Valenki are warm and comfortable shoes. They are worn in a remote village, and in cities, and in respectable villages. These winter shoes are made from felted wool. Better than sheep. High-quality felt boots keep their shape well, do not get wet for a long time, absorb and evaporate moisture. They are warm and comfortable even in severe frost. It is believed that these are medical orthopedic shoes, because. felt boots sit on the leg, taking the shape of the foot. I was struck by the story of one man whose leg healed surprisingly quickly after a serious fracture. The person who told me about it did not take off his boots “day or night” until his leg healed. His old grandmother, who was ninety-five years old, had strong healthy legs. She thanked her favorite felt boots for this.
Choice of boots
Before choosing boots, you need to decide why they are needed. Will it be everyday winter shoes(instead of boots), shoes for walking in nature, a tribute to fashion or "shoes for fun."
Of course, it is worth estimating how much money you can allocate for the purchase. Especially if you want to buy interesting designer models that are expensive. Such felt boots are decorated with embroidery, fur, appliqués and even rhinestones.
When choosing boots, you need to take into account the features of hand felting or machine (factory) production. Felt boots are not felt boots. Like boots with a zipper (there is no such production technology), with seams, insulated from the inside with fur or other material. It is a mistake to mistake fashionable Finnish boots Kuoma (Kuoma) and warm fur boots for real Russian boots.
Valenki-dumpers(beaten, hand felted) connoisseurs consider the only "correct". The traditional method of felting has survived to our time, but it is gradually being replaced by the industrial one. It began to be increasingly attributed to folk crafts.
Factory boots(machine rolls) sin in that they are often simpler, rougher and colder than dump trucks. Often made from wool with various impurities. Modern felt production is capable of producing high-quality felt boots from selected semi-coarse wool without any impurities. But they also lose to self-driving cars.
Gray boots. Connoisseurs consider "natural" only gray felt boots. They are the warmest and fit perfectly on the leg.
White boots. There was a time when white felt boots were made only from selected wool of white sheep. Now they take light thin wool of certain breeds of sheep. Such felt boots of natural color will be both beautiful and warm. Their price is higher than that of gray ones.
Charcoal black boots(especially factory ones) are usually painted. For this, natural paints are not always used. Poor-quality dye can cause allergies and give an unpleasant "chemical" smell. Felt boots are often made of very dark natural wool. Then they will be "almost black".
Felt boots are comfortable for the city with waterproof rubber sole. I prefer the option with galoshes. Especially when underfoot is not dry sparkling snow, but a wet mess. Or you have to go along the road treated with caustic reagents. I advise all my friends to buy not the usual black galoshes, A transparent silicone. They are soft and have a tenacious tread, which is important in icy conditions.
Felt boots with a short shaft are sometimes called " homemade". They are often worn in cool rooms.
We buy felt boots
1. Good felt boots are elastic, medium hard and with a good smell. Too soft boots badly "stand", lose their shape when worn and can quickly become disheveled. Masters call them underfilled». Hard boots rubbing and squeezing the leg. The inner surface of any boots should be smooth, without bumps and bumps. Well, if there is some correspondence in the shape of the heel of a person and the heel of boots.
A well-made boot quickly straightens out when it is bent and then released. Or squeezed hard. The heel and edges of the foot at the boots should also spring and not wrinkle. Not all felt boots pass the elasticity test, even in a warm room. A good felt boot should be slightly springy. It is said that individual craftsmen make magnificent felt boots, the tops of which can be rolled up into a tube, after which they instantly straighten out.
Boots should be warm, but not heavy.
Before buying, you need to check the wall thickness by touch. There should be no obvious thickening or thinner places on the bootleg. The heel and sole in high-quality felt boots are more dense. Without this, a hole will be rubbed on the heel over time, on which you will have to put a patch.
When buying, pay attention to the symmetry of the boots. Be sure to try them on both feet.
There should be no bad smell. This is, first of all, a sign of the poor quality of raw materials and workmanship. In addition, wet wool stinks more. If new boots have an unpleasant smell, then it is unlikely to disappear.
When buying felt boots, connoisseurs take a lighter with them. They quickly conduct a flame over a small part of the boots. At the same time, natural wool gives the same smell as a scorched bird feather from a pillow, feather bed or down jacket.
Size. Felt boots should be larger than the shoe size. You can measure the length of the foot and add 1.5 - 2 cm. When wearing felt boots, they are trampled in width and sit down, decreasing in length. Factory boots shrink more, so when buying them, they sometimes add up to 3 cm.
I would advise buying boots a size larger than yours. Sometimes a difference of two sizes is advised. It's too much.
Often they use a table that contains the size of shoes and the size of boots. The difference between them is 12 units. For example, shoes size 38 - boots size 26. There are two exceptions: shoes size 39 - 40 - boots size 27, shoes size 41 - 42 - boots size 28. The most popular female size boots - 26th.
We wear felt boots
Getting more and more popular designer models felt boots that look great with sheepskin coats and down jackets. Fur coats and coats (classic cut) are not worn with felt boots. Valenki look stylish with knitted things.
Before the first sock, you should decide which boots will be right and which will be left. Let's fix this with some mark. If there is a drawing, patch, etc., then in the future you can navigate by the pattern. In felt boots on each leg, shoes eventually take the shape of the foot.
Taking care of boots
Caring for felt boots has its own characteristics. Wet felt boots are not dried on a radiator or by the stove, so that they do not become hard and do not lose their shape (on the leg). It is better to stick a newspaper in them and dry at room temperature.
After walking with boots, you need to shake off the snow. More convenient with a broom.
Dirty boots are cleaned with a not very hard brush or a slightly damp sponge (rag), but they are not washed. After washing, felt boots are deformed and lose their best qualities. When cleaning with a damp sponge, you can add any carpet cleaner to the water. There is another way to clean boots, which is rarely mentioned. Semolina (groats) is poured onto the contaminated places, rubbed into the felt, and then a brush is used. This method is only suitable for light boots.
Valenki - a delicacy for. Before storage, they must be cleaned and all measures taken to prevent damage. For example, put lavender or a special moth pill into each felt boot.
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Fashion tends to come back. So, recently felt boots have been experiencing a revival, which are no longer perceived as village shoes. Today it fashion trend demanded by modern women.
History of occurrence
Pimas worn by Eurasian nomads 1,500 years ago were the prototype of this felt footwear made of felted wool. IN Ancient Rus' boots appeared during the period of the Golden Horde - they were brought by the Mongolian and Turkic peoples.
Until the 19th century, these were the shoes of exclusively wealthy people, and then there was usually only one pair for the whole family, which was used in turn. Note that Tsar Peter 1 himself liked to wear felt boots. The nineteenth century was the time of the mass distribution of these products. Interestingly, by the beginning of the 20th century, a pair of factory-made boots could be bought for only two rubles, but during the revolutionary period, their cost increased significantly (up to about 15 rubles).
The main centers of the felting industry were located in the Yaroslavl and Kostroma, Tver and Nizhny Novgorod provinces. By the way, in Yaroslavl now, as before, they are breeding a special Romanov breed of sheep, it is distinguished by thick warm wool and rolls very well.
In the city of Vyshny Volochek there is a museum that tells the history of the Russian felt boots, here you can see the first domestic models of these shoes, the king-felt boot (two meters high), a carding machine, as well as other interesting exhibits.
Valenki - the most practical and comfortable shoes for a real Russian winter. In addition, sheep wool is famous for its healing properties: it provides a light foot massage, improves blood circulation. Its main advantage is the ability to retain heat even in severe frosts.
Modern felt boots are an interesting topic for design developments, and foreign fashion experts are also involved in this. These shoes today are no longer associated with a rough design and gloomy colors. The ability to keep warm is successfully combined with elegance, an example of this is Kuoma Finnish felt boots.
Kinds
There are various types of these shoes. Classic boots- This simple models, with no decorative embellishments. They leave a lot of room for creativity to decorate the product to your liking.
Author's felt boots- things decorated with embroidery, rhinestones, decorative braid. For example, models from Vyacheslav Zaitsev are very popular in the bohemian environment. Author's felt boots can be made to order, and then the product will be truly exclusive.
boots-boots with lacing in sports style- ideal for winter walks and trips to nature. The laces make it possible to securely fix the shoes on the foot.
Burki- a male variety of boots: the leather bottom of such shoes is combined with a white felt top.
Homemade felt boots– special models for indoor wear, a more comfortable alternative warm socks, fabric slippers and rubber slates. Such a thing will wonderful gift children and adults, such as New Year or Christmas.
Souvenir boots- lovely miniature items with a wide variety of decor, which are bought as souvenirs.
Wedding boots purchased specifically for newlyweds. They are decorated with embroidery typical for the celebration, elegant lace, etc. Paired models designed for the bride and groom complement each other.
Paired options for a mother with a little daughter also look cute. This style is called family look very popular today.
fashion models
Today, there are three types of boots:
- Classic all-woolen products (broken).
- Available with rubber or polyurethane soles.
- Models made of woolen cloth, but with insulation - batting, bike or fur, as well as a sewn-in sole. Such products are useful for thaw.
Finnish boots are popular. These models are equipped with a heat-insulating polyurethane sole that does not allow slipping on ice. The top of such models is treated with a special composition that prevents the adhesion of dirt and dust, and inner part has a high quality pile.
Fashionable boots of the 2016-2017 season are richly decorated with rhinestones and fringes, embroidery and painting, as well as other spectacular details.
Boots today are produced both in the traditional form with a flat sole, and more intricate, for example, with a heel, platform, wedge. Designers even offer stylish stiletto boots that will create feminine image even in severe frost. But still, products on a wider stable heel or wedge are more practical and stable.
The shaft of the boots can be long or short, loose or tight. Also, the upper part can be tightened with laces, fastened with a zipper or Velcro, fixed with an elastic band.
The polyurethane sole of the boots (especially often found in models with heels) does not wear out and does not slip. As a rule, it is ribbed - it removes water. It is preferable to choose options with a thick sole, which will more reliably protect the wool from dirt.
Various manufacturers in a competitive environment, they equip their boots with various useful elements:
- Removable insoles, including embossed ones.
- Padded back.
- Knitted cuffs to keep snow and wind out.
- Extra taped seams.
- Reflective elements for safety at night and in bad weather.
What are they made of?
Initially, felt boots were made exclusively by hand from sheep's wool, with white versions from the Mongolian breed, gray ones from Caucasian and Central Asian sheep. However, there were separate samples from the wool of goats and dogs.
Note that the manufacturing technology for several centuries, in principle, has not changed. This process is not difficult, but it requires physical strength, as well as patience. Sheared wool must be thoroughly washed and cleaned of impurities. Then it is weighed and the necessary proportion of "autumn" and "spring" raw materials is formed: it is she who determines the color and softness of the finished shoe. After the wool is sent to machines, where it is loosened and mixed until a homogeneous mass is obtained. The raw material is aged for a day, and then it enters the next workshop where finished products are formed from it.
Today, elite boots are made from camel wool, it is much lighter than sheep, but just as warm and strong. Also, designers insert leather, felt, satin, lace fragments into ordinary felt boots. Often, these shoes are decorated with fur details, such as naughty pompoms.
Color and print
Today, felt boots are produced not only in traditional restrained colors. Every fashionista can find a color to her taste.
Winter is the time to please yourself with catchy tones that will cheer up everyone around you. Fashion designers offer options for purple, crimson, orange, bright blue, mint. Of course, the classic white and black are still present.
Felt boots in metallic shades and gradient models with a transition from light to saturated color, additionally decorated with embroidery, look original. Smoky gray options with an elegant ornament on the top are in demand.
In the winter season of 2017, the folklore style is in trend - it is embroideries and painting in the traditional Russian folk style (flowers and berries). These shoes are a wonderful means of self-expression. Northern ethnic motifs also look interesting.
Brands and factories
Finnish brand Kuoma produces lightweight boots with excellent moisture-repellent properties and a durable sole. These models are distinguished by bright colors, suitable for everyday wear and for a business wardrobe. Unlike felted counterparts, they can be washed in a typewriter without compromising their appearance.
British designers of felt boots are mainly focused on the youth environment and are characterized by the "urban chic" direction. These are options with catchy embroidery and original prints. However trade mark Keddo offers felt boots in a classic style of calm colors.
Stylish and elegant felt boots produces Cooper(Slovenia). Many models are decorated with elegant perforation, embroidery. Many options with a quilted textile upper.
The domestic manufacturer of felt boots is presented big amount factories One of the leaders is Yaroslavl factory for the production of felted shoes. The company offers both traditional products and felt boots with rubber and polyurethane soles, with various types of finishes. In addition, the range includes home felt slippers. Souvenir products are also made, including those made to order, with the logo of the customer organization.
Factory "Kalyaev" sews felt boots with different lengths of tops and heels. The range of models, decor and colors are striking in their diversity.
Among the others Russian manufacturers Let's call the companies "Tofa", "Kotofey", "Zebra".
How to choose?
When choosing boots, take into account the method of manufacture. Take handicrafts strictly according to your size. Machine-made models, on the other hand, tend to shrink, so they should be two sizes larger (buy only one size more for rubber-soled options).
Shoes should not be too tight Otherwise, you will feel uncomfortable walking. But even a very soft felt boot is a sign of under-felted raw materials, it will not keep its shape. Try to squeeze the product - good wool is slightly springy.
Also pay attention to the smell.: if it is unpleasant - the wool is poorly washed. This smell will not go away with time. High-quality felt cloth is homogeneous, without lumps and thickenings. Please note that the inside of the boots should also be smooth, in thin places a hole may gradually appear.
How to care?
At proper care this shoe is able to last at least 7 years.
- When you come from the street, immediately shake off the snow from the boots so that it does not melt on them. And in wet weather, it is better to prefer rubber boots or put on special galoshes on felt boots (now there are transparent options that do not affect the attractive appearance).
- Remember that boots never need to be washed. After all, a raw canvas will definitely deform and lose its presentable appearance. When you need to clean the dirt - use a brush with natural bristles, in extreme cases - a slightly damp cloth.
- It is also unacceptable to dry wet felt boots on a radiator or heater. After this procedure, the wool will harden. Felt boots will dry well at room temperature.
- These shoes must be carefully stored, since natural wool is a bait for moths. Place the boots in a plastic bag, remembering to put an insect repellant in there. Periodically check the condition of the product.
Fur boots, felt boots, shoes, wire rod, felt boots, chesanki, combed felt boots, felt boots, pima Dictionary of Russian synonyms. felt boots felt boots, rolled wire (simple) Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z. E. Alexandrova. 2011 ... Synonym dictionary
felt boots, felt boots and felt boots, units felt boots, felt boots, for women, and felt boots, felt boots, for men. Winter shoes made of felted wool, like boots. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
felt boots- VALENKI, chesanki, unfolded. valentines, unfolded rolled wire, open pimples, open pima reduce. caress VALENochki, reduce. caress garlic ... Dictionary-thesaurus of synonyms of Russian speech
VALENKI, nok, unit nok, nka, husband. Soft winter boots made of wool. Hemmed in. (with sewn-on leather or felt sole). | adj. felt boots, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov
Felt boots- VALENKI. See Equipment1. The dictionary material containing the information referred to in this link has not been published... Military Encyclopedia
FELT BOOTS- Winter (see winter*) boots made of tightly knitted wool. Felt boots are made in a special way, felted (that is, rolled and kneaded while floating) from sheep's wool. From the verb to roll comes the name of this common in ... ... Linguistic Dictionary
FELT BOOTS- If you saw felt boots in a dream, then the quarrel that happened to you with a loved one will not drag on and even more so will not bring any serious consequences, no matter how you fear it, considering yourself to be the main culprit of what happened. See… … Dream Interpretation Melnikov
felt boots- (Russian felt boots) Russian zimski chizmi od valano cloth ... Macedonian dictionary
Nok, nkam; pl. (unit boots, nk; m.). Soft winter boots with a high top made of wool. Hemmed felt boots (with sewn-on leather or felt soles). ◊ (Siberian) boots. About a stupid, narrow-minded person. ◁ Valenochny, oh, oh. In oh... encyclopedic Dictionary
felt boots- nok, nkam; pl. (unit wadded/lenok, nk; m.) see also. felted boots Soft winter boots with a high top made of wool. Hemmed boots (with sewn leather or felt soles) felt boots ... Dictionary of many expressions
Books
- Felt boots
- Valenki (ed. 2019), Moshkovskaya Emma Efraimovna, Lagzdyn Gaida Reingoldovna, Solozhenkina S. A pair of cozy little felt boots on a string are two wonderful books with winter poems for kids. Poems by E. Moshkovskaya, M. Stepanova, S. Solozhenkina, G. Lagzdyn, folk songs and ...
Nowadays, it has become fashionable to wear the clothes and shoes of our great-grandfathers. Old traditions are returning and taking root in modern style. An example is felt boots, which we will discuss in this article.
How to choose high-quality boots
Soft winter shoes should be natural and the warmest. To distinguish real sheep's insulated boots from industrial stamped boots with additives, you need to know what to look for when choosing. This:
What are boots: forms, brands, country of origin
Thanks to new features and technologies, felt boots are becoming more beautiful and better. Stylish boots with embroidery, Velcro, with rhinestones from designers are the ideal companions of fashionistas in the cold harsh winter.
To choose the right beautiful boots, you need to know how they differ:
Modern felt boots have the shape of a rounded toe without sharp corners, as in the old days. This is the classic form used by many manufacturers. Now there are many varieties of these shoes, like sports, folklore, glamorous, which have different shape different toe and height.
Felt boots with fur trim
Boots with embroidery
Decorating with fur, stones give an unusual shape to the product. But this is for those who like experiments. Classic boots will not go out of fashion, thanks to their simplicity, comfortable shape and pleasant, discreet look. 
Now the production of this shoe has only begun to gain momentum. Creating practical and ultra fashion shoes struck the minds of many entrepreneurs, as a result of which small firms and large enterprises appeared. High-quality boots can be found in any corner of Russia. Australian boots are famous for their unusualness. Countries such as Latvia, the USA, Kazakhstan also keep up with fashion trends, producing high-quality winter shoes for adults and children. 
How to determine size
When buying in a store, you can try on boots and buy the right size. But when choosing on the Internet, this is not possible. Now many people do their shopping remotely, so it is important to know which pair will fit your child or you personally.
Need to know: Any boots never spread in length: on the contrary, they can shrink over time and “spread” in width.
Alternatively, you can calculate the desired size of boots from your size by subtracting the number 13. But it is best to use the size grid, which already has all the data, according to which it will not be difficult to choose the right option for yourself. There are separate sizes for adults and children.
Boots size chart
How to wear boots correctly
Felt boots are designed for severe frosts, as they are able to warm the leg without pinching the foot and allowing blood to circulate naturally in the limbs. But many doctors resist the idea of buying these shoes for babies under 6 years old. They claim that flat sole develops flat feet. Alternatively, you can purchase orthopedic insoles specifically for them, which will support a small foot. correct form.
Felt boots embroidered with beads
Anyone who has come across felt boots knows that when buying they have the same shape and do not differ for the right and left legs. Only after wearing they become like ordinary shoes. In order for the boots to take the correct shape, you must initially designate them for yourself and wear them exclusively on a specific leg, without changing their places each time. Adults can also get flat feet if they wear such shoes all the time. Doctors recommend wearing these shoes only in severe frosts. 
Boots under the dress
Felt boots are versatile shoes that can be worn with anything. They will look great with outerwear from natural fur or leather. This style looks great both in the village and in the center of a big city.
- Felt boots are suitable for down jackets, but here you need to be careful to choose shoes according to the style.
- Sports winter jackets will look funny with overly feminine felt boots with lots of rhinestones and decorations. The ideal option is simple boots without stickers and additions.
- An elegant down jacket, on the contrary, requires the same shoes. Here you can pick up products of glamorous color, with low heels or with a very long top, which completely breaks all the old traditions of wearing felted boots. But fashion should not stand still, so any experiments are acceptable in our time!
- Under the classic coat, it is advisable to choose boots with a more folk, folklore image, you can hand embroidery and brushes. An addition to the image will be a scarf decorated in an old fashion around the neck or on the head.
- Felt boots look with any knitted items, especially those made in a slightly rough, simple coarse knit.
Caring for felt boots: can they be cleaned and washed
In wet, damp weather, such shoes are not worn. Unless you can buy galoshes for felt boots so that they do not get wet. Wet material may change shape or shrink. This suggests that washing them is not recommended.
After a long walk in the snow at home, you need to immediately chip away all the snow before it melts. And then dry it in a warm place: you can put it on a battery that is not too hot. High temperatures can ruin boots. The sole will become hard, shrink and lose the desired size.
As a drying option, you can lay out the inside of the shoe with newsprint, which will quickly draw in all the dampness and allow the felt boots to dry. Rubber galoshes should also be dried in a warm place and avoid hot surfaces that can distort the shape.
If the boots are very dirty, got into the mud, anyway: washing them is not allowed. To clean the surface, you just have to wait until the dirt dries. And then it will be easy to chicken out and clean the felt from dry dirt.
Valenki for home, indoor
On a note: In summer, you can dry your felt boots in the sun and air them from time to time: by winter they will be in perfect condition. To protect natural wool from moths, you should store shoes in an airtight bag in a warm place, protected from moisture.
Where can I buy or order felt boots?
It is better to buy felt boots not in the market, where they can sell not very high quality, deceive and take a lot of money for next to nothing. Popular shoe stores usually provide a guarantee and offer the best, branded and natural for sale. Now it has become fashionable and popular to order shoes in online stores that provide a complete catalog for children and adults with the selection of the right size and prices for every taste. Often there are sales, allowing you to buy your favorite shoes inexpensively.
Stores such as https://www.shmoter.ru/valenki/brands, https://russkie-valenki.ru/ have many models of Finnish boots, Siberian, fur boots, Slavs and other varieties of popular shoes. Here https://www.valenkiopt.ru/ samples of children's shoes are provided, so there are a lot of options where you can buy high-quality boots.
How much are the boots?
They cost no more than ordinary boots with and without heels, platform and straight soles. If you wish, you can buy for the season not classic over the knee boots, but soft, comfortable felt boots that will last for several years with the right and permanent care. natural shoes may not be too cheap, but the price for it is acceptable and accessible to everyone.
On Avito you can buy felt boots from the manufacturer. They will cost much less, as they are sold immediately first-hand without resellers. This gives a guarantee that the shoes are created according to the best traditions, have a natural composition and will be worn for a long time.
Children's felt boots
You should not buy shoes at very low prices, as they may be of poor quality and short-lived. When choosing, you need to pay attention to the composition, quality and, of course, customer reviews in order to draw your own conclusions about the product offered.
Recently, traditional Russian shoes - felt boots, are gaining more and more popularity in fashion circles. Top models at the suggestion of well-known couturiers flaunt them on the main catwalks of the largest countries in the world. Of course, the appearance of such “fashion novelties” has been somewhat modified to fit into the everyday life of megacities more easily. But the very essence of this type of footwear cannot be changed by anything: they are very warm, natural and from them in good sense smells of Russian spirit.
Traditionally, such shoes are made from felted wool (in fact, the manufacturing process itself gave the name to the recognizable symbol of Russian culture), often sheep, but in our time there are exceptions. For example, no one can be surprised by a product made of camel wool, the use of which adds lightness and fluffiness to the familiar look of felted wool boots.
When did felt boots appear in Rus'
Scientists and archaeologists agree that winter footwear familiar to us begins its history even before our era. Something resembling the material of modern specimens was found during excavations in the Altai Mountains in one of the Pazyryk mounds.
In fact, felt boots are shoes made of felt., and at one time many household items were made from it: bedding, bedspreads, carpets, some items of clothing (even linings for chain mail), blankets for horses and much more. The most important advantage of using felt products is the versatility of this material: it is not hot in summer and not cold in winter, and it also perfectly removes moisture.
They are even mentioned in the famous "Tale of Igor's Campaign", and this, for a moment, is the XII century. Of course, about the resemblance to modern version needless to say, because a one-piece felt boot appeared in the Russian Empire only at the beginning of the 19th century. By the way, this pleasure was not cheap, and not every peasant in the country could afford such shoes. Of course, with the development of production, felt boots fell in price and became more affordable, but the brides had a special interest in the groom who owns such a dowry.
Reference! To make one pair of felt boots, you need about 1 kg of wool. Approximately as much material can be obtained by shearing one sheep of an ordinary breed and carrying out a complete cleaning of the wool.
It was already in the days of the Soviet Union that felt boots became publicly available, and even today such shoes can be purchased at a fairly low price. In some northern regions of Russia, they are still widely used in severe frosts.
Who invented boots
No matter how felt boots in our perception are strongly associated with Russia, historians still believe that the prototype of this seemingly 100% domestic footwear came to us along with the legendary Golden Horde. They looked, of course, not like the current ones, but the idea of \u200b\u200bcreation is attributed precisely to nomadic tribes of Turkic or Mongolian origin.
The very name “boots” cannot be associated with any specific historical figure, because, as in the case of the main centuries-old heritage of our nation, this word came from the people. True, it sounded somewhat different and varied from felt boots to rolled wire. In any case, the name of this shoe reflects the method of manufacture.
The main producers in pre-revolutionary Russia were factories located in the Kalyazinsky, Semyonovsky and Kineshma counties, as well as in the village. Kukmor.
In the entire history of the existence of such boots, the essence of production has not changed, only recently electric machines have come to the aid of a person for some stages of production. Basically, the manufacture of felt boots is manual labor, and it consists of several stages.
- Cleaning and washing. Sheep wool should be separated from various garbage. After that, washing in a variety of solutions, washing and drying of the source material takes place.
- Combing. Machine tools are often used at this stage, since pure wool is loosened and rewound on rollers to form coils.
- Giving the future boots shape. With the help of exclusively manual labor woolen boots are formed: they are given a shape similar to the finished product, but much larger.
- Felting and drying. In a special machine or manually, under the influence of steam and hot water, the felt boot is processed to the desired size, reduced, and put on the block. In this form, the shoes are dried for 6 hours under the influence of high temperature.
Modern manufacturing process
These days, boots are usually produced with soles in order to make these shoes more versatile. And yet, in areas where winter is mainly accompanied by slush on the roads, it is better to give preference to models with a surface specially treated for such cases.
What surprises curious minds to this day with these unique boots? Below we will give some fascinating facts, and you will understand that felt boots are truly unusual shoes, which have no analogues in the whole world.
- Fact 1. Boots, like flippers, are not right or left (provided that we are talking about a model without a sole). And they evenly sit on the leg over time, so you need to purchase these shoes one size larger.
- Fact 2. Due to the material and method of manufacture, felt boots retain their healing properties, like many natural wool products. They warm up the joints well and disperse the blood, which is most important for the older generation.
- Fact 3. The largest felt boot three years ago appeared in St. Petersburg, his foot length is 5 m. In the heel area there is a door through which anyone can go inside in the harsh winter and warm up. The smallest specimens in the world appeared in Omsk in 2012, the length of the sole does not exceed 3 mm.
- Fact 4. Making felt boots on your own is quite realistic. Indeed, recently felting from wool has become a very popular activity, and there is a lot of information on making felt boots at home on the Internet.