My Shoes Smell
10-10-18, 11:47 AM
#26
Senior Member
One way to get rid of the odor is to soak the shoes in white vinegar. Yes, they will be wet again, but the bacteria that caused the problem will be dead and much of the offensive smelling stuff they made will also be gone. While you're at it, give them a gentle scrubbing. Then dry them properly. During our wet season, I use a dehumidifier in my house, so it's easy to dry shoes. You may have to use a fan or two and then pick up the last of the moisture with baking soda and/or get a shoe drier.
Chemicals
Heat
Absence of water.
I doubt you could ever really get a shoe dry enough to kill all organisms in the shoe, unless it has no padding or anything, and is just plastic. So you're left with chemicals (the vinegar trick might work. Maybe hydrogen peroxide? Might discolor the shoe, but doubt it would truly harm it. Soaking the shoe in rubbing alcohol would probably certainly fix the problem). You could boil the shoe...OR, and I'm thinking this might actually do the trick for a pair of my own shoes now that I'm thinking about it...put them in the oven. This would BOTH dry them out, and heat the shoe to a temperature high enough to kill any organism. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 140f-170f for an hour would do it. Of course...you may melt your shoe depending on the material lol
But hey, if it's bad enough that you're thinking about chucking the shoe, I would cook it first. It is also probably the easiest, AND least messy method.Edit: After some research...I'm increasingly thinking this is a pretty practical idea. Looks like carbon fiber resin and all plastics don't begin to break down or soften until temperatures in excess of 100c, or 212F. So giving your shoes a wash and then an hour at 180F should make them smell like new...
Edit Edit: My shoes are actually pretty bad, and besides, I need a new set of shoes for cross. I'll be the guinea pig for this and test it out this week
Last edited by Abe_Froman; 10-10-18 at 12:00 PM.
10-10-18, 02:15 PM
#27
Old fart
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Appleton WI
Posts: 24,865
Bikes: Several, mostly not name brands.
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Reminds me of this:
