We've all heard the question: Which is heavier, a tonne of bricks or a tonne of feathers? Well, here's a new one for you: Which exerts more pressure on a wooden floor, an adult elephant or a woman in high heels? It might surprise you to learn that the woman - whilst a fiftieth of the weight - exerts twice as much pressure from that heel!
Why? It's a matter of surface area. An elephant has nice, wide feet to spread the weight, which means no single point of the floor is under that much pressure, even if the area is under a lot of weight. Meanwhile, a stiletto focuses all of the woman's weight into a very small point, which puts that tiny area under a huge amount of pressure.
If you did manage to fit an elephant in your kitchen (for legal reasons we'd recommend against this) then you wouldn't find a single dent on your floor. Meanwhile, if even just an 80kg woman strolls through in stilettos, you could well find dents on any wooden surfaces.
The moral of the story? No high heels on wooden floors!
For more tips on maintaining your floor visit our dedicated sections in our Advice Centre
