My brother and sister-in-law got me a rather luxurious pair of slippers. They have a suede-like exterior and a furry interior (although the label says it’s all synthetic). There’s just one problem: in the short time (only since October) I’ve had them, they’ve gotten very stinky.
I tried using baking soda, but that didn’t do very much. Do you think I can launder them? What else might I try?
Seal them in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer overnight.
Put them though the washer on cold and then let them air dry.
There should be a care label sewn onto them someplace. Usually it’s on the inside, along one of the seams. THat’ll tell you if they’re machine-washable, or how you should clean them.
If you can’t find the tag, you can probably use one of those dryel home dry-cleaning kits, or simply try hitting them with some febreeze then letting them dry for a few hours. Finally, I’m pretty sure there’s an odor-removing spray especially for shoes. It’s usually in with the shoe inserts (i.e. Dr. Scholls) and other foot-care stuff.
UV odor remover shoe-inserts are popular, but expensive. Sunlight is the best, but it may not get all the way inside.
I use cheap, odor stopping insoles - from Kroger, but Dr Scholls has more expensive ones.
Freezing them will be excellent for making them cold until you warm them up again but is not going to kill bacteria, fungus or ‘destroy’ any odors. Baking soda is really just an absorbant and will do nothing about the cause of the odor.
Stinky footwear is caused by bacteria and/or fungus acting on the juicy moist leavings of your feet, and can be very tenacious especially when fungus is involved.
[ol]
[li]Clean and thoroughly dry the footwear. Synthetic fur will probably be machine washable.[/li][li]Treat the slippers with a good foot odor spray or powder that includes an anti-fungal agent. I have even used athletes foot medication for this purpose.[/li][li]Store the slippers where they can dry quickly after use[/li][li]Make a point of really scrubbing your feet when washing. Try and remove dead skin so it cant feed critters in your slippers.[/li][li] use cotton socks or anything that reduces foot perspiration. This may be the most effective.[/li][/ol]
I wear safety boots with wool socks every day, and I also spend days on end in ski boots with custom liners when I do my ski expeditions. I have plenty of experience with stinky footwear, and believe me, -30 C does not kill or even slow the odor in those boot liners. Until I figured out a system (the right socks made the biggest difference), I had one infamous pair of ski boots that had to ride outside on the ski rack. One friend had to get his car detailed after they spent a day in his trunk.
How about the synthetic leather?
I wash my slippers all the time, both the synthetic and the leather and fur ones…it has become a necessity with a new puppy and a floor that doesn’t show when there is a puppy-puddle sitting there.
Sigh.
Anyway, never been an issue. If you are worried, don’t dry them.