cut a hole for your cleat.

You may also choose to cut a hole for the heel pad of your shoe...if you don't, one will probably wear into your sock before too long anyway.

(Further, optional steps.)

Step 4: Assuming your socks have at least some artificial fibers in them, carefully singe the edges of your new cleat hole with a match to prevent fraying.

Step 5: Waterproof your booties with Scotchgard or some other fabric waterproofer.

Step 6: Reinforce the toe with duct tape. (But don't tape up too much of your booties or they will lose their elasticity and you won't be able to get them on and off, plus they need to breathe.)

Step 7: If your new booties are too high, cut them to size (see Step 4). Another option is to cut your tights into knickers or leg-warmers into knee-warmers and just rely on the high booties to keep your shins warm.

Step 8: Take pictures and share them with us.

(Photos courtesy of Ryan Hoerner, Ship '09.)