HOUSTON – The easiest tasks can seem impossible if you've just had surgery, you have arthritis or you have a difficult time getting around. Putting your socks on is one of those daily chores that suddenly becomes a two-person job. But not if you have a Sock Slider.
The product is marketed to anyone who has a hard time bending over or pulling their feet up to put on their socks-- an elderly parent or grandparent or even a very pregnant mom-to-be.
"You struggle. You strain. Just bending over to put on your socks is brutally painful every day," says the announcer in the Sock Slider commercial.
After two knee surgeries, long time Channel 2 News assignment manager John Steiger knows the feeling.
"It really hurt a lot," said Steiger, who was home recovering when first he saw the Sock Slider commercial. "It seemed like a cool idea to put the sock in the device, stick your foot down in it and have it put the sock on."
We asked him to try it out and tell us if it really is as easy as the commercial makes it look.
"It's actually pretty cool," Steiger said after he got one sock on with the device.
Just stretch your sock over the Sock Slider cradle, set it on the floor and slide your foot into the sock. A little wand included in the box helps you pull your socks higher up on your ankle. You can also use it to remove your socks when you want to take them off.
"Parts of it seem a little flimsy, but I'd say for the most part, it did what it's supposed to do and it worked," Steiger said.
We paid $14.99 at CVS for the Sock Slider.
Even though Steiger has now regained much of the movement in his knees, he said the product would have really helped him in the weeks after his surgeries.
"I would give it a thumbs up. It's a pretty good little gadget," he said.
