Smelly Shoes

I have really smelly feet and I spray the insides of my shoes with vinegar at night. It's dry by morning, and the smell (both foot and vinegar) is gone.

Take out the inserts in the bottom of the shoes and replace them. My hubby had a pair of work boots that smelled awful. We replaced the inserts and the problem was gone.

My older daughter dances 3-4 hours per day, 6 days per week. Let me tell you about stinky shoes! ;) What we do is to take an old pair of tights and cut the underwear part and feet off (so you're left with two tubes that used to be the legs). Tie one end and turn it inside out (so the knot is now on the inside). Fill that with rice, and tie the top. Now, take your rice-filled tights tube and stick it in the shoe whenever it's not on her foot. It will absorb the moisture and stink. When it stops working, just throw out the old rice-filled tights and make new ones!

The other thing you can do is to make sure she's rotating her shoes (so she's not wearing the same pair every day, if possible). This will give them time to fully dry out in between wearings, which will also help.

try spraying the shoes with the athlete's foot spray... could be there is a fungus growing on the material that even soap can't get out... if the foot spray doesn't work............ then I am not sure you can get the smell out... sometimes the materials that are used react weird (like plastic) which can have an odd smell, particularly when it gets old... same goes with other materials used even if not old...

I used to sprinkle baking soda in all my kids' (non washable) shoes. Seemed to do the trick.

:)

I use a shoe powder spray - it really helps with odor and to keep my feet from sweating too badly.

if they're not washable, i don't know what you can do other than baking soda, inserts and to make sure she's wearing socks.
i've got a pair of vibram five-fingers that i love, but hoooooo dogie! if they weren't washable they'd be totally unfeasible, despite their insane cuteness and comfort!
khairete
S.

They used to make something called odor eaters - an insert for the bottom of the shoe that absorbs odors. My kids used them especially when they were in sports and had especially stinky feet.

I also had them take off those shoes in the garage, and I had them stick them in a laundry basket that had baking soda in it.

LOTS of baking soda!!!

Good luck

you don't say but is she wearing them with or without socks? without makes it worse.
my mom used to put some baking soda in my brothers shoes to get rid of the smell. just a little bit in there to absorb the oder and then clapped them together over the garbage can. another idea is to dump some cat litter in there and let it sit over night and let it completely dry. the clap that over the garbage can. that takes the smell out. my mom has done that as well. you just have to make sure you leave it long enough to totally dry and then get it all out. but that will take the smell of gasoline out of the garage floor it will work.

If they're made out of a non-natural material?
I would seriously just toss them.
I don't have particularly smelly feet, but I had O. pair of shoes that I wore a lot when I was pregnant, and they could've made the dog puke!
I don't think they were leather and they probably didn't breathe.
I tried everything and in the end I just had to get rid of them.

I read something online that has worked well for us. Put some rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and spray the insides of the shoes. The alcohol kills the bacteria causing the odor.

The idea was posted by a woman with a medical condition that caused excessive foot odor (and other issues) and she swears by it. It works well, when I do it regularly, with my daughter's pre-pubescent (sp) foot odor.

I don't know how much damage the alcohol will do to the shoes over time, so if you need them in good shape for hand-me-downs, you might want to go easy on it.

If you can pull out the insole and replace it with another (you can get them even in drugstores now), that can be a huge help; however, for many shoes you can't do it. But take a look.

My daughter gets very smelly shoes. Be sure your girl is always wearing socks or tights or "knee-highs," as bare feet make the smell MUCH worse. I would sprinkle a lot of baking soda in the shoes and set them aside for atleast 48 hours or so, then take them outside to shake out the soda. Wipe out the residue with a dry cloth only (never wet). Tell her that some baking soda on her feet or socks won't hurt her either -- it's actually good and controls the sweat some. I would do this every single time she wears them. You probably cannot permanently remove the smell with just one trick; you will have to deodorize these after every wearing. It will help, but does mean you have to do it repeatedly.

If she loves loves loves these particular shoes, try to get a few more pairs. My kid wants to wear the same favorite shoes over and over and that contributes a lot to smelliness. Changing out shoes as often as possible helps. If you can get at least one other pair of this favorite style you can control it better.

What are the shoes made of?
I'm betting her other shoes are not made of the same material.
It's a combination of how her feet sweat inside this material which I'm guessing doesn't breath as well as others.
Gold Bond maximum strength foot powder inside shoes (and inside socks worn with shoes) can work wonders.
Sprinkle the powder inside and keep it there while wearing them.

Sunlight doesn't get inside the shoe and the UV light on the outside of them doesn't help eliminate the bacteria on the inside.
You need air circulating inside the shoes to dry them out between uses and that helps keep the bacteria from growing.
Get her a shoe dryer, something like this (there are many different models):

http://www.amazon.com/DryGuy-TurboDry-Shoe-Dryer-Warmer/d...

Not a permanent solution, but putting tea bags in the shoes will absorb the smell. After she wears them a few times it will come back again though.

I pull the insoles out of my daughter's ice skates and stand them up in the boot to let them dry and get some air. They are not so bad after that.

Have you tried spraying them with a deodorizer such as Fabreez?

Try washing them in the washer. IF the final choice is toss them or find a solution then washing them in the washing machine isn't a reach. If it tears them up they were going in the trash anyway. If it washes them clean and you can set them aside to dry on top of the dryer then it worked and they're good to go.

I wash shoes all the time. I haven't had any fall apart and hurt the washer but I'd recommend you put the shoes in a zippered mesh bag just to be sure.

If you don't want to risk the washing machine put some soapy water in a bucket, bathtub, kitchen sink, etc...and soak them, rub them, rinse them, and dry them.

Other than that it's probably the materials they're made of and they catch the sweat instead of allowing her feet to stay dry.