Why Are High Heeled Shoes So Damaging To Floors
Vinnie Breidenthal
A few weeks ago there was a similar thread in the gals only section, but I thought I'd raise the subject again.We just had a visit from my sister, and after she left we were surprised to see some marks and dents on our floors from her heels. She was wearing kitten heels, only about an inch and a half high but with a tip as small as most stillettos. We had never noticed any damage from much higher stilleto heels so I thought about it a bit and did a few calculations.With a higher heel, more of the wearer's weight is tranferred to the ball of the foot, so there is less weight on the heel. When I stand in 5" heels, I notice that it takes very little effort to raise my heels off the floor, because there just isn't much weight on the heels. Let's assume that with flats or kitten heels, approximately 80% of the body weight is on the heels. With 3" heels, there might be 50% on the heels. With 4" heels, I would guess that 70% is on the ball of the foot and 30% on the heels, and with 5" heels, I'd guess that the ratio is 80%/20%. I know these are only rough estimates, but they are good enough to illustrate the point.My wife, who weighs around 140 lbs., wearing 3" heels, would put 140x.5= 70 lbs weight on the heel. With a 4" heel, that would drop to 140x.3= 42 lbs.If I weigh 190 lbs., then I would put 57 lbs. weight on a 4" heel, and only 38 lbs on a 5" heel.But my sister, who is lighter than either of us at 130 lbs., puts a whopping 104 lbs on her 1.5" kitten heels!Amazing when you do the math!
Holy crap....Thats an excellent point you make here Himark....I'm about to lay all new wooden floors in my new house so I think its going to be a total ban on any pointy heels in the house anywhere...Total bummer I know but when you look at the cost of flooring, and more importantly, how damn difficult it is to fix wooden floors once they are glued in place, its not worth the bother...I would guess that anything thats 2inches or less probably still has 100% of the bodyweight on the heel I could of course impose a 6" or higher only rule for any heels entering the house
I would never put footwear over having a nice home... Engineered wooden floors are far better than "laminate" but anyway, not meaning to go off topic, but I would never reconsider how I build my house or decorate it to suit a pair of shoes, thats just nuts... (IMHO)
Very true. A related factor is in how well the shoes are "balanced," this having to do with the shape of the arch and other things. I've had many pairs of 5" heels that were easier to stand and walk in, and created far less ankle and leg strain, than much lower heels. I also recently bought some 3/4 arch-support insoles that improve the balance of any court shoes in which they are placed. I find that, regardless of heel height, the more stable and better balanced they are, and the more arch and ankle support they provide, the more my weight winds up focused on the heels. My highest, for example, are a pair of K523 lace-up oxfords with 5.5" heels from Leatherworks. They are balanced such that most of my weight winds up on the heels.
Hello, I have been renting a fully renovated chalet during the year. A guest visibly threw an Halloween party and really damaged the hard wood floors. The place does say in the ad and rules no parties and no shoes inside. We have found around 200 high heels holes on the floor that are quite visible. I feel very bad as I have spent a lot of time renovating the place and making it look as great as possible. Repair cannot be done except by removing the entire wood floor.
My boyfriend's sister invited me go to out with her and her friends today, as my boyfriend is out of town. She and her friends are super fashionable, and she said I should dress up, and mentioned that I should wear heels. I don't own many heels, so I ended up wearing a pair of stilettos that I had worn many times and had the metal pin in the heel tip showing. Anyways, we went out for a while, and then decided to go to one of the friend's house, which had wood floors. When we were entering, I started to take my heels off since I knew my heels would damage the floors, but the friend who owned the house said it was fine to wear shoes indoors. I said I didn't want to damage her floors, and she laughed at me and said that heels don't cause damage to her floor as it was hardwood and when I tried explaining, she cut me off by laughing again and said that everyone present was wearing stilettos and they always wear heels on her floor all the time without damage. I took them off anyways, but then everyone looked at me, started giggling, and my boyfriend's sister laughed and said that I probably just couldn't handle heels, and the homeowner said I looked like a 6th grader who couldn't handle heels that hurt at a school dance, and then everyone started laughing uncontrollably while mocking me for taking of my heels. I felt utterly humiliated and after a bit I went back and put my heels back on, and only then the mocking stopped. I felt bad that my heels were probably denting the floor and suggested taking off shoes, but was met with more laughter and mocking that I couldn't deal with the pain from heels so I didn't do anything.
Anyways, a while after we all went home, I got an angry phone call from my boyfriend's sister and the friend we went to about how I had ruined the floors. I said that I took my shoes off at first and told them, but was mocked and dismissed, but my boyfriend's sister said she didn't think I was such a slob who would wear worn down shoes. She called me an asshole and a slob before telling me that I should pay for for repairs. AITA? I feel bad for damaging the floors, but I tried not to by taking my heels off and was mocked for that.
Funny enough, high heels were first worn by men but for far more practical reasons. Heels allowed a horseman more balance when using the stirrups. Eventually, high-heeled shoes also became a symbol of higher social standing and women began wearing them too. Even Louis XIV posed on his portraits wearing such shoes because they were not considered feminine.
Pet nails can be trimmed, furniture can be equipped with pads, dirt and dust can be cleaned or limited thanks to the heavy use of rugs and doormats. However, there is no reliable way to protect your floor from the high heeled shoes, except by simply not using them.
i also would not take lessons if shoes were not allowed. not that i wear them all the time, but it should be my choice. now, i have been dancing for a while. if it was an issue of being new and not wanting the beginners to wear heels till later that is different, but i think you just mean for the floors.
The pressure under a stiletto heel is greater (per unit of the very small area) than that under the feet of an elephant.[5] Thus, as the very narrow stiletto heel became more widespread in the 1950s, the owners of many types of buildings became concerned about the effects of large numbers of such heels on their floors, especially in historic and high-traffic public buildings. Specifically, there was concern that the heels would either damage certain types of floor covering or cause minor accidents through heels getting jammed in floor-grills, the gaps in planking, or uneven surfaces. Soft outdoor ground also caused problems, affecting both the surface and the wearer. Wood flooring was the most vulnerable, but carpets, linoleum, and mosaic floors were also considered at risk of damage. Signs were frequently posted attempting to ban stiletto heels, though they were generally ineffective. A 1963 article in a US building maintenance magazine stated, "Replacement of floors is estimated to have cost at least half a billion dollars throughout the country since the advent of the stiletto heel fashion."[6] The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service claimed in 1963 that "with style changes the stiletto-heel problem has diminished".[7] In 2023, a gay club called Bunker opened in Washington, D.C., and it banned high heels, as well as open-toed shoes and flip flops, "for customer safety." However, this ban on high heels was dropped within a month, with the club's website stating instead of an outright ban, "Bunker welcomes the attire of all gender identities and expressions. However, Bunker is a dimly lit, underground dance club with concrete floors and steps. As a safety precaution, we strongly discourage the wearing of high heels. Open-toed shoes are prohibited."[8]
Some women have challenged the expectation that women should wear high heels in formal social situations. In 2015, a group of women were turned away from a film première at the Cannes Film Festival in France for wearing flat shoes, including a woman physically unable to wear heels due to an operation on one of her feet.[10] The women complained that this was a sexist policy which forced women into a stereotyped appearance; festival organisers later responded that "the rumour that the festival requires high heels for the women on the steps [was] baseless."[10][11]
In 2019, a petition against mandatory high heels was started in Japan with the hashtag #KuToo, blending the #MeToo movement with the Japanese words for shoes (kutsu) and pain (kutsuu).[33] The Japanese Minister of Labor has stated that it is acceptable for companies and others to require women to wear high heels as long as it is necessary and appropriate for the job, with reference to socially accepted norms.[34][35]
Guests arriving in fancy high-heeled attire or heavy duty snow boots dripping with melted snow can spell trouble for floors that, while durable, are subject to damage from moisture, damaged shoes and scuffing from various footwear.
Shoes with hard heels or points can be very dangerous for floors. High heels and sports shoes do not evenly distribute weight, making dents and pock marks a very real risk. Even shoes with soft bottoms can still track and grind dirt into your floors, transforming your shoes into stylish sandpaper. The best remedy is to remove shoes altogether, offering your guests soft slippers to use when in your home.
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