I bought a new pair of Dr. Martens a couple of weeks ago, and I’m getting around to putting some Odor Eaters in them. (Or maybe Dr. Scholls – I can never remember which I prefer.) They work fine, cutting-smell-wise, but they also slightly change the fit of the shoe, which will take a bit of getting used to.
Which started me wondering: are insole inserts the best way to keep shoes from developing a funky footy smell?
What do you use? Or do you put up with smelly shoes?
I rotate my shoes - never wear the same pair two days in a row. It works for me.
I wear sandals 10 months out of the year, but when I do wear shoes, they’re often stinky. Can’t help it, I sweat a lot, and my feet are always hot (why I wear sandals). I went to the inserts and ever since then - not a problem at all. No stinkiness.
I loves me some Dr. Scholls!
The power stuff works, but only for one or two days before it has to be refreshed. And it’s a mess.
Bounce is advertising themselves as something to put in shoes to absorb the smells. Anyone try this?
Spray some Lysol Disinfectant into them.
I also rotate my shoes and I also put cedar shoe trees in them when I’m not wearing them, both to keep the shape and also to reduce the odor.
Gold Bond’s footy-powder on my feet every morning before I slip my socks on. Keeps feet dry and scares away the foot cooties.
I find my sandals stink more than ordinary shoes, maybe because they’re made from plastic and rubber? Not really sure why that matters…
Baking soda is cheap, environmental friendly, and it works.
Wear natural-fiber socks.
Never wear them.
Seriously, the best solution is “rotating them”, as suggested above. When that hasn’t been possible (Boots in winter in long-lasting snow) , air them as much as possible and use Lysol shoe spray or something similar.
P.S. – you didn’t ask but I find that you shouldn’t leave your freshly-waxed winter boots where your wax-eating cat can get at them.
You can freeze the odor-causing bastages out, too. Leave the stinky shoes on the back porch while you’re rotating, or wrap in a grocery bag and pop in the freezer for a few hours, no more live cooties!
Rotating shoes is what I hear works best. It gives the shoes time to air-dry naturally during the day when they aren’t worn. This dissipates the moisture that would otherwise support odor-causing bacteria.
Terrifyingly enough, when I tried this, it didn’t even work!
My foot fungus plays for keeps.
Now I’m wondering if I’ve been wasting all that money I spend on deodorizing inserts – I almost never wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row.
Rotate shoes and put them out in the sun for at least a few hours when you’re not wearing them. Open them up so that the footbed is exposed to as much light as possible. With sandals, this should be no problem. I have to wash my Tevas and leave them in the sun to dry on a regular basis or they get pretty stinky too.
At the risk of stating the obvious, let me say that you should wear clean socks every day, and don’t ever, EVER wear the shoes without socks. Dead skin cells flake off your feet (and the rest of your body) constantly, and if you go sockless, they’ll get into your shoes. Combine this with sweat from your feet as well, and the cells will rot and stink. Wear socks.