Have heard soaking in either plain white vinegar, or old-school (yellow) Listerine - not both at once! - can help, too.
Both of those are supposed to work for toenail fungus as well.
Huh. My bro has super smelly feet - seriously, he can clear a room. I need to tell him about these…
Does anyone else freeze their shoes? I’ve started experimenting with sticking my shoes in the freezer every night (totally dry, of course). Seems like they stay fresher longer in between thorough cleanings.
Tell me you put them in a plastic bag first.
PLEASE!:eek:
Ew. No ice cream with my cake Walmarticus, thanks though.
What’s that strange flavor in your ice water? Oh. cough, cough Thanks for the offer, but I’m done. hands glass back to Walmarticus
This isn’t advice for your stinky feet but for looking at new homes: get a pair of those over-the-shoe surgical booties. Like these. My parents are house hunting for a new home, and I notice that a lot of them, rather than ask people to remove their shoes (some people may be offended) they just offer the booties. Much quicker and less of a hassle.
I feel your pain. I brush my teeth twice a day and use mouthwash in the morning and my breath still stinks.
One of my roommates in college had seriously nasty feet for about a year.
He had Athlete’s Foot, ignored it, and then they started to reek.
The terrible thing - if you are smelling something all the time, you stop smelling it. It got to the point where each one of my friends sat him down and said, “Look man, you stink. You need to do something about it.” At the time, we didn’t know the source of the stank, but we knew it was him. And he was all like “You guys are just fucking with me. I don’t smell anything.”
It went on until summer break, when him and another friend went to a swimming pool. Dude got barefoot, other friend noticed the nasty rash covering his feet and was like “Fuck. Fuck. We’re taking you to the doctor NOW.”
Anyways, in general:
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If you have a fungal infection, clear it up. The OTC stuff works pretty well, but does take a bit (2 weeks?) of vigilant application
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If you can, go barefoot or wear sandals (no socks) for a week or so
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Before you put on socks, turn them inside-out. Sprinkle the inside liberally with Dr. Scholl’s (or some other brand). Then turn rightside-out and put them on.
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Stop wearing any shoes you find that make your feet sweat.
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Failing all the above, see a doctor.
The tannins in the tea kill off the sweat glands. Done properly it’s a permanent solution.
You need to make the tea really strong, like a couple of boxes of tea strong. The good news is that the cheaper the better. As long as it’s black tea, it will work.
I have also heard that benzoyl peroxide (acne cream) is sometimes the solution. If your soles have dead-looking skin and obvious pores then it could be the bacteria that causes acne.
So, I’d say start with Clotimazole cream (Walmart has a cheap store brand) every morning and night for ten days.
If that doesn’t work try the benzoyl peroxide.
Still have a problem? Are your feet wet a lot? Overactive sweat glands, use the tea method.
And you’ll either have to disinfect or toss the shoes. I vote toss, as it’s almost impossible the disinfect all the layers. If you can’t be parted with them, I’d recommend putting them in the oven on 200farenheit for aan hour or two.
I can attest to the vinegar working - gone are the smelly feet and it prevents tinea. I don’t soak though. I have a spray bottle filled with the vinegar - I spray my feet and dry them with a towel.
Here’s another bit of anecdotal evidence for tea.
I find that if I brew up a real strong batch — like dropping five large tea bags in a small pot of boiled water, letting it cool and adding the brewed tea to plain water in a plastic tub — I can soak my feet for just fifteen or twenty minutes and they will be dry and sweet-smelling for a week.