The material I use to fabricate a pair custom made foot orthotics are made out of a close cell plastic. This means that no dirt, sweat or odour will seep into the materials. This design allows them to stand up to a lot of wear and tear over the years. I even have one client that puts her orthotics into her water shoes when she is canoeing so that when she is ready to portage, she just jumps right out into the water with her orthotics on and gets them completely submerged into the water.

 

Part of the fabrication process is heating the raw materials in a convection oven so that they can be moulded around the positive impression of your feet. So the second part of the conversation I have with each client that picks up their orthotics is to NEVER place them in the dryer, on a wooden stove or heating element. However, I do know that there has been on occasion times I do forget to tell my clients this or the other way around, my client forgets all about this caution and can’t remember if they can be cleaned at all.

 

So, this morning when I was in clinic, my second client I saw only after 6 months of wearing his pair of custom made foot orthotics, came back to let me know that he was working out in his barn, his work boots and orthotics got wet and pulled them out to dry. He then placed them on the wooden stove in their house to dry them because this is where all their wet mitts went to dry off. He said it wasn’t even 5 minutes when he came back into the room and saw his orthotics curled up beside the mitts. It was then and there he realized the material his custom made foot orthotics deform when heated. Now back after only 6 months, he had to be casted again for a new pair.

So, as a reminder to all my clients who are currently wearing a pair of orthotics that I have fabricated for them, PLEASE do not place your custom made foot orthotics in the dryer, stove or heating element, they will lose their shape and will need to be casted again for another pair.