Hikers’ wool is a mainstay of my first aid kit. I was first told about it by my friend Hazel, who used it when she walked the Camino de Santiago. It has a natural loft that protects your feet from friction – and therefore blisters. You just push it into your sock in the offending area or wrap it round your toes to stop it from moving. Hazel tapes hers in place, but I have found that the wool sticks to my socks after a while, so I don't bother.
Hikers’ wool was an absolute blessing when I was walking the South West Coast Path and rather foolishly gave myself large, deep blisters on the balls of my feet. (I recommend not walking for hours over uneven ground with your shoes loose…)
I plastered my feet and then wrapped the wool around the toes each side of the painful area, leaving a pad under the sore bit. At their worst, the wool made the difference between needing to take some time off and being able to continue walking.
Initially, Hazel gave me some of her supply, but then I realised that it was very similar to the wool I have in my crafting stash for needle-felting. This seems to work just as well, which means that I can match the wool to whichever socks I’m wearing that day, and don’t have to import wool from New Zealand.
If you’d rather use the real thing, there’s a link at the top of this blog.
probably unhygienic, but I use wool gathered from fences in sheep country. Leicester breed for preference.
a colour coordinated blister pack!!!