How to get rid of shoes odor?

Smell has both negative and positive impacts on our daily life. They affect how we spend, how we dream, how often we face insomnia and stress, how we concentrate, how good and bad our health is, how good our memory is and how happy we are in our love. Therefore, remember to keep your shoes away from bad odor.

Why do shoes smell?

The reasons why our shoes smell bad comes from 2 elements – our sweat and the smelly bacteria. Each foot has up to 250,000 sweat glands. If the shoes are not well ventilated, then the sweats will be built up and the shoes become a breeding ground for bacteria to grow inside. Beside the shoes, socks are also an ideal environment for bacteria to explode if we don’t change it regularly.

Get rid of shoes odor : the natural ways

Well, the basic idea behind this method is maintain the shoes dry and clean from sweat and dirt. Thus, the bacteria will be eliminated naturally.

Firstly, keep your feet clean by washing them with soap regularly. Alternatively, soak your feet inside a hot Epsom salt bath to prevent bacteria to accumulate near your sweat glands as well as relaxing your feet after a long walking day.

Secondly, dry your feet with a soft clean tissue before wearing shoes.

Thirdly, purchase the well-ventilated shoes. Most of them are made from natural leather. Stay away from plastic, rubber and “pleather” materials. There are also particular shoes models designed for sweaty people. However, they are a bit pricier than the old-school material shoes.

Fourthly, allow your shoes to rest for about 24 hours in order to let all the sweat evaporate.

Fifthly, choose your socks wisely. Good socks should be made from merino wool, olefin or microfiber blends. These materials will absorb your sweat effectively and then let it dry. The best way to get rid of odor is changing your socks every time you take off your shoes. Buy around 20 pairs of socks and wash them regularly.

Get rid of shoes odor: with baking soda

This solution is the most popular when it comes to shoes odor removal. Sodium bicarbonate, aka baking soda is famous for its natural deodorizing ability. They also kill bacteria by neutralizing their acid. One gram of this substance can neutralize 12 milli-equivalents of acid.

You can apply half of a baking soda pack to your sneakers and wait for a week. Cover them by a plastic bag and then tightly knot it. This method, however, is not good for leather and suede shoes because the powder can make the cover become brittle. In this case, you should put the baking soda inside a coffee filter, drier sheet or a piece of cloth, then tie the container tightly with a string, then put it inside your shoes.

Alternately, you can use cat litter inside a thick nylon bag, zinc oxide powder or activated charcoal.

For leather shoes, there’s a special solution – saddle soap. They are often applied to restore the dress shoes.

Get rid of shoes odor: with vinegar sprays or alcohol

These liquids surely kill germs but I prefer alcohol due to its ability of quick evaporation. With the use of vinegar sprays, you will then have to rinse your shoes with water. These methods will take more time and more cash than the traditional sodium bicarbonate. You can easily find isopropyl alcohol at local drug stores with reasonable price.

Get rid of shoes odor: with tea bags

One more natural way is the application of tea bags. Use 3 tea bags for each shoe and leave them 24 hours. Fortunately, you can use any flavor – apple spice, peppermint or lavender.

The professional ways – use non-natural substances

Some popular substances such as TBQ, Vesphene, Clorox and Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner gain good reputation for bad odor removal. It’s clear that the commercial household disinfectants are more effective than the natural liquids. Therefore, this method will surely be costlier.

In case you don’t like chemical ways, ozone, sunlight, UV light and heat will help. However, these physical solutions may affect the glue inside your shoes.

Cedar wood insoles are commercially produced in order to get rid of bad smell from shoes thanks to its antibacterial capability.

Inclusion

I’m a sweaty person. Not only my feet but also my hand palms get wet most of the time. Therefore, I understand how uncomfortable a bad smell shoe will be. I rarely use these commercial methods or natural substances to get rid of shoes smell. Instead of these time-consuming aforementioned ways, I prefer changing socks regularly. It’s the fastest and simplest way to keep your shoes clean and free from germs. Just remember to keep your shoes in dry place after use and wash your socks. That’s enough!

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