Having beautiful toes can make you feel confident and comfortable wearing open-toed shoes, slippers, or even barefoot. It’s easy enough to make feet look attractive but dirty toenails can definitely ruin the whole look. More important than just for appearance sake, you will need to keep your toenails clean for hygiene purposes.
You can get dirty toenails by keeping your toes often inside socks, stockings, or tights. Moisture can be trapped inside shoes and socks making toenails prone to fungus and bacteria. And your feet might smell bad too, but that’s for another article.
Here are five easy steps to help you keep your toenails clean:
1. Wash your feet. Whenever you come back home, you bring dirt and bacteria from wherever you went along with you. Don’t think that since you’re wearing shoes your feet and toenails are safe from bacteria. Take off your shoes and socks and let your feet rest for several minutes before washing them. Use lukewarm water for washing. To make sure your feet don’t get fungus, you can use apple cider vinegar to wash your feet.
2. Use a soft brush when cleaning your toenails. Dirt and bacteria can get stuck in the corner of your nails. Use a soft brush so you don’t hurt yourself where the skin might be sensitive. Use an antiseptic soap to help get rid of bacteria and prevent fungus from growing. Do this regularly and not only when you come back from the outside.
3. Clip your toenails regularly to keep them short. Your feet always get exposed to elements that can make them dirty, like mud, water, and dust. The best natural way to keep your toenails clean is by keeping them short to avoid the buildup of dirt and bacteria under the nails that over time can be difficult to clean. Long toenails are also at risk of accidentally chipping or breaking, and that can be painful.
4. You can use a nail file to clean your nails and not just for filing or trimming. A pointed cleaner stick can be used to clean the end and corners of your toenails. This is best done after washing to help make digging out dry dirt easier. Just be careful not to apply too much pressure that can break your nails.
5. Moisturize your nails. Moisturizing your nails keeps them strong against chipping and cracking. Make sure to also rub moisturizer on your cuticles as this will help you grow stronger nails.
