For several years now, when I travel, I have been taking slippers with me. Hotel rooms and Airbnbs have gross floors, and it’s not logical to assume that they’ve been anything more than vacuumed or dust mopped between guests. Which means if the guest before you stepped in dog crap and wore those shoes into the room — well that doesn’t really vacuum out, now does it?
There’s a million reasons, even in an extremely clean country like Japan, to assume the floor is dirty. I never used to think about this, so sorry if you had never thought about it either, but here we are, and travel slippers are a must bring for me — even for a single night. I’ve tried loads of different ones over the years, but on this last trip I bought everyone in my family these Montbell ones — they are perfect for this use.
Comfortable, versatile, easy to wash, and easy to pack.
Materials
Despite the look, these are not wool and leather.
They are ‘CLIMAPLUS’ uppers which is 100% polyester in a fleece like knit — though quite thin such that even in very warm places they were no issue to wear. The sole is synthetic leather, and is otherwise unspecified, but feels just like a leather sole. Montbell lists these at 2.9oz in weight — they are very light. And they are made in Vietnam.
They come with a very nice stuff sack which fits both slippers neatly inside of it, and leaves no extra room. Thus you can slip them in the top of your bag on your way out, and not worry about dirtying the rest of your stuff. The back heel can be pulled up over your foot, or folded down flat so you can more quickly slip these on and off.
It’s a nice design, and the padding is just enough. Comfortable, easy to pack. And most importantly: machine washable, and dryer safe. They come out of the wash looking brand new.
In Use
As I mentioned, I bought these for travel, and I bought a pair for everyone in the family. We all love these. They are slippers, so I am not going to go very deep here, instead here’s the highlights:
- When in the stuff sack, they are very thin and clean in looks. It’s one of those items I like to describe as ‘great kit’ because everything about them seems optimized for exactly how you’ll want to use them.
- These are far more comfortable than I expected. They have light padding, but it’s just enough that you won’t be feeling like they are simply a sock.
- These synthetic leather sole offers good grip on wood floors and stairs, while not being over bearing in anyway.
- The polyester upper is fleece in nature, but is so thin that even in 80°F areas of old Japanese homes, my feet never felt like they were overheating. And in the colder areas, my toes stayed comfortable and warm.
- After you get them a little broken into your feet, they are pretty easy to take on and off. I did find that with a thicker sock, I was not able to slip these on without using my hand. However bare foot, it was easy enough to slip these on without pulling the back over my heel. But they are significantly better to wear with the back pulled up over your heel, and offer a very secure and comfortable fit that way. This can be done quickly, one handed.
- These are essentially perfect for travel.
- The price/value is exceptional.
- I washed and dried these without any special care, and they came out looking brand new.
I can’t think of any significant downsides to warn you about here at all.
Overall
These are the perfect travel slippers, and according to my daughter, also the perfect slippers at home. And, to be clear, floors in hotels are gross, you need travel slippers.
They are also a bargain at $42 — buy here — they are fantastic.