How to make non-slip soles for your slippers

There are many benefits to making your own slippers. If you make your slippers with felt or crochet, you can design them to suit your own personal style. There are a lot of different patterns available that you can use to make slippers for you or your kids.

You will need to make non-slip soles for your slippers in order to optimise the safety of both kids and adults. Felt is a slippery material that can cause accidents and severe falls if there is no material on the sole to provide that grip effect on the floors.

There is a set of different methods and solutions you can use to create a non-slip effect for your homemade slippers.

Make non-slip soles with liquid latex

You can buy latex in liquid form at a well-stocked hobby webshop that sells hobby articles, materials and tools. You brush the liquid latex on the undersides of the slippers and let the product dry. You might benefit from using a craft stick or a spatula, but you can also use a brush. However, be sure to wash it thoroughly quickly afterwards, as it can be almost impossible to get it clean again if the latex dries on the brush hairs.

If you want to speed up the drying process, you can use a hairdryer.

Always work with liquid latex outside. The product is kept liquid by the chemical ammonia, which can cause nuisance to the respiratory tract and affect the indoor climate. 

Liquid latex is a good option for making non-slip soles for your homemade slippers.

Liquid Latex for soles and carpets/Latex Sock Stop

Repairing leather or rubber soles

If your kids wear out the soles on their old slippers, they will need some freshening up. Children will naturally wear a lot on their soles. They walk, run, play and tumble, and the slippers may therefore need repair from time to time.

If you notice that the old soles on the slippers are starting to look worn out, it is time to renew the non-slip soles. You can choose to use either leather or rubber soles for the purpose.

You will usually be able to find the soles in different sizes that you can adjust to fit your child's slippers perfectly.

The big advantage of using leather is that it wears out much slower compared to latex glue and rubber. Be sure to choose thin and soft leather (it should be thinner than wash leather).

You can sew the new soles by hand with a leather needle. This is easier to control than if you use a sewing machine.