Anyone have washable or disposable slippers?

We have lots of rugs but upstate NY winters are cold and we’d like to offer slippers to guests, especially since we ask to leave shoes/boots at the door. Either inexpensive disposable ones people can take home or washable ones we keep for future stays. Ideas? Recommendations? Any idea what hotels offer? Thank you!!

Our local Chinese bazaar has decent looking slippers for around €5 a time. Depends on your price point, but I’d head off to your equivalent type of store to see what they’ve got.

JF

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Ah sadly here in the country the closest store like that would be down in NYC a few hours south :frowning: Next winter we’d take the trip for sure!

I got mine from IKEA

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The only safe approach I can think of is the nonslip socks that hospitals give to patients. Anything like a scuff, a flip-flop, or anything with a smooth sole could cause people to slip or trip. I wouldn’t want the liability.

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I see your point, but we thought it would be seen as a nice luxury (and those hospital socks don’t exactly feel lux lol)

Oooh thanks! Didn’t even think of IKEA!

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We use disposable and get them from Amazon. They are only used by less than half our guests. Mind you, we’re in Florida and not the frozen north. :slight_smile:

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Ha! Could you share a link of which ones you get on Amazon? So many choices…

I don’t have the link to hand but they’re described as ‘spa slippers’ and they work out at under a dollar per pair. Our apartments only sleep two people so I leave two pairs and it seems like a lot of luxury for next to nothing cost-wise. We supply bathrobes too and one of our neighbours once complained about a guy walking around in ‘just a bathrobe’. No mention at all of people in swimming shorts or bikinis. They’re okay evidently but not bathrobes!

:roll_eyes:

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I knitted a few pairs of thick, warm slippers, and leave two pairs in the listing at a time, a smallish one and a largish – although they are nearly one-size-fits-all. Swap them out to wash them with every turnover. Many guests do use them in the winter.
One guest liked her pair so much she bought them. That was just the one guest though, so I wouldn’t say they are awesome. They use up odds and ends of yarn and are in whatever pattern I feel like trying. But they wouldn’t have to be colourful and scrappy. They could be a nice cream or black.
If you are not a knitter, but you like the idea of knitted slippers, someone in your family or neighbourhood might be? Or maybe try Etsy?

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Maybe you should start an Etsy side hustle! Or I just need to learn how to knit…

IKEA will deliver to select locations so you don’t have to wait to drive downstate.

These look pretty durable but are still at a price point that it wouldn’t matter if guests took them with them. They may even have them on special periodically.

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I suppose it wouldn’t be hard keeping up with demand if I sell only one pair every decade, which is my record to date…

Slippers are a good beginner project. It’s what they started us on at school in home ec.
Ooo, maybe I could make it an Airbnb experience! I’ll teach hosts how to make slippers!
Or not. Those IKEA ones look pretty nice. :wink:

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I supplied grippy slipper socks and most people didn’t use them. Although one person took them home, despite clear instructions to leave them with the used towels under the vanity. (Yes, yes, guests don’t read, I know.) Now I have some packaged spa slippers my enterprising elders gave me from a hotel visit, and not one has been opened.
So I put this under the category of host amenity expenditures that generate no payback. Although people are strange psychologically. Just the slippers being there, albeit unused, may make the lodging seem more caring and luxurious. Ya never know.

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Back in the day when most flights from Europe to the Far East went through ANC because they couldn’t fly in Russian airspace, in the early 80s, I flew BA to LHR from SEA going over, and returned to ANC, since JNU is halfway between SEA and ANC. Since most passengers on the flight were going on to Tokyo, Seoul, or Taipei, clearing customs in ANC was much less crowded and busy than SEA, and much less hassle.

On those flights from LHR to the far east, BA issued every passenger on the 747 an eye mask and a pair of white cotton terry slippers.

I saved them from both flights, and shortly after I opened, I found them, still sealed in plastic bags for 35+ years, just like new. I didn’t have a Japanese guest until summer 2019, and she was surprised but very pleased when I offered her a pair at the shoe removal area in my front porch. I told her to take them with her.

I still have the other pair. If, for some reason, I started getting a lot of Japanese bookings, I might order a few pairs on Amazon.

I do advise in my house rules that I don’t allow outdoor shoes in the house (cleaning + every footstep on my hardwood floors comes through downstairs) and advise bringing slippers. My robovac cleans so well that I haven’t had many complaints about socks getting dirty.

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I absolutely believe this. I have steadily upgraded my listing over the years. Whether it’s shutters, a better handheld shower, coffee or sheets I’ve been able to raise my price and get good reviews. I’m not being dinged on value and yet I sometimes was at 40% lower prices. I’m always looking for more ways to upgrade at a price that makes sense.

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Yes yes!! I think it truly can be small touches that set you apart. For example- we invested in some decent chef knives and a Cuisinart set of pots/pans and have received compliments from folks who love to cook. 100% worth the upgrade.

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Thanks for asking this question! We’re in the tropics, but we’re located in a forest and our house is open air - meaning the floors get dusty almost immediately after being mopped. The bottoms of my feet are really dirty by the end of the day and I’d love to find reusable slippers/etc. for our guests - something that can be washed or cleaned, not thrown out.
Ideas?

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Did you see the IKEA slippers I linked above?