# How to de-funk my Tevas?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 22, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927 "2003-05-22T23:41:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@siberia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/siberia)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/1 "2003-05-22T23:41:26Z")
I live in my [Tevas](http://www.teva.com) about 9 months out of the year. Every single pair develop an awful smell after a day or so of wear. I try to rotate through several pair to minimalize the odor but it is always there. Is there some sort of magic potion I can use to get rid of the funk? Is there anything I can use on them as an odor preventative?
POI, these are the only shoes/sandals that I own that have this problem so I know it cannot be my feet…it has to be these sandals. 😉
---
### Author:  [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/2 "2003-05-23T00:24:40Z")
soak them in a bucket of water with a couple of capfuls of big-name brand fabric softener. The poison chemicals in the big-name brand fabric softener will soak the fun out the petrochemical products used to make Tevas.
---
### Author:  [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/3 "2003-05-23T01:02:31Z")
I’ve had a lot of luck defunkifying Tevas using Oxy-Clean[sup]TM[/sup] or similar products. Probably the bleach in it kills all the nasty critters.
---
### Author:  [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/4 "2003-05-23T05:00:54Z")
I had the same problem with Tevas. Apparently there is something about the Teva material that soaks up bacteria. On the advice of my sister, I put mine in a Zip-lock bag and stuck them in the freezer overnight. This kills the odor-causing bacteria.
It sounds weird, but it worked for me!
---
### Author:  [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/5 "2003-05-23T11:48:53Z")
I have scrubbed the bejebus out of mine with a brush and hot soapy water to some degree of success, but the freezer option looks interseting.
---
### Author:  [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/6 "2003-05-23T13:08:20Z")
How to clean Teva’s…Same way you clean a funky baseball hat. Throw’em in the dishwasher on high heat. Heat kills the bacteria, and soap makes’em smell good.
\*\*never try said technique with Birkenstocks…I ruined an awesome pair of Arizona’s that way…
---
### Author:  [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/7 "2003-05-23T13:48:01Z")
Had the same problem with my Tevas. I tried baking soda. I tried washing. I tried leaving them out on the porch overnight. I tried leaving them in the sunshine. The funk persisted: an incredible, other-worldly, _confusing_ funk. It was just mind-boggling that anything could smell like that. Putrifying corpses don’t smell that bad. It made my eyes water. A positively abstract funk.
Note: I do not stink. My feet do not stink. I have the feet of Jesus. Twelve hours in a factory wearing work boots never made my feet stink. Tevas, however, made my feet stink. And “stink” is not nearly a strong enough word. Never had the problem with any other sport sandals, or any other footwear of any kind. Tevas are fine, design-wise. But that smell. I threw mine out when they were almost new, in a hazardous materials disposal site.
My advice: don’t try to de-funk your Tevas. Just de-Teva your feet.
---
### Author:  [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/8 "2003-05-23T13:58:48Z")
I too have had this problem with my (otherwise much loved) Tevas. It’s a wierd, synthetic smell. On a car journey across Europe I had to eventually relegate mine to the boot, but the smell still pervaded the car. The closest I came to a solution was to smother them in talcum powder for a couple of days to suck out all the moisture. This kept them within socially acceptable limits for a couple of months.
I think I’ll try the freezer method though, thanks for that Pilot!
---
### Author:  [@siberia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/siberia)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/9 "2003-05-23T14:18:46Z")
Thanks to everyone for the replies. I concur \*\* MrO \*\*, the funk is otherworldly. **j.c.** , I don’t think the fabric softener would work in this case as I think the source of the funk is alive. I need to kill it.
I’ve tried leaving them floating upside down in my freshly shocked swimming pool and it didn’t make much of a difference. I think I may try combining the two remedies suggested by \*\* pilot141 \*\* and **Waenara**. Hopefully it will work as I cannot bear the thought of giving up my Tevas.
---
### Author:  [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/10 "2003-05-23T14:50:50Z")
Teva actually has a few suggestions of their own in their [faq](http://www.teva.com/FAQ.asp#12).
They suggest cleaning every 2-3 weeks, and suggest that putting them into the pool for a while will help kill bacteria.
-lv
---
### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/11 "2003-05-23T22:24:01Z")
Didn’t Teva come out with at least one model with an anti-bacterial footbed to cut down on “Teva funk?”
---
### Author:  [@siberia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/siberia)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-de-funk-my-tevas/176927/12 "2003-05-24T23:02:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by EJsGirl \*
> \*\*Didn’t Teva come out with at least one model with an anti-bacterial footbed to cut down on “Teva funk?” \*\*
They do offer several styles with the anti-bacterial footbed but in my experience it has not made one bit of difference in the funk department.