Simple way to stop treading sand everywhere after beach trip

When the weather’s as hot as it has been this week, there are few things better than a trip to the beach. If you’re lucky enough to live close enough to the seaside, a dip in the sea is an absolutely unbeatable way to cool down – just don’t forget your suncream.

But there’s a problem – no matter how hard you try, it’s almost impossible to get all that sand off the soles of your feet when it’s time to go home, and you’ll inevitably end up spreading it all over your car and house – not to mention finding yourself tipping it out of your shoes for days to come. But now one woman has come up with an ingenious solution, and all you need is one thing you’ve probably already got lots of at home. Lara, who has more than one million followers on social media, shared her simple life hack on TikTok.

She posted a video of herself at the beach with the overlaid caption: “This is why you have to bring a plastic bag to the beach.” Lara said: “Okay, I’m gonna show you guys a life hack. Grab a plastic bag, put a bunch of water in there.”

The video showed her using a standard plastic carrier bag to scoop up water from the ocean and carry it back to the beach. She said: “I don’t want to wear my shoes with a bunch of sand in it, right?”

Lara demonstrated the trick by showing herself dipping one of her feet into the bag, immediately washing all the sand off, and placing it into her sandal, before doing the same with her other foot. “Dip your foot, put your shoe on,” she said.

“Same thing with the other foot. Dip your foot, throw your shoe on.

“I don’t have to have sand everywhere.” In the video description she added: “Just please recycle your plastic bag!”

People on TikTok added their own tips. One said: “Keep baby powder in your trunk. When you get to the car, put powder on your feet, sand comes right off!” Replying to this, another user said: “Does that really work? I hate having sand on my feet after the lake or beach.” The commenter replied: “Yes – my mother did it to us kids all the time before we could get in the car. Wipe off with a towel, put baby powder on, sand falls away!”

Another said: “I would carry the water out to my car and dip my shoe and foot then get in the car. Doing it that way the sand gets right back on your feet and your shoes.”

But others raised concerns about using a plastic bag. One said: “Please don’t encourage people to bring any kind of plastic to the beach. Most of it will likely not end up in the garbage.”

Another wrote: “I would stay away from recommending plastic bags at the beach. We have enough issues with our oceans [and] sea life as it is. So many people will pollute with those damn bags.”

Someone else wrote simply: “We just use a bucket.”