Why Do Your Shoes Smell Bad
The reason your shoes stink is that your feet contain 250,000 sweat glands. When those glands get confined in a shoe, the sweat and warmth create a breeding ground for bacteria. To get rid of the smell in your shoes, you need to destroy the bacteria causing the stink. You can do this by cleaning them properly. Using homemade shoe deodorizing sprays or powders also helps. Then follow good shoe and foot care to help keep feet from stinking.
Freeze The Smell Away
When in doubt, freeze it out. While there is some debate over whether this is a temporary or permanent fix, there is evidence to suggest that exposing your shoes to cold temperatures will help kill bacteria and cancel bad smells.
If you are interested in the icy method, put your shoes in a plastic bag. Leave them in the freezer for a few hours or overnight. When you take them out, you should notice a change.
Washing Inserts And Insoles
This step also works for non-washable shoes. Even shoes that cant go in the washing machine may have removable insoles that you can wash to get rid of shoe odors. If you have orthotic inserts, you should wash them, too. All you need to do is fill a sink with 2 cups water and 1 cup white vinegar then let your inserts soak for 5-10 minutes. Rinse them well then press the inserts between dry towels to blot excess moisture. Let your inserts fully air dry before putting them back in your shoes. Do this once a month to keep your inserts and insoles fresh.
Read Also: Does Vans Make Steel Toe Shoes
Fighting The Funk: 11 Ways To Treat Smelly Climbing Shoes
You did it.
You found the perfect climbing shoes. You sized down like everyone told you to. You locked your feet in their vice grip for weeks.
And finally, after all your hard work, theyve blossomed into two fine pieces of rubbery goodness that make you feel like a powerful monkey ninja.
But theres only one problem:
They stink. Bad.
To a certain extent, smelly climbing shoes are just part of the territory. You could embrace the stank as another part of that grungy climbing culture we all know and love. But that doesnt have to be your only option.
If you want to avoid stinking up your living/driving/walking space or repelling your friends/family/romantic prospects with the stench of de-feet, try the following 11 tips to fix climbing footwear funk.
Contents
Recommended Reading: What Does 4e Mean In Shoe Size
Try The Freezer Trick
You can freeze smelly shoes to kill odors. The bacteria that cause shoe odor need a warm, dark place to breed. Freezing your shoes stops that process. All you need to do is tuck them in a freezer overnight. You should probably put them in a bag first, though, so the dirty soles of your shoes dont come into contact with your frozen foods.
You May Like: Dhgate Legitimate
How To Prevent Smelly Shoes
There are steps you can take before you even start wearing shoes, to minimise the smell. The NHS advises:
- Using a spray deodorant or antiperspirant on your feet.
- Putting medicated insoles, which have a deodorising effect, in your shoes.
- Using a foot powder to absorb sweat.
- Trying socks for sweaty feet some sports socks are designed to keep feet dry, and you can get special antibacterial socks.
- Wearing leather or canvas shoes, as they let your feet breathe, unlike plastic ones.
- Always wearing socks with closed-toe shoes.
It’s also not advisable to put shoes on immediately after showering water between the toes can encourage bacteria. Also, where possible, let your shoes breathe somewhere ventilated for 24 hours between wears.
How To Get The Smell Out Of Shoes
Smelly shoes are not only annoying, they can be embarrassing too! But dont throw out those stinky shoes just yet! Well show you 6 of the best methods on how to get the smell out of shoes.
The helpful tips are one of my favorite tips for keeping my house clean and odor free. Some of my other favorite cleaning hacks are these tips for Cleaning Your Vents, keeping your Washing Machine Clean and getting that baked on food off of your Oven Glass.
Read Also: How To Make White Shoes Look New
Why Do Converse Shoes Smell So Bad
Tuck and Move is supported by its readers. This post may contain affiliate links, so we may earn a commission at no additional costs to you. We hope you love the products we recommend!
As great and popular as they are, Converse shoes are known to produce bad odor. In fact, many Converse wearers complain that they stink, even after several wears.
So why do Converse shoes smell so bad?
Converse shoes can smell so bad because the uppers, which are made of canvas, are not breathable. When your feet, which contain 250,000 sweat glands, get confined in the shoes, the sweat and warmth create a breeding ground for bacteria, causing bad odor.
To remove the smell from your Converse shoes, you need to eliminate the odor-causing bacteria. Lets explore why Converse shoes smell and how to stop them from smelling.
Recommended Reading: How To Use Bots To Buy Shoes
Antiperspirant On Your Feet
This is a tactic used by marathon walkers to help prevent blisters. Most of the moisture in your shoes come from the sweat from your feet. If you prevent foot sweat, you keep your shoes dry and don’t provide a damp place for the bacteria and fungus to grow. This should be done with caution to ensure you don’t have a bad reaction to the spray. Test it on one toe or a small patch on one foot to see if there is any redness or rash after a day.
Read Also: How To Get Bleach Stains Out Of White Shoes
How To Shrink Shoes
This article was co-authored by Rio Jongsae Kim. Rio Jongsae Kim is a Designer Shoe and Bag Repair Specialist and the Owner of Kims Shoe & Bag Repair in Vancouver, BC, Canada. With over 40 years of experience, Rio and Kims Shoe & Bag Repair specialize in the repair and reconstruction of leather and luxury goods including shoes, handbags, and accessories. Rios experience and dedication to quality repair and restoration have led to his work being featured on Yahoo, Insider, and MSN.There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 166,064 times.
Finding a pair of shoes that fits perfectly and matches your personal style can be pretty difficult. Luckily, whether you bought a pair of shoes that are just slightly too large or your favorite pair of shoes are stretched due to wear, you can shrink them to get a better fit. To shrink leather, suede, and canvas shoes, you can wet the fabric and apply heat to make the material shrink. To get a better fit in more structured shoes, like heels, dress shoes, sneakers, and boots, you can add inserts.
Read Also: What Is So Good About Brooks Shoes
How To Use The Odor Eliminator
The quality of odor eliminators is very different, so that the results may vary a lot. Many of these products will mask the bad smell, so youll have a combination of cool-breeze air and sweat. Make sure you ask around, read the reviews, and try several products until you get the best results.
Once you got yourself an odor eliminator, here are the steps you should follow:
1. Look for a large plastic container.
You will need to place your boots in a plastic container, so look for one that allows you to submerge the footwear in the odor-eliminator entirely.
2. Pour in the odor eliminator.
Use a measuring cup and add water accordingly to the instruction. 2 gallons of water will be sufficient with your hiking boots.
3. Add water
Your container has to be filled with water, but only deep enough to dip the footwear. It would help if you made sure that the boots are entirely saturated with the water solution.
You may use the solution with other smelly gear. Once youre done with the boots, you should place them to dry.
4. Allow your boots to dry.
After taking the boots out of the water, you have to eliminate the excess water and allow the shoes to dry. A boot dryer or aiming a fan inside the shoes may speed up the process. Your boots materials depend a lot, as you shouldnt speed up the drying of leather, for instance.
Read Also: 4e Shoe Width In Inches
Sole Socks Or Washable Insoles
If you find you get foot odor when wearing shoes without socks, you might try washable insoles such as Sole Socks. They have a cotton terry cloth top and a latex rubber sole. Replace your shoe’s insole or place them over it. They grip well enough to stay in place and provide moisture-absorption and cushioning. Wash them every three to six uses to keep them fresh.
Cotton Balls & Fragrant Oils
Another great way to get the smell out of your tennis shoes is to use some fragrant oils. Simply pour a few drops of essential oils onto a cotton ball or two and place them inside each shoe. Nothing smells more like clean to me than the smell of citrus, so I like using those scents.
My favorite method is the first one but each one of these will help you get that awful smell out of your shoes! Youll wonder why youve been putting up with stinky shoes all these years! Is there another method you like to use to get rid of the smell in your sneakers? Leave us a comment below and let us know!
Also Check: How To Clean White Shoes Nike
Also Check: Best Way To Ship Shoes
Getting The Stink Out Of Your Shoes
There are more sweat glands in your two feet than anywhere else on your body. And when bacteria breaks down that sweat, it can stink.
Because of all the sweat from your feet, which inevitably soaks into your shoes, stinky footwear is a rather common occurrence. While in some cases its a minor annoyance that really only impacts yourself, in others its a truly embarrassing matter people can smell it if theyre simply sitting next to you on the subway, and if you take your shoes off around folks, the stink can bowl them over!
The amount you sweat and the pungency of your body odor is partially genetic, and if youre on the more stinky end of things, youll just unfortunately have to do more to fight it .
Below youll find how to do just that. We start with a handful of tips focused on prevention, and then move into a number of mostly natural options you can try before youre forced to throw your permanently putrid footwear in an incinerator.
Natural Shoe Deodorizer For Those Pesky Stinky Shoes
Mint spray is a natural shoe deodorizer. Every athlete, runner, or mom- well anyone who wears shoes really should keep a bottle of shoe spray handy. It is a dual-acting odor prevention and removal so you arent just masking the bad smell, but removing and eliminating it at the source.
It is also safe to spray on everything which helps you banish bad odor for good extending the life of boots, sneakers, gym bags, boxing gloves, ski boots, Uggs, heels, ballet slippers, camping equipment, cycling gear and last but not least your running shoes!
Don’t Miss: What Shoes To Wear With Flare Jeans
Causes For Smelly Shoes: Bacteria
Proper foot hygiene is essential to keeping your shoes smelling fresh. Washing beats deodorizing: Avoid using antiperspirants or foot deodorants as these often contain potentially harmful aluminium chloride.
Here are a few simple tips on preventing heavy perspiration and the resulting unpleasant shoe odor:
- Be careful not to wear the same pair of shoes all the time.
- If possible, leave your shoes outside to air-dry after wearing them for longer periods of time.
- Most sneakers and sport shoes can be washed in the washing machine at any time. When doing this, make sure to dry them properly, at best in the sun.
- To prevent excessive perspiration, you can rub baby powder on your feet.
When To See A Doctor
Smelly feet are a harmless problem that generally clears up. Sometimes, however, it can be a sign of a medical condition.
See your GP if simple measures to reduce your foot odour don’t help, or if you’re worried that your level of sweating is abnormally high.
Your doctor can offer you a strong prescription antiperspirant or refer you for a treatment called iontophoresis, which delivers a mild electric current through water to your feet to combat excessive sweating.
Page last reviewed: 29 October 2018 Next review due: 29 October 2021
Also Check: Shoe Size D Vs 4e
Homemade Shoe Deodorizer Powder
This process can be a little messy but the result makes it quite worthy of trying. This process can be used when you really need to dislodge some serious stench.
- Combine some baking soda, arrowroot powder and essential oil.
- Sprinkle the mixture generously inside the shoes.
- Leave it on for 2 â 3 days.
- Dump out the mixture and your shoes will smell amazing.
Have You Tried The Vinegar Spray
If none of the previous methods hasnt been useful for your boots, you may also try to make a vinegar mixture. Heres how to do it:
1. Add equal parts of vinegar and water.
Keep in mind that just some of this solution will go a long way, so dont overdo it. If you do, its fine as you may use the spray for killing bacteria on your car, bed, carpet, and so on.
2. Pour the solution
Pour the solution into a water bottle, and mix it very well.
3. Use the solution
You may now spray the vinegar solution right into the footwear, but allowing it to sit throughout the night. Dont use the spray on the outside of the boots, as you may ruin the color.
Also Check: How To Clean Mold Off Of Leather Shoes
Clean Stinky Shoes In The Washing Machine
And if all else fails, toss your shoes in a mesh bag or pillowcase, and put them in the washing machine. If you choose to use a pillowcase I have found its best to close the end up with a hair tie.
Ive tried the tie-the-knot in the pillowcase method, and every single time Ive tried it the pillowcase comes undone. If you do choose to tie it, or knot it, I hope you have better luck than I do.
If you dont have either a mesh bag or a pillowcase, you want to use this is not the job for the guest linens then another laundry idea is to toss the shoes in with a load of towels. Just dont forget to not use the bleach on that load, and maybe the highest heat setting isnt the best idea. But the towels will help muffle the sounds of a thousand running feet as the shoe wash.
Use Essential Oils To Get Rid Of Smell
Those of you who use essential oils know about all its benefits. Essential oils are concentrated and are a great remedy for removing foul-smelling odor. There are different type of essential oils available, you can pick your favorite flavor and use it as a deodorizer.
Pour 3-4 drops of essential oil in your gym shoes and your socks every day, leave it like that for few minutes and then wear your gym shoes. The essential oils will mask the entire pungent-smelling odor coming from your gym shoes.
Read Also: What Color Is The Shoe
You May Like: Sell New Shoes
Repel The Smell Tip #: Borrow Your Kittys Cat Litter
The best way to take the crazy cat lady mentality one step further is to steal some cat litter from your furry friend and put it in your shoes. It sounds completely whacked out, we know. But the same way cat litter cuts down on kittys stink, it will cut down on the funky stench in your flats, as well. All you have to do is snip off the toes of a pair of pantyhose to make little pouches, fill each with a small amount of CLEAN litter, tie the ends and place the kitty litter pouches in each smelly shoe. Let them sit for a few days, and voila: No more odors.
Place The Sachets In Your Shoes
You can place these sachets in your shoes each time you take them off. Tennis shoes, sneakers, and walking shoes used for exercising are especially prone to collecting odors. Keep the sachet in the shoes until you wear them again.
Variation: Fill the toe of a sock with baking soda and tie it off. Leave sock sachets in your shoes overnight to absorb odors. This can be part of your ongoing routine for any athletic shoes you wear regularly.
Read Also: What Are The Best Dress Shoes For Wide Feet
Tea Bags To Help Your Shoes Shoes Smell Good
Do your shoes stink up the room after a workout? Lets not run everyone out of the gym. Put some tea bags in those sticky shoes as soon as you take them off. The tea bags will absorb the odor and leave your shoes smelling fresh.
And the bonus is that you likely already have tea bags at home or can get some hands on it pretty inexpensively!
How To Treat And Prevent Smelly Feet
The good news is that smelly feet are usually easy to treat by keeping your feet clean and dry, and changing your shoes regularly.
To treat sweaty or smelly feet yourself, try to:
- wash your feet with an antibacterial soap once a day
- dry your feet well after they have been wet, especially between your toes
- try not to wear the same pair of shoes 2 days in a row so they have at least 24 hours to dry out
- change your socks at least once a day
- keep your toenails short and clean, and remove any hard skin with a foot file
If you often get sweaty feet, you might want to try:
- using a spray deodorant or antiperspirant on your feet a normal underarm deodorant or antiperspirant works just as well as a specialist foot product and will cost you less
- putting medicated insoles, which have a deodorising effect, in your shoes
- using a foot powder to absorb sweat
- trying socks for sweaty feet some sports socks are designed to keep feet dry, and you can get special antibacterial socks
- wearing leather or canvas shoes, as they let your feet breathe, unlike plastic ones
- always wearing socks with closed-toe shoes
You May Like: How Often Should You Buy New Running Shoes
