ON TOPIC - do I dare?

I'd do it first with the damp cloth wiping and see how it goes. Of course, if it's really bad, you can take out the pillow insert and then do the swish and soak in the cool water with white vinegar in the mix. Have fun.

My conundrum of the day - my nail gal left the place I go - now - hmmm - desperately need pedicure - so going to try a new place. How brave am I?

ellice

And that worked a treat! I'll let it dry a bit and see what I see. My poor cold hands!

Can't you trim you toenails at home R, D, H...... I must admit, I've never seen the point of doing more to my toes than cleaning and trimming the nails.

Well, I'm glad it worked, though it would have been crewel not to.

Oh - that hurts worse than my hands.

Oh for Heaven's sake! I wash my crewel pillows regularly - whenever I think they might be a little soiled. These are wool embroidery on linen, so I wash them as wool. In other words, fill washer (small load) with lukewarm water and mild detergent, swish it around a bit. Put in pillow covers, let swish for 30 seconds, then turn off machine. Go back half an hour or more later (sometimes next morning), swish round again, then rinse and spin. Roll each pillow cover in an old towel to get out more of the moisture, lay the pillow covers somewhere while you dry the towels in the dryer, then put those same old towels on the ironing board, lay the pillow covers on there face down and press them. If they are still a little damp, just lay them down somewhere clean and out of the way until they finish drying, then reinsert the pillow forms. Sew up the open edge if you did not install a zipper when you made them.

Olwyn Mary n New Orleans.

LOL - of course I can. That's not the point. I didn't start getting pedicures til I was probably in college - my DM loved the ladies at her salon, and I got addicted. Nails are the least of the thing. In Florida - living in open shoes a lot - feet being in good shape is something that helps.

Anyhow, they take care of all the ickiness - as in bumps, dry skin, great massage, and if you have any kind of ingrown toenail at all - much better having a good pedicurist do the trimming. The place that I go to does an awesome massage, soak, and skin treatment with it, exfoliant, etc. I generally go about 1x a month in sandal weather, same in winter if I'm skating a lot, maybe a little less if not.

My feet take a beating from skating, and, well, it's worth it. I don't do manicures much anymore (can't have nail polish with the medic stuff), occasionally will do one with the pedi. Usually one of my gal pals goes as well, and it's a nice kind of treat yourself 45 min-hour. And, you get to sit in the massage chair at the same time.

Honestly - my feet look and feel a lot better when they do it compared with me doing it. And I'd rather have them paint my toes - it's a much better job. Amazingly the polish almost always stays on really well until I go again. In between, I do the periodic soak (have one of those home footbath things). I just have really, really dry skin, and this works well for me. When you come visit - we can go!

ellice

OUCH - albeit irresistible.

ellice

I am an completely practical person - more so as I get older. I do the odd foot soak; I do rub my feet with various foot lotions, all quite fragrant. But as far as the way they look - heck, if they are clean, that is good enough for me.

Cheryl

I did the white vinegar thing that Ellice suggested. Worked a treat

Cheryl Isaak ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

For sure, I often wash my crewel pillows to freshen them. You will need to block them again a bit afterwards. I often just use hand dish washer detergent and don't bother with Orvus. Crewel wool, well wools in general are tough. Just use warm water (as in blood temp max), rinse very well and dry.

There's a time I'd have agreed with you Cheryl....but then along came breast cancer and tamoxifen, shutting down my estrogen.

Then the callouses on my heels got so thick and they'd crack and bleed. Now just try walking on cracked, bleeding heels.

So at my podiatrist and gp's urging, I now go regularly to get a pedicure, as well as using a prescription cream on my feet and keeping those heels pared down.

Additionally, all the leg massages and attention are just wonderfully luxurious.

Funny you mention the cracking heels thing - I have had problems with that ever since I got pregnant with DD. That is one reason I rub my feet down 2-3 times a week with which ever foot lotion/balm/salve that floats my boat (usually chosen for scent appeal).

Time and $$ for "luxury" doesn¹t exist.

Glad. The acetic acid in the vinegar helps with setting dyes or some such. Anyhow - it's a pretty standard thing to do when washing needlework - in the shop we always do that as part of the cleaning, prep before framing.

ellice

Try every night, and sleeping with some nice cotton socks on over the slathered on cream.

The pedicure luxury - it's not that pricey, and for once a month, for me, with the really dry skin, etc - it's well worth it. You might find doing it just every few months a worthy thing.

ellice

Udder balm works wonders on dry feet, as does anything with shea butter. But a pedicurist told me once that the very best thing for your feet is to slather your heels with Vaseline and wear socks. She showed me her feet, and truly, her heels were like a baby's.

I envy those folks that can sleep in socks. My feet sweat.

I can't sleep in socks either. My feet get itchy, and then my legs start to twitch, and that's all, I've gotta get up. But I do slather on lotion and put on socks earlier in the evening, or sometimes in the morning after my shower, but just for a while. When the lotion is all absorbed, off come the socks. The only time I really wear socks is in the dead of winter, and in Louisiana, that amounts to less than a month, all totalled.

I am so glad I'm not the only one. I would love to "oil up" (as DH puts it) and lay in bed with flannel sheets (that I would change in the AM). But since DH hates flannel sheets nearly as much as the scent of all that lotion......