Home treatments for smelly feet
- Use a mild soap and scrub brush to wash your feet at least once a day.
- Clip your toenails often so they're short, and make sure to clean them regularly.
- Remove the hard, dead skin from your feet with a foot file.
- Change your socks at least once a day.
Many sock varieties can cause your feet to sweat more and encourage bacteria to grow. In other words, your socks may actually be causing you to have stinky feet.
Cotton socks can cause blisters, because of the friction of the material against the foot. It also holds in moisture. This can lead to fungus and bacterial infections. Cotton also doesn't hold its shape.
10 Ways to Stop Feet Sweating in Work Boots
- 1.) Keep Your Feet Clean.
- 2.) Buy weather-friendly boots.
- 3.) Use Shoe Inserts.
- 4.) Always Put on Suitable Socks.
- 5.) Dry Your Boots Every Night.
- 6.) Take Foot Powders.
- 7.) Use Antiperspirant Spray.
- 8.) Maintain a Healthy Weight.
Given that socks directly contact the feet, their composition can affect foot odor. Synthetic materials like polyester and nylon afford less ventilation to the foot than do cotton or wool, leading to increased perspiration and odor, although they can also reduce incidence of blisters by wicking away perspiration.
The quality is well above that inexpensive, bulk purchase tube sock (I know you know the one), which means you'll probably need to buy fewer socks, less often. That makes Bombas a sock-appropriate investment. You're getting the quality and lifespan of a few pairs of socks with a single purchase of a Bombas pair.
The Best Moisture-Wicking Socks to Keep Your Feet Cool
- Nike Performance Cushion Crew Socks.
- Saucony Bolt Performance No-Show Socks.
- Copper Infused No-Show Socks.
- Wigwam DuraSole Crew Work Sock.
- Hidden Comfort No-Show Running Socks.
- Under Armour Charged Cotton 2.0 No-Show Socks.
- PowerSox Coolmax Cushion Low-Cut.
The 7 best (pairs of) walking socks
- Smartwool: Hiking Light Crew Sock.
- Rockay Flare Quarter Socks.
- Smartwool PHD Medium Outdoorcrew.
- Bridgedale Woolfusion Summit Knee Sock.
- Sealskinz: Mid Weight Mid Length Sock.
- Icebreaker Multisport Cushion Mini Light.
- Bridgedale Mens Endurance Trail Sock.
Obviously, the core reason for boots smelling comes from your feet perspiring. As they sweat and moisture seeps in the boot's material, bacteria and fungi thrive in the warm, humid conditions. By washing your feet often with antibacterial soap you will kill bacteria and the smell that comes with it.
Pop a few unused tea bags inside your smelly shoes to fight off bad odours that are caused by heat and bacteria . Leave to sit over night in a warm dry place. Any tea bags will work even the minty herbal ones. Tea bags are super absorbent and will suck the moisturiser and smell right out .
The Best Sprays, Pods, and Pouches for Getting the Stink Out of Your Shoes
- Best Overall Spray. 10 Seconds Shoe Disinfectant Spray. amazon.com.
- Best Overall Pod. Gear Halo Deodorizer Pods. amazon.com.
- All-Natural Formula. Rocket Pure Deodorizer Spray.
- Leave-In Design. Zorpads Shoe Inserts.
- Best Anti-Fungal. Odor-Eaters Spray Powder.
A smelly shoe or sneaker is no match for the power of baking soda. Liberally sprinkle soda in the offending loafer or lace-up and let it sit overnight. Dump out the powder in the morning. (Be careful when using baking soda with leather shoes, however; repeated applications can dry them out.)
White vinegar is another disinfectant great for tackling bacteria. Spray a 50/50 mixture of distilled white vinegar and water into your shoe lining and sole, and be sure to allow at least 30 minutes to air dry before wearing them next.
To freshen the inside of your boot, spray it lightly inside and out with an odor-eliminating product such as Febreeze® or dip a washcloth in water and a small amount of Woolite® to wipe off the boot. Be sure not to get the boot lining soaking wet. Allow it to air dry.
Baking soda removes odors without adding other fragrances that linger and mingle with your shoes. Baking soda also acts as a fungicide and has mild antibacterial properties. Baking soda is by far the cheapest way to treat smelly shoes.
He explained that it's a known problem with a polyurethane component in the sole breaking down and/or rotting due to exposure to water. The smell is due to the release of ammonia.
Even if you haven't exercised in your shoes, your feet can still sweat. Put them in the freezer or outside: While this sounds like an unusual method, putting your shoes in the freezer is a highly effective way to kill the bacteria that cause shoe odors (the bacteria is no match for the extreme cold).
So while foot odor doesn't necessarily signify a health problem, in rare instances, it can be a sign of a medical issue. For example, hyperhidrosis, a condition in which one's sweat glands produce excessive sweat, can lead to excessive odor.
Although having smelly feet doesn't indicate diabetes, people with diabetes do need to take special care when it comes to their feet. Diabetes can cause peripheral neuropathy and peripheral artery disease, and feet may get damaged without your knowing it.
Why? Because their feet are extra sweaty and become home to bacteria called Kyetococcus sedentarius (say: kite-oh-KAH-kus SEH-den-tair-ee-us). These bacteria produce more than just stinky organic acids — they also produce stuff called volatile sulfur compounds. Sulfur compounds usually are powerful and awful smelling.
The Bottom of Your FeetJust like with your underarms, you can use antiperspirant on your feet to curb sweat and stink. Apply to the bottoms of the feet and allow to dry before putting on your favorite pair of shoes.
Prepare a bowl or tub of warm water and dissolve one-half cup of Epsom salts in it. Soak the feet for 10-20 minutes and then dry the feet thoroughly. Add 2 parts warm water and 1 part vinegar (apple cider or white vinegar are both suitable) to a tub and soak the feet for 15-20 minutes.
The intense smell commonly results from bacterial action upon sweat which accumulates due to confining footwear. It has also presented itself as a problem among users of prosthetics. Smelly socks may be a source of air contamination in aircraft and dwellings. Their distinctive odour is commonly used as a reference.
The main culprit for your stinky feet is brevibacteria. These suckers eat the dead skin that sloughs off your feet every day. After digesting your microscopic skin particles, the brevibacteria expel methanethiol, a gas that smells sort of like rotten cabbage. To combat the stink, start with a foot washing regimen.
How to treat and prevent smelly feet
- wash your feet with an antibacterial soap once a day (a pharmacist can advise you about different products)
- dry your feet well after they have been wet, especially between your toes.
- try not to wear the same pair of shoes 2 days in a row so they have at least 24 hours to dry out.
Foot Odor Causes: Causes of Stinky FeetThat sweat creates a prime environment for bacteria to grow, and their metabolic processes emit a certain odor. In fact, one type of bacteria, brevibacterium, lives in between the toes, thrives in a damp, salty environment, and produces the cheese-like smell of feet.
How to Get Smell Out of Moccasins
- 1 Fresh Air + Direct Sunlight. All that is required to deodorize most moccasins is to let them air out within the sun.
- 2 Sprinkle Baking Soda. This odor absorbent household powder has been used for generations for pulling in difficult odors.
- 3 Cat Litter.
- 4 Insert Activated Charcoal.
- 5 White Vinegar + Newspaper.
Stinky Shoes?Try These 7 Tricks
- Baking Soda. Sprinkle a thin layer of baking soda in each shoe until the insoles are completely covered.
- Tea Bags. Stuff a few unused black tea bags in your shoes.
- Coffee Grounds. Coffee grounds and a pair of tights are smell-fighting soulmates.
- Freeze Your Shoes.
- Dryer Sheets.
- Baby Powder.
- Cedar Chips.
Re: the socks issue, I was told Skechers were designed to be worn without socks. The insoles wick away any moisture. I haven't had any issues at all. Yes I wear skechers with memory foam insoles and never with sock, just wash them.
Flats often begin to smell because the moisture from your sweat is a breeding ground for bacteria. It's also got herbal extracts that smell fresh and clean, so a few sprinkles in your favorite flats should definitely do the trick.
