How to Clean Stinky Shoes

Most people love wearing sneakers, irrespective of their age, as they make for an extremely comfortable footwear. Whether it is for playing sports or for an outing to a shopping mall, sneakers are the most popular choice as footwear, sheer due to the ease with which one can run or roam around in them. Wearing sports shoes overtime, however, can produce one peculiar problem. They can start to stink and emit a bad odor. The reason behind this is the bacteria on the feet that are caused by sweating. The bad smell coming out of the shoes can sometimes be so strong that even people around may start to notice it. This situation can be very embarrassing for any person. Since shoes can cost quite a bit and once you get comfortable with a pair, you don't like to part with it unless and until it gets torn or damaged, so the next best option one has is to utilize some remedies and get rid of the smell, once and for all!

Tips for Cleaning Smelly Shoes

The simplest thing that you can do to get rid of the smelly shoes is to go to any supermarket and buy products that are especially designed for this purpose. Yes! These days there are solutions available which if applied on the shoes according to the instructions specified on it, can actually make the shoes completely odor-free! However, if you want to get to the bottom of the cause behind smelly shoes, take steps to keep your feet bacteria-free. For this, apply rubbing alcohol on your feet every day. Do this for a week and after that reduce the application to thrice a week and finally just once a week will do. In addition to this, take bath and clean your feet everyday. This way, your feet will remain bacteria and odor-free and thus, your shoes too will not stink anymore!

Another cure is to keep the insoles of the shoe clean. It is generally seen that the smell from the bacteria in the feet is absorbed by the insoles of the shoe. So, in order to get rid of the stink, remove the insoles and let them dry in the sunlight for a day. This should kill the germs as well as the smell. In case it doesn't, get the specially designed insoles from a chemist shop which have an inbuilt mechanism to kill any kind of bacterial growth.

Sometimes, the smell in the shoes is caused by the shoes being wet or damp. If this is the case, dry the shoes thoroughly by placing them in the sunlight or by keeping them in front of the heater. When drying the shoes, see to it that the insides of the shoes are not neglected. One last quick tip that you can use is to place the shoes in a plastic bag and keep it in the freezer of your refrigerator. The cold will kill the bacteria and the resultant smell! Believe me, it really works!

Besides these methods, one of the most effective remedy is to wash the shoes by a homemade washing solution. By simply soaking the shoes in a vinegar-water solution for an hour, followed by drying in the sun, can restore them back to their previous non-smelling self. Given below is another procedure for cleaning stinky shoes with a homemade baking soda solution.

Step 1
Remove all the laces and inserts in it. This will help you to clean the shoes thoroughly. Next, brush off dirt and debris from the insides and outsides of the shoe. Preferably use a soft bristled brush for this, otherwise the shoes may get damaged.

Step 2
Prepare the cleaning solution by mixing one cup baking soda in three cups of hot water. With this solution, wash the shoes from inside as well as outside. After you are done washing the shoes, use the same solution to wash the laces and inserts too.

Step 3
Let the shoes dry naturally in the sunlight. Make two balls with newspapers and insert them in the shoes while they are drying so that they do not lose their shape. Keep the laces and inserts for drying in the sun, along with the shoes. Sunlight will kill the germs, dry the shoes and at the same time remove any smell that might be coming out of them.

Step 4
When the shoes become dry, take some baking soda powder and sprinkle it all over the shoes. Make a kind of coat of baking soda on the shoes. Let it stay on the shoes for ten minutes and then dust off the excess powder in the end. This will help in the removal of moisture and smell from the shoes. Lastly, take a damp cloth and wipe the shoes. Clean them carefully so that no baking soda residue is left.

Stinky shoes is not such a big problem. You can get rid of it by following any of the methods suggested above. Maintaining good personal hygiene, keeping your feet clean, always wearing socks with shoes and washing the shoes every month is the key to get rid of the smell!