Make Sure Your Sneakers Smell Really Good
Smelly shoes can be embarrassing but can be avoided. Here are a few simple steps to make your shoes smell better and increase the life of your shoes.
Contents
Steps
- Wear socks! It keeps dirt off your feet and keeps your feet dry!
- Put 1-3 drops of essential oil in the sole of the shoe. Try putting it under the sole for best result and to avoid an oil spot appearing on your socks.
- Put a fabric softener sheet in the shoe for the night or a few days. These can have a strong odor so men should use these sparingly to avoid a strong, lingering floral odor. Baking soda or products designed to remove shoe odor also work.
- Buy a pack of odor eating insoles and immediately put in every pair of shoes. When the soles get smelly you can discard and insert a new pair. This will prevent most of the odor from getting into the original and permanent sole of the shoe. These are often sold in multi-packs, by size, for men or women and sometimes with instructions for sizing. If you have a problem with shoe odor these should be a frequent purchase.
- Look for shoes that are machine washable. This is especially helpful if you have chronic odor problems with your shoes or are involved with sports and sweat a lot.
- Discard old and smelly socks. Keep a good supply of clean socks without odor to wear with your new shoes when you get them. Like shoes, some socks can become old and hold odor.
- Buy shoes of good quality that are made with good materials. Your feet will wick moisture better when you invest in quality footwear. Leather and natural fabrics breathe better than artificial products. Look at the label and avoid man made materials when possible. Almost all shoes have some man made material but avoid the ones that are mostly plastic, vinyl or pleather.
- Wash washable shoes with a touch of bleach (white shoes) or an oxy-clean laundry additive.
- Pull out your shoe strings and lift the tongue out of the shoe. Remove the sole if removable and set next to the shoe. Put the shoes outside and in the sun. Fresh air and sunlight are a natural deodorizer. It takes longer but this is also a great way to dry shoes. Avoid leaving your brightly colored shoes in the sun for too long, the sun will bleach out the color.Also you can put your shoes in a plastic zip-lock bag and put them in the freezer overnight. This will freeze and kill the bacteria causing odor.
Tips
- Let air dry outside.
- Put a pair of socks in the end of the shoes, if you dry them in a dryer.
- For extremely stinky sneakers you can use some liquid bleach in the washing machine when you wash them. You may want to use cold water so they don't shrink but otherwise hotter is better.
Warnings
- Bleach will remove the color from items and cause certain items to disintegrate. Use only very diluted bleach on shoes and only if the shoes are white and washable.
- Bleach can cause chemical burns. Do not allow children to use bleach unsupervised.
