With temperatures hitting record highs this summer, beaches—and their promise of cool ocean dips—beckon. But to reach the waves, it’s likely you’ll first have to cross an expanse of foot-scalding sand. Sand is made up of decomposed rock—quartz, mostly, but also calcite, feldspar, gypsum, or basalt, sometimes with a smattering of shell, coral, or fish poop tossed in—and according to Paul Jarvis, a geologist and volcanologist at the University of Geneva, it receives solar energy via the process of radiation. The composition of sand causes it to heat up as the day progresses and to retain that heat, reaching temperatures as high as 140°F—sufficient to inflict third-degree burns. Here are tips for protecting your soles from this painful outcome.
1. WEAR THE RIGHT KIND OF SHOES.
This seems obvious, but the level of protection you get depends on the kind of shoe you’re wearing. Materials such as plastic and rubber (what many soles are made of), foam resin (the stuff of Crocs), and the neoprene base of the Sand Socks that many beach volleyball players swear by provide a barrier between skin and sand. This helps cut down on conduction—the transfer of heat from the warmer surface of the sandy beach to the cooler surfaces of your feet. As a result, your feet are protected (at least temporarily) from blistering. And though they’re likely the first shoes you picture when you think of the beach, flip-flops and other open shoes should be avoided on especially scorching days, because they let the hot sand in.
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2. MAKE A PATH USING A COUPLE OF BEACH TOWELS.
Forgot your shoes in the car? You can protect your feet by rolling out a couple of towels to step on, repeating the process until you reach your coveted beach spot. The cotton of your towel is better at quelling heat transfer to your feet than the rubber soles of your shoes are due to what scientists call a lower thermal conductivity—“the measure of how fast heat can be conducted through the material,” Jarvis tells Mental Floss. However, your towel is also thinner than your shoe bottoms, and heat conducts faster through thin objects. In other words, you’ll have to hurry if you want to keep your feet cool.
3. RUN FAST …
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The less time the soles of your feet spend touching the sand, the less time there is for conduction. But sprinting is probably a technique best reserved for covering short distances or for morning beach visits, before the sand has had a chance to soak up the solar rays for several hours and achieve maximum temperature. Because no matter how fast you run, conduction is still happening, and after some strides, your feet will eventually begin to feel the burn.
4. … OR BURROW YOUR FEET.
If you’re loaded down with a cooler and tote bags, try a technique favored by professional beach volleyball players: Burrowing your tootsies as you walk, which puts your feet in contact with the much cooler sand beneath the surface. Because there are large gaps between grains of sand, it’s “unable to efficiently transmit heat … through the sand bed to [its] deeper levels,” Jarvis says. So dig in a few inches. This way of “walking” is actually more of a slow shuffle, but it’ll get you to your destination sans burns.
