Why Sheepskin?

Sheepskin Slipper Buyer’s Guide

1. By personally using different sheepskin slippers for the past 12 years.
2. By investigating countless negative reviews on competitor’s websites.
3. By learning in person from a famous shoe designer.
4. By personally learning from a seasoned slipper manufacturer.
5. By trial and error over the past 18 months trying to design the most comfortable and psychologically pleasing slippers for myself and my family.

Things You Need To Know When Shopping

1. What’s the difference: Shearling vs Sheepskin, Scuff vs Slipper, Suede vs Full grain leather and other terminology you need to understand.
2. Why are some slippers so expensive and some so cheap?
3. What characteristics define the best sheepskin slippers?

1. Sheepskin Slipper Definitions:

As you shop around reading sheepskin slipper descriptions, you need to educate yourself with the proper terminology. Here are the basics. 

Scuff - A slipper with no heel covering so your foot slips in hands-free.

Shearling - Sheepskin from a sheep that was slaughtered shortly after it was sheared.   

Faux - Fake or imitation sheepskin or leather deceptively made with Polyester, vinyl or other synthetic chemicals to look like a real natural material. 

Packed Out - When the sheepskin is pushed, flattened and compressed to the sides or underneath your foot.

Suede/Genuine/Split leather - The weaker, less dense, cheaper, hard to clean, easily stretched bottom half of the leather hide that is split off from the top half of the hide. 

Full Grain Leather - The dense and tough more expensive top 25% of the cow hide that has all of the strong tight resistant fibers called grain.

Upper - The part of the slipper that covers the top and sides of your foot.

Welted - The upper is attached to the sole of the slipper by visible stitching. High quality boots and dress shoes are almost always welted. 

Cemented - The upper is attached to the sole by gluing. It is faster and cheaper. 

Outsole or Sole - The bottom part of the sheepskin slipper that touches the ground. Made of suede, synthetic, rubber or solid natural leather.

Insole or Footbed - What the skin on the bottom of your foot physically touches when you slip it into the Slipper or Scuff.

Midsole - The cushion or padding between the sheepskin and the outsole to absorb shock and make the sheepskin slipper more comfortable once the sheepskin has packed out. 

2. How They Make Sheepskin Slippers So Cheap

Don’t ask the question, “Why are these sheepskin slippers so expensive?” but rather ask, “Why are those others so cheap?” Below are the ways they trick and offer them for such a low price. By the way, we’d rather compete on quality because competing on price is a race to the bottom.  

Trick #1

Made WITH Sheepskin - They put a little sheepskin where you can see it and stick faux fake polyester sheepskin where the sun don’t shine. Then they can technically say, “Made WITH high quality sheepskin”.

Trick #2

Glued On Sheep Hair - They actually shear the hair from the little scraps of useless sheepskin in the cutting process and glue it onto a thin skin of some kind and call it sheepskin. The hair rubs off the skin easily and leaves bare spots.

Trick #3

Made With “Genuine” Leather - Suede, Split or Genuine leather are all the same name for the low cost bottom half of the hide that was split off from the top half. It is easily stained, hard to clean and can stretch out too much. In it’s defense, it’s still a nice material but not nearly as good as full grain leather. 

Trick #4

Cheap Soles - A glued on cheap thick spongy foam sole $0.75. A glued on thin cheap rubber sole - $1.00. Our traditional skillfully welted thick leather sole $12.00. I believe Saddleback Leather is the only company offering sheepskin slippers with classy solid leather soles in the world.

Trick #5

Cheap Padding - They put cheap Walmart level padding in, like memory foam, that compresses and breaks down quickly. It’ll feel like you're walking on hardwood floors in a matter of months. Say No to memory foam in slippers.

Trick #6

Built With Cheap Synthetic Materials - Bacteria grows on polyester and other synthetics and that’s why shoes and slippers get stinky stinky. Faux sheepskin and cheap synthetic slipper layers and linings aren’t breathable, so your feet sweat and bacteria grows and then you have to wash your slippers over and over again, which breaks them down. Natural sheepskin wicks away moisture to keep your feet dry, but if you put your sheepskin slipper into a plastic bag and tie the bag around your ankle, your feet will sweat.

Trick #7 

Cheap Nylon Thread - It deteriorates fairly quickly and is only half the price of Saddleback’s industrial strength Polyester thread for a reason.  

Trick #8

Almost Free Labor Costs

If Sheepskin Slippers are made in the country whose government is documented as having a prison slave factory system and an outsourcing program for factories to use their 9 million known slaves to get manufacturing costs lower, then that’s one reason they’re so cheap. As their family wonders if they’ll ever come home. 

They Can’t Be Trusted

That same country is documented as actively exterminating an entire people group, harvests and sells their organs, imprisons, tortures and executes people for having a faith and encourages illegal stealing and knocking off of designs. Can you trust them to be honest about the padding, leather, sheepskin, glue and conditions in the factories they say they use to make sheepskin slippers? Search it for yourself to see if what I say is true. Please buy Sheepskin Slippers made ANYWHERE but there. There are many options. Don’t go for the cheapest. 

3. What characteristics define the best sheepskin slippers?

• Natural Breathable Materials - Leather and sheepskin let excess heat and air flow through them. That’s why all high quality boots and shoes are made as naturally as possible. When a synthetic layer is in there, it blocks heat and moisture from leaving and reflects it back to your foot.
• Long Term Comfort - All slippers are comfortable at first, but a year down the road is another story. Thick sheepskin is nice padding, but when it packs out, you’re going to want a long term high density foam to absorb the shock of your step. Say NO to Memory Foam. It’ll make any slipper feel Walmartish.
• Long Term Fit - Look for a strong not too stretchy upper so they don’t get loose inside from too much squatting and natural stressing movements. Full grain leather has tighter fibers and doesn’t stretch as much as suede. Or look for reinforcements between the sheepskin and leather that help the upper not to become too spacious. 
• Good Looking - No need to throw your dignity out the window to own comfortable Sheepskin Slippers. I believe the scuff I designed for Saddleback is the classiest and best looking sheepskin slipper that has ever been on the market, for me. The sole is solid and gorgeous and gives the scuff a mature and wise old fashioned grandfatherly feel to it. It’s just cool. 
• A Casual Feeling Sole - You’re not playing racquetball, you’re relaxing at home. So you want enough grip to not slip, but not so much grip that you can’t casually shuffle and spin your feet. It’s not a lot of work, but exerting that little bit of extra energy to constantly raise your slipper off the ground to move is work nonetheless.
• A Comfortable Sole - If the sole is too rigid and doesn’t give when you squat down, then the upper will get the stress and stretch. If it is too soft and floppy, then it won’t last as long. Solid vegetable tanned leather is my favorite sole because it softens, flexes and lasts for years.
• A Versatile Indoor/Outdoor Sole - Suede soles are great for indoor use only, but if you go to the mailbox or out to the car you’ll get small pebbles and grit stuck in it. And if the ground is wet, suede will soak it right up. Natural rubber is a good alternative. Synthetic soles are good for outdoors, but they aren’t as comfortable indoors and they aren’t breathable. The crocs material is lightweight and my favorite for outdoor slippers though. Vegetable tanned leather soles are fine on wet sidewalks and are my favorite for indoor and outdoor sheepskin slipper sole. They’re used for the soles of almost 100% of all high end boots and shoes today and were used for the sole of every shoe in history until someone put rubber on the bottom of military boots towards the end of World War I. I broke my toe on Thanksgiving and so wore my prototype slippers all day every day for almost 3 months straight. To church, work, the store, rain or shine. Now they’re perfectly broken in. 
• Easy Cleaning and Maintenance - Suede uppers are not easy to clean and stain easily. Full grain leather is easy to clean, resists staining and water doesn’t bother it. It should be conditioned every year or two though. Sheepskin is antibacterial and so doesn’t need to be cleaned often. Spot cleaning with shampoo or letting baking soda sit on and in it for 24 hours usually does the trick. Faux sheepskin or synthetics need to be cleaned more often because bacteria grows and multiplies on it and makes them stink.
• Break In Period - If they’re natural, breathable quality sheepskin slippers, then you’ll need to break them in like a baseball glove or good hiking boots. Usually two weeks of regular wear does the trick. The longer they take to stretch out, the less they’ll stretch later and the better long term fit you’ll get. If they fit perfectly right away, you probably made a mistake. 
• Biodegradable - Even rocks wear away and so will these slippers. And once they do, throw Saddleback’s away and they’ll almost completely turn back into dirt. 

How to Clean Sheepskin Slippers

Here’s how to clean sheepskin slippers if they get stinky, which mainly happens if your sheepskin slippers are made with a lot of synthetic and faux materials. That’s where bacteria grows. But if you own Saddleback Leather Sheepskin Slippers, that won’t be a problem because they’re designed with 95% natural materials that breathe and wick moisture away. To keep yours fresh, clean with these simple guidelines.

How To Get Stink Out Of Sheepskin Slippers - Always rinse your feet off before wearing your sheepskin slippers. They could stink if your feet already stink when you slip them in. 

• Light Stink - Sprinkle baking soda inside and leave them for 24 hour. Then vacuum them out. 
• Medium to High Stink - Leaving them in the freezer for 48 hours will help. 

How To Clean Sheepskin Slippers of Dirt or Extreme Stink - If someone or something really bad happened to them, here’s how to clean Sheepskin Slippers. 

• Sheepskin Inside - Lightly dampen the sheepskin and then lightly shampoo it with shampoo. DO NOT use detergents. Stuff an absorbent towel in there and step on it for 10 seconds. Turn the towel to a dry spot and do it again. Do not try to dry it quickly. Let it dry at room temperature in a place with good airflow or with a fan on it. No blow dryers. 
• Full Grain Leather Upper - Gently wipe with a damp cloth. Saddleback uses full grain leather so it’s pretty much unaffected by water. Chamberlain’s Leather Milk is a nice option for annual conditioning. 
• Suede, Split or Genuine Leather Upper (not Saddleback Leather’s Sheepskin Slippers - Be careful cleaning suede. We’re not really sure how to clean it. Google it. 

Leather Sole - Gently wipe with a damp cloth. Chamberlain’s Leather Milk is a nice option for annual conditioning.

Warranty and Return Policy

Fit and comfort returns - If your sheepskin slippers were the right length and you scuffed up the bottoms so they wouldn’t be slippery and wore them for a couple of weeks and they were still uncomfortable, then send them back. It’s not your fault if you were cursed by the gods with too delicate of feet. You weren’t meant to own a pair of the classiest and most comfortable bespoke like sheepskin slippers in the world. Return them. But ONLY if you gave them enough time though. 

Too Slippery? - You have to scratch and scuff up the bottom of the heel and ball of your foot so you don’t do the splits. It’s the exact same if you have a pair of custom boots or bespoke shoes made by the greatest shoemakers in the world. They all use the same rich and beautiful polished sole that needs to get scratched up. 

How To Make Them Not Slippery - Here’s what you do. Walk out to a rough concrete surface, put them on and kind of kick slide the slippers hard on the ball of your foot and then do it again a few times for the heel. Voila, they won’t be as slippery anymore. Or, you can get some coarse sandpaper or something similar and scratch them up. All you need to scuff up is the front where the ball of your foot touches and the heel. 

Too snug?- Be patient. This is what it’s like with all sheepskin slippers. Like a baseball glove or a good pair of boots, you have to use them or break them in to customize them to your feet. The sheepskin needs to flatten and get compressed around the shape of your foot and the leather needs to stretch to your width. Wear them for a couple of weeks first.

Too short - Send them back and we’ll get you the right length of slipper. You’re going to love them when they fit right. 

Returns? Yes / Exchanges for a pair of the SAME size? No. If they’re the right length and you wore them around enough to break them in and still don’t like them within 30 days, then we’ll absolutely refund you or give you credit. But we won’t exchange them for a different pair of the same size. We can send you a size up for sure because the next pair of the same size will give you the same result as the first pair. And then we’ll have, what some people consider, a used pair of underwear sitting on the shelf that we’ll have to donate them to an orphanage in Siberia or a cold part of Africa.

They’re going to loosen up for sure. But we’re asking that you give them a little more time. You’re going to love them, but you just need to give them a little more time. I promise.

Defective - If there is a fault in craftsmanship or defective materials that makes them fall apart, then please return them and we’ll refund you. In order for these to be the most natural and therefore most breathable shearling slippers in history, I refused to glue a rubber sole over the top of the stitching. 

Thread Wears - You need to lightly singe it and then smash down the hot little ball of thread with some spit on your finger. 

We therefore constructed these with an old fashioned and difficult to sew channel in the bottom of the thick leather for the thread to lay just below the surface in. Depending on how you walk and wear your slippers, a thread may fray. This is not a defect and is easily fixed by touching the thread quickly with a match. It will ball right up and be secure again. 

But the break in period for the shearling to compress and the leather to stretch to fit the width of your foot is two weeks of daily use. Like a good pair of work or hiking boots, there is a break in time. You’re going to LOVE these even more once the uppers adjust to your feet and the sole relaxes and becomes worn. Don’t be surprised if you forget to take them off when you hop in bed. 

The nature of shoes and slippers is such that we can’t put them back on the shelf to sell once they’ve been worn and returned. If 25% of people bought a pair to try out and decided they didn’t like them after a day or two, then it would not be good business for us and we would have to double the price to make them profitable.