kevmk81

My cycling shoes were rancid smelling. I can't imagine the loads of bacteria/germs/whatever that i was sticking my foot into before i replaced those nasty shoes. What do some of you do to kill the bacteria and remove the stink in your shoes?

fietsbob

Get Nose Blind..

colorider

Nuke from orbit. Only way to be sure.

chewybrian 

Febreeze and sunshine.

windhchaser

Divorce her

indyfabz

Game over, man! Game over!

canklecat

If they're that bad try saturating in hydrogen peroxide. Pour it on liberally and let sit awhile. Then repeat. Should be okay for most synthetic shoes, and acceptable for many leather shoes if the only alternative is discarding them.

With the synthetic shoes, after dousing in hydrogen peroxide, fill a mop bucket with tepid water and a Tide or Gain gel fling. Best laundry detergent I've ever tried, reliably gets the funk out of my cycling and work clothes. Tide and Gain will get the mildew funk odor out where every other detergent I've tried failed. But the enzymes need time to work, so let 'em soak for up to 20-30 minutes for best results. Doesn't need constant agitation or scrubbing, just time.

I even dunk my Merrell cycling/walking shoes in a bucket of Tide/Gain every few months when wiping down the outside doesn't cut it anymore. So far, so good, no problems with glue or layers coming apart after a year's hard use.

ahsposo 

Nothing. Why would I?

bobwysiwyg

New shoes.

skijor

Toss them in the aquarium and let the Malaysian Trumpet Snails get busy.

kevmk81

What's wrong with new shoes? My question more pertains to how to keep these smelling fresh. Trust me, the old ones were done. I think well over 10,000 miles on those shoes. Bad weather, indoors sweating on the trainer, etc. It all destroys shoes. I get athletes foot easily (my left foot only?) as well I might add, so the more bacteria - the more frequent those bouts of fungus are.

TankSlapper

Stank Reducers

Zedoo

I keep my nose out of my shoes.

canklecat

I'd be curious to read long term reviews from actual users. Ozone and UV will eventually break down many materials, especially synthetics and adhesives. Might be safe for occasional use. But I'd keep any ozone generator away from the main living quarters and any electronics. Ozone will break down many plastics used in household electronics -- televisions, cell phones, computers, etc.

A few years ago an elderly neighbor who smoked heavily asked me to adjust her TV. I heard some crackling from inside the set and turn it to check the back. The plastic chassis crumbled in my hands. Years of smoke residue accumulated inside the TV and it began spewing ozone, which in turn weakened the plastic on the TV itself and any nearby plastic, including the outlet plate it was plugged into.

I gave her one of my older TVs, figuring it would outlive her at the rate she smoked, considering her age. She was here only another year before she went to a nursing home.

Back in the 1980s-'90s, my grandparents bought a bunch of household "ion" air purifiers and ozone generators, which they'd heard or read were supposed to be good for the indoor atmosphere. Research shows ozone concentrated enough to purify the air is dangerous to humans. My granddad in particular suffered from COPD and these bogus air cleaners probably hastened his demise. When I finally pulled them out the plastic housings of the air filters themselves were yellowed, cracked and misshapen, as were any plastics nearby -- outlet and switch plates, a coffee maker, radios, etc.

Ozone and UV "purifiers" might be effective on shoes and other objects, but I'd keep them far away from living quarters -- no closer than a garage or outdoor storage shed -- and limit their use on items that weren't specifically made of ozone and UV resistant materials.

I worked for OSHA around the time federal regulatory agencies were adopted regs on ozone. Turned out some of our own office machines, including laser jet printers, didn't meet our own agency standards. We had to discard the recently purchased machines that had replaced our older dot matrix and daisy wheel printers.

BenzFanatic

During my teens I had oddly odorous feet. After trying sprays and powders I came up with a homemade bag of aquarium charcoal small enough to fit in the shoe and have airflow around it (cheesecloth,) and used a small fan pointed at the inside of the shoes. It won't take the stink out overnight, but if you let them sit like that for awhile they will be as good as new.

Now I just rotate footwear so that they never have a chance to get stinky.

Edit: Oh yea, "aquarium charcoal" is activated carbon. Though they do make other similar products with the same properties.

noisebeam

Whenever possible wear sandals.

Deal4Fuji

You guys know I often try and tie in a song to whatever topic appears in Foo, so this thread made me think of Steely Dan / Doobie Brother guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter who got his nickname from feet stank. I knew SD had a song called Bad Sneakers, but alas it's not one Skunk Baxter played on. BUT in looking him up in Wiki I was amazed to find he's now a defense department consultant - Not your typical retired rocker !!

OK carry on, sorry for the off-topic interruption.


Defense consulting career[edit]
Baxter fell into his second profession almost by accident. In the mid-1980s, Baxter's interest in music recording technology led him to wonder about hardware and software that was originally developed for military use, specifically data compression algorithms and large-capacity storage devices.[6] His next-door neighbor was a retired engineer who had worked on the Sidewinder missile program.[6] This neighbor bought Baxter a subscription to Aviation Week magazine, provoking his interest in additional military-oriented publications and missile defense systems in particular. He became self-taught in this area, and at one point he wrote a five-page paper that proposed converting the ship-based anti-aircraft Aegis missile into a rudimentary missile defense system.[6] He gave the paper to California Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and his career as a defense consultant began.

Backed by several influential Capitol Hill lawmakers, Baxter received a series of security clearances so he could work with classified information. In 1995, Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Curt Weldon, then the chairman of the House Military Research and Development Subcommittee, nominated Baxter to chair the Civilian Advisory Board for Ballistic Missile Defense.

Baxter's work with that panel led to consulting contracts with the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He consults to the US Department of Defense and the US intelligence community, as well as for defense-oriented manufacturers including Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Northrop Grumman Corp., General Dynamics, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.[6] He has been quoted as saying his unconventional approach to thinking about terrorism,[6] tied to his interest in technology, is a major reason he became sought after by the government.

"We thought turntables were for playing records until rappers began to use them as instruments, and we thought airplanes were for carrying passengers until terrorists realized they could be used as missiles,"[17] Baxter has said. "My big thing is to look at existing technologies and try to see other ways they can be used, which happens in music all the time and happens to be what terrorists are incredibly good at."

Baxter has also appeared in public debates and as a guest on CNN and Fox News Channel advocating missile defense.[6] He served as a national spokesman for Americans for Missile Defense, a coalition of organizations devoted to the issue.

In 2000, Baxter considered challenging Rep. Brad Sherman for the 24th Congressional District seat in California before deciding not to run.[18]

In April 2005, he joined the NASA Exploration Systems Advisory Committee (ESAC).

Baxter was a member of an independent study group that produced the "Civil Applications Committee Blue Ribbon Study" recommending an increased domestic role for US spy satellites in September 2005.[19] This study was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on August 15, 2007.[20]

Baxter is listed as "Senior Thinker and Raconteur" at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.[21]

Baxter is a Senior Fellow and Member of the Board of Regents at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.[22]

canklecat

Fascinating story about Baxter. And he's right. Musicians, artists and creative types really do operate on another level mentally. Pair that with critical thinking skills (which not all creative types possess) and it's a formidable combination.

Actress Hedy Lamarr was involved in developing spread spectrum/frequency hopping radio technology in WWII. That same tech later evolved into uses in music production including the Vocoder and later the pitch-matching/shifting doodads often used either to correct the pitch of vocalists who can't sing in tune, or for special effects for vocalists (notably Cher, Kanye and others).

So there's an example of war tech later being adapted to music. Circle of irony complete.

canklecat

BTW, back on the shoe topic...

After every wear I put my shoes on or near a HEPA room air filter. Dries 'em out quickly so they're less likely to get mildewy or stinky.

Zinger

If you have to use your socks for TP out in the boonies somewhere, I'd suggest leaving them with your deposit rather than wearing them home.

noisebeam

'How to Wreck a Nice Beach" is an in depth and engaging book about all this. Writing style is off putting for some, but I enjoyed it.

Dirt Farmer

Maybe put them in the freezer overnight? I don't know, it's just a suggestion.

cb400bill

As it is for non-cycling content, we have moved this thread from the Foo forum to General Cycling Discussion forum.

wipekitty

For whatever reason, I found that my road shoes are a lot more comfy with a pair of Dr. Scholl's Double Air-Pillo insoles (unless it's cold, in which case I'm wearing very thick socks that hold the odor anyways.) After a few thousand miles they get good and smelly, and into the trash they go. Ta-da! Less stinky shoes.

Scarbo

+1

I walk barefooted and in sandals practically all the time. I think it is key for general foot health.