Home & Independence
For 15 years, my patients whispered the same question. I couldn’t answer it — so I started StepDry
Claire is a physiotherapist. She’s helped hundreds of people walk again after operations and bad backs. But one small, embarrassing problem kept coming back — and nothing she tried solved it.
Who I am, and what I do
My name is Claire. I’ve been a physiotherapist for fifteen years, and most of my week is spent in other people’s homes.
I see people after a new hip or knee. People whose backs have stopped cooperating. People carrying a few extra stone who are tired of being in pain. And people whose bodies have simply got stiffer as the years have gone by.
My job is to get them moving again. We practise the stairs. We practise getting in and out of a chair. We practise the walk to the end of the road and back. And when it goes well, they don’t need me any more — which is exactly the point.
The question nobody asks out loud
But there’s one question that always comes at the very end of a visit. Usually in a whisper. Usually once the family has left the room.
“Claire… how am I meant to dry my feet?”
For years, I didn’t have a good answer. I’d suggest sitting down, a long-handled aid, taking it slowly. They’d nod politely. And the next week, I’d find out they were still struggling.
One lady told me she’d asked a physio the same thing years before, and was told nobody had ever asked. They had. They just hadn’t asked out loud.
The people who changed my mind
It was never one patient. It was the same story, again and again, in different living rooms:
Margaret, 79, six weeks after a new hip
She was doing brilliantly on her stairs. Then she admitted she was sitting on the loo lid every morning, stretching down to her feet with a towel, terrified of overdoing it. Her daughter was coming round before work just to help her dry.
Dave, 62, with a back that won’t bend
He’d been secretly using his wife’s hairdryer on his toes, sitting on the edge of the bed. She caught him. He laughed about it — but he also said he hadn’t properly dried between his toes in months.
Sue, 58, a few extra stone and a cold bathroom
She simply couldn’t reach. So she’d stand on a towel, give up, and push damp feet into her slippers. “It comes to us all,” she said. I didn’t think it should.
Helen and her mum
Helen told me her mum always asked her to dry between her toes when she visited. Both of them hated it. Then her mum stopped asking — and started saying she’d “had a good wash”, while the bath sat dry and dusty.
Joan, who said it best
Joan joked that what she really needed was a “body dryer” — something you could just step onto and come out dry. We both laughed. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Why something so simple gets so hard
Drying your feet asks your body to do three things at once: bend down, balance, and reach. After a new hip or knee, with a stiff back, carrying extra weight — or simply as the years add up — doing all three at once stops being simple.
And it happens at the worst possible moment. You’re wet, the floor is wet, the bathroom is cold, and the shower has already used up your energy. So many people told me the same thing: it wasn’t the shower that wore them out. It was drying off afterwards.
And the hardest part, every single time, was between the toes.
Everything I tried first
I went through every option I could find with my patients. None of them really worked:
| What we tried | Cost | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Towel on the loo lid | Free | You still have to bend right down |
| Foot on the side of the bath | Free | Balancing on one leg on a wet floor |
| Hairdryer on the toes | Already own | Sitting, bending, and a cable near water |
| Long-handled toe dryer | £5–£15 | Fiddly; most people found it didn’t really dry |
| Wall-mounted body dryer | £565–£1,800 | Needs an electrician and building work |
| Asking someone to help | Their time | The thing people hate most |
So I made a list of what it actually needed to do
After years of watching people struggle, I knew exactly what the answer had to look like:
- Both feet stay flat on the floor — no balancing
- No bending down — the drying comes to your feet
- Gets between the toes, where towels miss
- A hand free to hold the sink or a rail
- Works sitting down, for people who can’t stand for long
- No electrician, no building work — just plug it in
Then I found it: a small step-on dryer that ticked every box. I tested it, I showed it to my patients, and I watched their faces when they stepped off with dry feet for the first time in months.
That’s when I decided British homes needed it too — with a simple routine anyone could follow. So I started StepDry.
Take back your comfort →What StepDry is
StepDry is a low platform, about the size of a bathroom scale. You step onto it and it switches itself on. Warm air comes up from underneath — onto your feet, between your toes and up your legs. Step off, and it switches off.
It doesn’t replace your towel. Your towel does your top half. StepDry does the bit you can’t reach.
The 4-step routine I teach everyone
- Pat dry before you step out. Still inside the shower or bath, pat off the worst of the water with your towel.
- Step on. StepDry sits on the dry floor outside the shower. It switches on by itself.
- Hold on and relax. A hand on the sink, a rail or a chair back. Both feet stay flat on the floor while the air does the reaching for you.
- Step off. It switches off. Sit down to put your socks on.
Rather sit down?
Sit on a chair or the closed loo and rest both feet on StepDry. It switches on just the same.
The two questions everyone asks me
“Won’t it give me a shock?”
It’s the first thing families ask, and it’s the right question. Here’s how StepDry is meant to be used:
- Plug it in before you shower, with dry hands. Never touch the plug or the socket while you’re wet — that’s the one rule I give everyone.
- It sits on a dry floor, just outside the shower — never inside the shower or the bath.
- You pat off the worst of the water first, so you’re not dripping onto it.
- It’s IPX6 rated against water splashes.
- It only runs while you’re standing or resting your feet on it — step off and it stops.
Some people keep it in the bathroom, others just inside the door or in the bedroom, where it’s warmer and there’s a chair to sit on. Wherever it goes, it stays on a dry floor.
“Will it soak my bathroom?”
No. The air only blows up onto your legs and feet — not around the room. And because you’ve already patted off the worst of the water inside the shower, there’s very little left to dry. StepDry simply sits where your bath mat used to go.
Other things people ask
“I can’t stand for long.”
You don’t have to. Hold the sink or a rail, or sit down and rest your feet on it.
“Is it warm or cold air?”
Both. Warm air for cold British mornings, cool air in summer, and two speeds.
“What does it cost to run?”
Under 1p a use.†
“Is there a weight limit?”
Yes — up to 120 kg (19 st).
“Do I need anyone to install it?”
No. Take it out of the box, plug it in, step on.
Is StepDry right for you?
I always tell people to be realistic.
A good fit if you
- Can step onto a low platform
- Can stand holding the sink for about two minutes — or sit with your feet on it
- Weigh up to 120 kg (19 st)
- Have a socket nearby
Not the right fit if you
- Need hands-on help to stand or transfer
- Want to use it inside the shower or bath
- Are looking for a medical treatment — StepDry is not a medical device
If you’re not sure, try it. If you’d still rather reach for a towel, you can send it back within 90 days for a full refund.
Try StepDry at home
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+ FREE StepDry Easy Routine Guide
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+ FREE Easy Routine Guide
+ FREE Quick-Dry Bath Mat
+ FREE No-Bend Foot Scrubber
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†Based on 2 minutes at 960 W and an electricity price of 27.6p per kWh.
Advertisement. *This is a dramatised story. Claire and her patients are fictional characters created to show how StepDry is used. Claire’s views are not medical or professional advice. StepDry is not a medical device. Always follow the user guide supplied with your StepDry.