Health

PedEgg

Foot scraper

Between being over 40 and having run 14 marathons, I have feet callused enough to require “dealing with” on a regular basis. The PedEgg ($12) is a microplane type set of blades attached to an egg-shaped compartment that not only makes it very ergonomic, but also collects all the lovely “stuff.” Very easy to use while seated in the living room rather than precariously perched over a sink or wastebasket, or balancing in the shower on one foot. I’ve tried pumice stones, rasps, and the super coarse emery boards with no luck — those all take forever to get the job done (and none has a built-in mechanism to capture the shavings or dust). I thought I’d found the perfect answer in a microplane kitchen grater (not something most people would admit, since it makes guests wonder what other kitchen utensils have been pulling double duty).

Now that I have the PedEgg, the grater has been retired, officially. I use it about once every 2-3 weeks when there’s 1/8″ or more callus to remove. It leaves a very smooth surface. Surprisingly, it’s more aggressive than the fine microplane I had. And you can buy replacement blades should it ever wear out. It also has an emery board on the outside of the cover for final smoothing of your feet. Overall, I’d guess the PedEgg is at least twice as fast as the microplane and four times faster than an emery board on dry calluses. Of course, if you work on your feet after a shower when they’re soft, any of these techniques are faster.

-- Yitah Wu 10/1/18

(This is a Cool Tools Favorite from 2008 — editors)

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