Effective Ways to Remove Odor from Your Shoes

Smelly shoes are a very common problem that many of us encounter. This leads a lot of us to the same question – how to remove odor from shoes? Even if your foot hygiene is top-notch and you’ve taken great care to keep your feet clean, they can somehow still end up making your favourite sneakers and shoes smell. Most of us believe that we cannot fix the cause, so we tend to focus on how to remove smells from shoes after we’ve worn them. However, that belief is not entirely true. It is possible to take steps to keep your shoes from smelling in the first place.  

It can be quite irritating when you take out your favourite sneakers from your shoe cupboard and a whiff of bad smell hits your nose. We do tend to overuse our favourite footwear styles and while there’s nothing wrong with loving them, overuse makes them prone to being stinky more frequently. Not only is this something that no one prefers, but it can also create the wrong impression if the smell comes across to people you meet. It can even come across to the colleagues you work with, creating an uncomfortable situation at work. 

Sometimes, we can even end up blaming the wrong reasons for the smell of our shoes as well. For example, sometimes we blame the material for being smelly. In some cases, we blame a particular activity as an outlier. Occasionally, we can even go as far as blaming a particular part of our diet for our smelly feet. While any of these reasons might also be true, it is not a good idea to take a blind guess as that will keep you from identifying the actual cause behind your smelly shoes. There are ways to identify the real reasons and you should stick to those. 

To understand how to go about this and solve the problem of smelly shoes, read on. 

How to Remove Smell from Shoes? 

The problem of smelly shoes is universal. We’ve all encountered it at one point or another – some of us more often than others. It can be an embarrassing situation to face, where it becomes difficult for you to take off your shoes when there are others present. Even without this situation, encountering smelly shoes every time you need to wear one can be bothersome. However, solving this problem is not exactly as simple as you might think.  

For clothes and linen, it is easy to spray some deodorant or just give them a quick wash. However, not all shoes are easy to wash or machine-wash friendly. Some are even constructed with materials like leather, which doesn’t allow you to wash them in traditional ways. On the other hand, deodorants might damage delicate materials such as suede or leather or even the embellishments that are placed on a lot of shoes. As a result, you’re more likely to face situations where your shoes smell rather than other things in your house.  

However, it is not just because of these reasons that shoes are prone to smelling. To understand how to get rid of bad odor in shoes, you need to dive deeper into understanding what causes shoes to be smelly. 

What causes shoe smell? 

Even though bad odour in shoes can be a common problem that occurs with men’s shoes as well as shoes for women, there are people whose feet don’t smell as much or at all. This means that there are specific conditions and reasons behind smelly feet. That’s why our quest to understand how to get rid of smell in shoes must start from understanding the basic reasons behind bad odour in feet. 

One of the primary reasons behind our feet developing a bad smell is sweat. Sweaty feet can lead to more chances for a case of stinky feet. And if you’ve ever wondered why your feet smell more than other parts of your body, here’s something that might help you understand that better – The average person has around 250,000 sweat glands in their feet, which is more than any other part of the body. These glands are more concentrated on the feet, with more sweat glands per inch of skin, which can produce about 300ml (about 10.14 oz) of sweat per day on average. 

However, this average goes up in certain conditions. In warmer weather conditions, a person tends to sweat more, and this is also true for their feet. Even the humidity level in the atmosphere can impact this. Additionally, if you’re wearing closed shoes that prevent the sweat from evaporating effectively, a greater amount of sweat will accumulate on your feet. Conditions of anxiety or stress can also increase the activity of sweat glands due to the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline, causing sweaty hands and feet. 

While the above conditions are common, some people have a special condition called “hyperhidrosis” which causes them to sweat more profusely than others. Such people are also more prone to suffering from the issue of smelly feet. However, you might be surprised to know that it is not the sweat itself that causes the smell. Rather, the culprit is the bacteria that feast on the sweat that rests on your feet. 

The real reason: bacteria 

There are thousands of bacteria living on human skin, and most are harmless for us. In fact, many of them fulfill a helpful purpose. They tend to thrive in warmer moist areas such as armpits, groin and toes. In these sweat-heavy zones, they get to interact with sweat and consume the fats and sugars present in the sweat. This leads them to produce certain chemicals that have a very unpleasant smell which causes foot odour. 

Some such chemicals include: 

• Isovaleric acid: With a distinctly cheesy, sweaty feet odour 

• Propionic acid: With a sour smell. 

One of the types of bacteria that is found on our feet is known as “brevibacteria”. These are also responsible for the smell on your feet. These bacteria consume the dead cells on the skin of your legs and emanate a gas that might cause an odor. This smell is also like cheese. In fact, a lot of cheesemakers add this bacterium to the surface of their cheese to get the right odor for them.  

Other reasons that make things worse 

The conditions mentioned earlier are made worse by certain factors. For example, if your feet are always trapped in socks and shoes that don’t allow easy evaporation from your skin, they will tend to smell worse. When the sweat being generated by the sweat glands on your feet cannot evaporate into the air, the temperature and the relative humidity inside your shoes rises. This is especially true in certain types of shoes such as work boots, but it can also happen in women’s casual shoes or formal shoes for men.   

There are specific skin conditions that also make things worse for smelly feet. One such infection is known as pitted keratolysis, which mainly occurs in the gaps between toes and the soles of the feet. It makes the skin white and soggy, and even has clusters of small punched-out craters or “pits”. These pits are caused by bacteria digesting the skin and producing sulphur compounds – which can also make the smell on the feet even worse. This issue is more common in men than in women and can be further exacerbated by underlying conditions such as diabetes, immunodeficiencies or simply due to poor feet hygiene. 

Effective Ways to Remove Shoe Smell 

Now that we’ve developed a proper and thorough understanding of why our feet can be smelly, it is time for us to move on to understanding how to remove smell from shoes. You might be expecting to find an answer to how to remove smell from shoes instantly, but it might not be as quick as you want. However, it can be done even for the smelliest shoes if you follow the proper steps and stick to some best practices. Here are some ways in which you can get rid of the smell from your shoes. 

1. Baking soda: 

You might not want to invest in a very expensive cleaner or go for a dedicated cleaning regime. In this case, a home remedy might be exactly what you’re looking for. It saves time, energy and even money, as it uses a commonly available kitchen ingredient to get the job done. We’re talking about bicarbonate of soda, commonly known as baking soda. The compound is a natural deodorizer that absorbs smells and tackles bacteria effectively. In fact, it is used in a lot of cases as a deodorizer around the house. There are two ways you can go about using this: 

Method 1:

Mix ¼ cup of baking soda, ¼ cup of baking powder and ½ cup of cornflour. Pour the mix into a pair of cotton socks or just sprinkle the mixture in both shoes and leave overnight. For an extra scent booster, add a few drops of your favourite essential oil which will leave the shoes smelling nice in your favourite scent. 

Method 2:

Just sprinkle the baking soda directly into the shoe and leave it for 24 hours to get rid of most of the smell that it has. While this might leave a more chemical after-smell, it is much easier than method 1 to do regularly. 

2. Vinegar: 

Another household condiment that is very effective at dealing with bad odours is vinegar. This is mainly because vinegar is made of acetic acid, which can neutralise alkaline odours and also inhibit odour causing bacteria. To use it on our shoes, first make a mix of vinegar and water in equal proportions. This means if you want to make a 100ml mixture, it should have 50ml of water and 50ml of vinegar. After every use for any of your men’s shoes or shoes for women, here’s how to get rid of smell in shoes with vinegar. 

Step 1: Clean the shoe thoroughly with a dry and clean cloth, from the inside and the outside. This ensures that all removable dirt and other materials are already tackled before the spray. 

Step 2: This is the step that is the most important in the process of how to remove stinky smell from shoes with vinegar – spray the inside and outside thoroughly with the mixture prepared earlier. 

Step 3: Leave it out to air dry naturally. Depending on the season, this might take longer than expected so be prepared for that. 

3. Soap: 

For this suggestion on how to remove smell from shoes instantly, you might be wondering that “isn’t this too obvious?”. However, we’re not recommending washing your shoe with soap. Instead, place a bar of soap overnight in each shoe. This is because soap can kill bacteria and the smell they produce. Additionally, since soap is porous in nature, it will absorb the bad smell and leave your shoes smelling fresh and nice. However, please be careful not to put wet soap into your shoes, because any kind of moisture can help bacteria grow even further. If you do this correctly, you should be able to figure out how to get rid of bad odor in shoes and replace it with a clean soapy scent.  

4. Sunshine: 

Sometimes, the answer to “how to get rid of smell in shoes” is as simple as sunshine. Once you are done with a run or are back home, keeping your shoes in the sun for a coulpe of hours can help them get rid of any excess moisture. This can curb bacteria growth and help get rid of any unwanted smell in your shoes.  

5. Essential Oils: 

Quite a popular product in the beauty and self-care category, essential oils are also a very effective option if you’re considering how to remove stinky smell from shoes. Not only do they help remove bad smells, but studies have shown that some essential oils also have anti-bacterial properties. This means they attack the source of the smell at the same time. Clove oil is one such option. You can also consider tea tree and cedarwood essential oils. Together, they can provide a three-way impact – removing odour, killing bacteria and leaving a nice scent behind in your shoes. There are two ways you can go about using essential oils for this purpose: 

1. Direct application:

Put a few drops directly into your shoe. However, keep in mind that the fabric of your shoe might get stained with this method, so it’s best to be sure that you want to use this. Try using it on a concealed area so that even if there’s a stain remaining it isn’t visible. 

2. Indirect application:

Mix the essential oil with any of the other liquid cleaners that we’ve mentioned so far, such as baking soda or vinegar. This helps you understand how to get rid of smell in shoes while also adding a nice scent to them. 

How to Keep Shoe Odor Under Control from the Start 

Once you encounter smelly shoes, the first question that pops into your mind is how to remove smell from shoes. However, a better long term approach would be to stop them from smelling in the first place. To understand how to keep shoe odor under control from the start, go through the following recommended best practices. This is a better approach than trying to understand how to get rid of bad odor in shoes after it has already arrived as a problem. Here’s what you need to do: 

1. Practice good foot hygiene:

The first step to ensure that your shoes don’t end up smelling is to keep your feet clean. This means that you need to wash well between your toes and dry your feet thoroughly every time you return home and take off your shoes. This should also be a part of your regular hygiene regardless of whether you’re stepping out or not. This can greatly reduce bacteria buildup, saving you from worrying about how to remove odor from shoes later. 

2. Address special conditions immediately:

If you develop any rashes, cuts, scratches on your feet, you need to treat them with the right anti-bacterial, anti-fungal or anti-biotic products as needed at the earliest. If you let the infection develop, this can also lead to such microorganisms growing more in quantity in your footwear, leading to smell. 

3. Wear socks only once, then wash them:

This is essential for any type of shoe and climate. This is mainly because socks absorb the sweat that your feet generate, and if you reuse them, you’re giving the bacteria more fuel to grow and increase the smell in your shoes. Take them off every time you take off your shoes and put them in the laundry. 

4. Allow shoes to dry completely between each wearing:

If you have worn your shoes in a condition that can allow moisture to settle inside, or if you’ve washed them, then you need to let the shoes dry off completely before you start using them again. Moisture conditions promote bacterial growth, which, as we’ve explained earlier, leads to worse smelling shoes. 

5. Rotate shoes:

Even if you have only two pairs of shoes now, you should rotate shoes, so you are not wearing the same pair every day. This gives each pair the time to dry off and naturally get rid of the smell-causing bacteria.  

6. Insole care:

You should wash insoles frequently or replace them often. This is mainly because the sweat from your feet flows down and settles in the insoles. This makes them a ripe breeding ground for the micro-organisms that cause the smell in your shoe.

7. Choose breathable shoe materials:

When you pick shoes crafted from a breathable material, they make it easier for the sweat on your feet to be wicked off, leading to lesser chances of bacterial growth. Leather and natural fibers are more breathable than synthetics. 

8. Wear socks:

A golden rule for preventing smell in your shoes is to wear socks. Any type of socks helps keep less sweat from penetrating the material of the shoes. Choose socks with sweat-wicking fibers instead of cotton to keep feet drier. Choose socks woven with metal fibers, such as silver or copper, to help inhibit bacterial and fungal growth and odor.  

Conclusion 

Smelly shoes might seem like a minor problem, but they can cause a lot of issues in your social life as well as your health and hygiene. It is always good practice to keep your shoes from smelling because that also means that your shoes are clean. Additionally, it can also help extend the lifespan of your shoes.  

With all the steps explained in this guide, you can not only understand how to remove odor from shoes but also how to prevent it from appearing at all. Do let us know in the comments below about your experience in keeping your shoes smell free.