How to Do a Pedicure at Home: A Guide for Men

How to do a pedicure for men who want to keep their feet comfortable and presentable without going to a professional pedicurist.

DIY At-Home Pedicure

I now have a sedentary job, but I used to wait on tables for a living, so my feet were constantly under stress. Especially because I couldn’t sport the most comfortable footwear; sneakers would have been preferable to dress shoes.

Needless to say, my corns and calluses often became overwhelming to the extent that only a professional pedicurist could deal with them.

I must be honest: you’ll never get the same results at home. After a salon pedicure, it seems as though you’re walking on air.

You revert to a healthier gait, your backache vanishes, and you stop feeling tired and fatigued almost instantly. This was important for me, because it meant I could do my job more efficiently.

An added bonus was that my feet and nails were so buffed and polished, I started wearing slides in my free time.

But my needs have changed. I’m now able to keep my feet comfortable and presentable with a DIY at-home pedicure.

Having watched my pedicurist over several years, I carry out most of the same steps. I improvise a little, but the main difference is that I don’t know how to properly use a nail drill machine (so I don’t have one), and I wouldn’t trust myself with a callus and corn plane (a pedicure tool with a razor blade).

The result is therefore not quite as buffed and polished, but it certainly serves its purpose.

Items Needed for a Home Pedicure

A bowl of warm water
Baking soda and/or Epsom salts
Toenail clippers
A large emery board
A rubber cuticle hoof or orangewood sticks
Petroleum jelly, castor oil, or cuticle remover (available from drugstores as either a gel, liquid, or cream)
A pumice stone
A pedicure rasp (if necessary)
A bath brush or body scrub
A rich textured foot or moisturizing cream

Bath brush to scrub feet during a home pedicure. — Exfoliate with a bath brush or body scrub.

1. Soak Your Feet in a Foot Bath

Unless you’ve just come out of the tub or shower, begin with a foot bath. Soak your feet in a bowl of warm water for about fifteen minutes to soften nails, cuticles, and calluses.

If you’ve got a lot of hard skin, add a couple of tablespoons of baking soda and/or Epsom salts. Both are excellent skin softeners.

2. Shorten Your Toenails

Next, cut your nails with a pair of toenail clippers to a length about even with the tips of your toes. Always cut straight across; rounding them off at the corners could lead to ingrown nails, which is an excruciating condition requiring medical attention.

3. Remove Cuticles

If necessary, loosen cuticles with cuticle remover, then push back with a rubber cuticle hoof.

If you don’t have a cuticle remover, use petroleum jelly (Vaseline) or castor oil instead. Simply apply to the cuticles and allow to work for 15 minutes.

Never cut cuticles. Doing so will leave your nails prone to infection.

4. File Your Toenails

When your nails are completely dry, smooth them with a large emery board. Use its rough side first, then its fine side. Always file from corner to center and never back and forth, as this can damage the nail.

5. Reduce Calluses

You need hard skin on the parts of your feet that bear the brunt of your weight, which are the heels, the balls of the feet, and the underside of the toes—especially the big toe. Therefore, don’t remove completely, otherwise standing and walking will become painful.

Reduce calluses by gently rubbing with a wet pumice stone.

If you’ve allowed them to become thick and uncomfortable, you’ll need a pedicure rasp, also called a foot or callus file, which looks a bit like a very fine citrus or nutmeg grate. Apply to the hardest skin only with gentle back-and-forth strokes.

I use the Credo Smart Cutter, a tool that safely combines the advantages of a rasp and a plane.

If this isn’t enough and the skin is still thick and hard, don’t resort to a plane unless you’re very sure of how to use it. A liquid callus and corn remover with salicylic and lactic acid is a safer option. It will relieve discomfort almost immediately, and soften all hard skin within just a few days.

I have a couple of reoccurring corns. As soon as one is removed, another appears. So part of my morning routine is applying corn remover.

6. Exfoliate

Once calluses have been reduced or removed, exfoliate with a bath brush or body scrub—there’s no need to invest in one made especially for the feet.

In case you don’t have a bath brush or scrub at hand, a sugar scrub is ideal, and very simple to make. Just mix sugar with any vegetable oil to a smooth paste and add lemon juice or vinegar. Or you could use baking soda in place of sugar.

7. Moisturize

Finish off by massaging moisturizer into your feet. Any cream will do as long as it’s fairly heavy, like Nivea Classic. On the other hand, I’d recommend a foot cream with at least ten percent urea, which you can use daily. This minimizes the development of corns and calluses.

A Credo Smart Cutter, for removing calluses. — My Credo *Smart Cutter*.

Between Pedicures

To keep your feet in good condition, use a pumice stone two or three times a week, massage between your toes with a towel after showering or bathing, and apply a foot cream daily.

Not everybody likes the idea of showering cold, but it’s a good idea to at least run cold water over your feet before leaving the stall. This increases circulation enabling nutrients to be better transported nearer to the skin’s surface; you’ll notice a difference in skin and nail condition.

If you’re prone to sweaty or even smelly feet, there are many deodorizing foot powders available. But a one-to-one mix of baking soda and corn flour is also worth a try—it’s a lot cheaper. I sometimes use this under my arms.

To keep calluses under control, try a foot peel mask with lactic acid every few weeks. This comes in the form of a plastic sock, which you wear for about an hour after showering. It has a delayed effect, so that you can literally watch the dead skin peel away after a few days.

How Long Should You Wait Between Pedicures

As already stated, you need some hard skin to serve as protection. And nails that are over-cut could become prone to infection and injury; don’t forget, toenails don’t grow as quickly as fingernails. Therefore, carry out a full pedicure no more than once every four to six weeks.

Personally, I just wait until my toenails need cutting again.