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How to Get Rid of Shoe Odor
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What Causes This Horrible Shoe Smell?
Smelly shoes are usually caused by smelly feet and smelly feet are usually the result of bacterial growth. Bacteria like warm, dark, moist places, and since our feet are covered in sweat glands the shoes and socks of a person with sweaty or moist feet are a perfect environment for odor-causing bacteria to thrive. Understanding this simple ‘why’ makes the ‘how’ become much easier.
Taking the ‘Eeeww’ out of ‘Shoe’
This section is broken into two parts, shoe odor prevention and shoe odor removal.
Shoe Odor Prevention
Since we now know that shoe odor is caused by bacteria requiring warm and moist environments, we should make our footwear inhospitable to them. The best (and easiest) method of keeping foot and shoe odor at bay is to keep your feet and shoes dry! Here’s some tips:
- After your showers take care to dry your feet well, especially the spaces between your toes. If your feet are moist when you put on your shoes then your shoes are going to be moist, and you’ll have just created a nice, warm stink incubator.
- If you suffer from excessively sweaty feet, apply a anti-perspirant to your feet to help keep them dry and coat the inside of your shoes with talcum powder to absorb any excess moisture.
- Wear thick, cotton socks and change them as often as is needed to keep your feet dry. Stay away from synthetic materials because they don’t absorb moisture or breathe as well as cotton.
- If your shoes ever get moist or wet, let them dry completely before wearing them again. You can stuff them with newspaper, coat them with talcum powder, or even throw them into the dryer (shoe-care-instructions permitting) – but don’t put them back onto your feet!
Shoe Odor Removal: Home Remedies
If ‘kicking off your shoes’ at the end of a long day magically clears the room (and that’s a bad thing), we’ve got some easy, home remedies to get rid of your home-made shoe cheese. It’s important to remember that you’re not just combating a smell, you’re also combating living bacteria that produce the smell – if you just attack the odor and leave the bacteria then you’ve only fought half the battle. Kill the bacteria and then remove the odor. Here are some easy ways to do just that:
- When you remove your shoes for the evening, coat the insides thoroughly with baking soda, seal them in a plastic bag, and put them in the freezer until morning. The cold will kill the bacteria, and the baking soda will absorb the odor. When you pull them out, set them in a well ventilated area for a while to dissipate any excess moisture that remains.
- If you don’t have room in your freezer, pour or spray just enough rubbing alcohol into your shoes to coat the insides and then place them on their sides in a well ventilated (but unpopulated) area. The rubbing alcohol will kill the bacteria and evaporates quickly. Afterwards, coat the insides with a little baking soda to soak up any remaining odor or moisture.
- If these methods leave you in the lurch, experiment with different products (usually powders and sprays) that are designed to eliminate foot and shoe odor.
Remember, it’s all about the bacteria! Keeping your feet and shoes dry will prevent it from growing, and cold or alcohol will kill it off quickly. Please leave any tips you may have using the form at the bottom of this page.
i had the same problem before i threw away my old sneakers and brought new ones and i got many socks so when youre going somwhere and you hav pink socks on the next day put on blue socks dont keep wearing the same socks everyday it will get worse
There are person problems and there are shoe problems. We know bacteria causes the smell but in my experience it only happens with some pairs of shoes. When the bacteria mingles with the man-made materials in my running shoes, that’s when I have a problem.
Use kitchen anti-bacterial surface spray, remove inner soles, spray the whole shoe and the inner soles and let it dry over night.
My work boots stink so i use this, but my other shoes do never smell.
These really cool shoe trees will dry your shoes and make them smell good too. I use them and they are great. I think you can find them at stuffitts.com.
after freezing your shoes do you shake the baking soda out before you put them in a ventilated area or after?
I live in a warm humid climate and have very warm sweaty feet. Nothing worked for me at all - no sprays, powders, soaks, etc. I started putting plain Dr. Scholl’s insoles in my shoes (not even the odor-reducing kind, just plain white sponge-y insoles) and they seemed to absorb a lot of the heat and moisture. I have to switch them out every few weeks, but it is a lot cheaper than buying new shoes every few months!
Also, I am careful to let my shoes air out and dry completely before I wear them again - I never wear the same shoes 2 days in a row. That seems to help as well.
Well ummm……. How about you wash your feet dry them and spray your feet and shoes with lysol. Let them both air dry all odors will be terminated >,.,
FROM A CHIROPIST I USED TO KNOW. WASH FEET WITH SURGICAL SPIRIT MORNING AND EVENING FOR A WEEK OR LONGER IF SMELL PERSISTS. METHOD WORKS WELL….USED ON RESIDENTS IN LONG STAY WARD WITH PERMISSION
viniger
In response to the “grossed out” comment:
Peeing on your feet works to kill the bacteria. Sure you wash your feet afterward but the ammonia in the urine is what kills the bacteria and/or any fungus etc. My boyfriend does it and he has great feet so I know it works.