NVA Foot Wrap, Surplus

After a long break, the East German foot wraps are back in stock! We used to sell these as shoe polishing rags at some point. A surprisingly good model among its peers. Sold as single pieces!

These are approximately 48 x 48 cm sized cloth rags. The material is cotton flannel. Finding suitable foot cloth flannel is surprisingly hard; it has to be somewhat thick but still very supple to work properly when folding them. These are made of pretty good stuff, and are even sewn around the sides to prevent them from fraying. The NVA model is also quite easy to fold.

"Why would I use foot wraps instead of socks?" we hear you cry? Let's see. Firstly, for the price of one pair of good socks, you could buy several pairs of foot wraps. The low cost isn't a sign of bad quality either, as these will outlast socks easily in heavy use. Simply fold the thing around your foot at another angle.

Secondly, they are easier and faster to dry than socks. Fold them open and hang them to dry, just like any other rag. Washing is easy too. If you wash them in a machine, 40 degrees or maybe even 60 degrees Celsius should be fine.

What about the everyday problem of finding the right pair of socks? Well, that's not a problem with foot wraps! They all look alike and are the same size. You could even lend your wraps to a friend (we wouldn't, though)! The colour shades DO differ a bit though, so it would be wise to pick a somewhat matching set if you are about to go to, say, a wedding or some other similarly formal occasion.

Of course, there are thousands of other uses for foot wraps, and one is the above function of using them as a rag to clean and polish boots with, a role in which they preform rather well.

Usage

It's an art in itself to fold them so they don't chafe, but when wrapped right, these can be compared to socks in comfort. See the pictures for one method of folding them. According to our field tests, this style works well enough.

First, place your foot diagonally on top of the soft side of the rag. Then fold the front corner over your toes. Next do the same to the sides. Last, wrap the excess around your ankle and you're done. It's very important to make sure there are no creases on the underside of the wrap.

Genuine army surplus

Real deal stuff from the seemingly endless dead stock of the former DDR. Unused - not worn at all, so these are sort of clean, but you probably should wash them still before use.