When the sun begins to heat the sidewalks and the temperature outside the window rises, I want to immediately take off my socks and wear shoes on my barefoot, feel freer and remember the children’s sensations of freedom. But there is an unpleasant smell. How to remove the smell of shoes at home and how to handle shoes from the smell, consider below.
How to remove the smell of shoes at home
Unfortunately, if you do not pay enough attention to the shoes that you wear on your bare feet, bacteria begin to multiply in it and there is a smell of sweat in the shoes, which immediately spreads around the room if you blow up.
How to enjoy freedom from socks and not to resort to the use of chemicals? How to remove the smell of shoes at home? There are homemade ways to remove the smell of shoes.
Why there is an unpleasant smell of sweat in the shoes of shoes:
Shoes start to smell unpleasant because it comes into contact with sweat feet. One step in the direction of how to get the smell out of the shoe is to reduce foot odor.
As with the whole body, there are many sweat glands on our legs. Their function is to keep the skin of the feet hydrated, elastic, and also in thermoregulation. From heat and physical exertion, feet sweat faster. But unlike other sweat glands on the body, the glands on the legs release moisture constantly, and not only during a heat and physical exertion.
The smell of sweat in the shoes begins to appear when the bacteria and fungi that live on the skin begin to split the moisture from the legs. The unpleasant smell increases even more if sweat and bacteria accumulate. The unpleasant smell of sweat in the shoes can also occur due to fungal infections of the feet. In this case, the smell is different from the usual. A fungal infection of the legs is called mycosis.
Very often, a fungal infection affects the area between the toes. Different people have different symptoms. This can be a serious discomfort and a couple of unpleasant symptoms. The following symptoms of mycosis can be identified: cracks and bleeding, redness, itching, burning, blisters, unpleasant foot odor.
In this case, of course, it is necessary to fight not the smell, but the disease.
Socks reduce the smell of sweaty feet.
Socks restrain the unpleasant foot odor by absorbing sweat and bacteria while protecting shoes. When the legs are in the shoe all day, bacteria, sweat and dirt transfer to its inner material and insoles.
By changing your socks every day, you reduce the buildup of bacteria and decaying sweat inside your favorite shoes. The first advice on how to get rid of shoes is to wear socks.
Socks reduce friction between the legs and shoes, thereby reducing the likelihood of corns, dryness, cracks, fungal infections.
Constant high humidity shoes can even lead to the appearance of mold in the shoes.
But if you do not wear socks, you will help home remedies for the smell of sweat in your shoes.
Tips on how to remove the smell of shoes
As you remember, the smell comes from bacteria and sweat, which passes from the feet to the inside of the shoe. Each of the methods is aimed either at combating the reproduction of bacteria or at creating unfavorable conditions inside the shoes for the growth of their number.
1. Wash and dry
It’s simple. The cleaner your feet and shoes, the less likely you will get an unpleasant smell. Wash your foot with soap daily.
Shoot completely dry shoes on completely dry feet. Despite the fact that the sweat will be produced anyway if at the very beginning the feet are clean and dry, then the chances of getting a strong repulsive smell will be much less.
2. The destruction of bacteria
An excellent remedy for the smell of feet in shoes is vinegar or dissolved hydrogen peroxide in water, which can kill a significant amount of bacteria. That’s the best way to handle shoes from the smell. Pour the selected liquid into the spray bottle and splash onto your feet after taking a shower. Let your feet dry completely.
With the same solution, wipe the shoes inside with a cotton pad.
To prepare the tool, dissolve 1 teaspoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide in a glass of water. Vinegar can also be slightly diluted with water.
3. Coconut oil
Coconut oil has natural antimicrobial and antifungal properties. Along with the use of vinegar and peroxide, rub coconut oil into the skin of your feet before bedtime. The oil also fights bacteria and makes the skin softer.
4. Keep shoes in a place where there is light
Bacteria and fungi love darkness and moisture. When removing shoes, do not immediately place them in a shoe bag, dark cabinet or box. You can use a special rack and store shoes with tongues raised so that air can circulate inside the shoe.
5. Silica gel bags
These small bags can be found in the boxes with the new shoes, in bottles with vitamins. They can also be bought in bulk. These sachets are used to absorb moisture inside the shoe after wearing.
Put a couple of sachets in each shoe and put the shoes in a closed bag. If you leave your shoes with silica gel bags in the open air, the efficiency of moisture absorption inside the shoe will decrease significantly, as the bags will absorb moisture from the surrounding air. In the same closed package, they will only be exposed to moisture inside the shoe.
6. Tea tree oil
Tea tree oil is effective against mycosis and other fungal infections. However, there is no evidence of its effectiveness against unpleasant foot odor. It can sometimes cause skin irritation, so it is often not recommended to use it.
7. Newspapers
To dry shoes, and thus restrain the proliferation of bacteria, you can use crumpled newspapers. After you have washed your shoes or just your shoes become wet after use, wrinkle the newspaper and stuff her shoes. Change newspapers every four hours until the shoes are completely dry.
8. Sunlight
Sunlight and fresh air perfectly dry the shoes in a natural way and remove the smell of sweat in the shoes. Hang sports shoes by tongues to let fresh air penetrate freely, or leave your heels on a flat surface in the sun. Just remember to hide them before the rain.
9. Alcohol
Bacteria are very sensitive to alcohol, so their reproduction can be stopped by rubbing the inside of the shoe with alcohol to 70 to 99% strength. To remove the smell of shoes, you need to wipe it inside once a week, which can significantly reduce the rate of reproduction of bacteria. Just do not use alcohol on the outside of the shoe so as not to spoil its appearance.
10. Alternate shoes
It is very good to have several pairs of shoes and wear them one by one on different days. With this alternation, each pair will have more time to dry out.
11. Use insoles containing charcoal.
Some of the moisture from the feet is absorbed by the insoles. Bacterial growth will also be prevented by a replacement set of insoles. If the issue of unpleasant odor is still acute and other measures do not help, you can use insoles containing charcoal and thus keep the smell under control. It is still better to wear socks, as coal can cause skin irritation.
12. Salt
As we remember, bacteria need moisture for reproduction, and salt absorbs moisture, including from the cells of bacteria, contributing to their death. Salt also weakens the molecular structure of the cells of these unwanted organisms. Use sea salt or course. Regular table salt is very fine and is not so easy to remove from the shoe. Spread one tablespoon of salt evenly over the insole and leave it for 12-24 hours before shaking it off and putting on your shoes again.
13. Cat litter
Cat litter is designed to absorb moisture, so it is very useful for drying shoes, and we get an excellent remedy for foot odor. Put 2-3 spoons of filler inside the shoe and leave it overnight.
14. Soda from the smell of shoes
Pour the soda on the insole at night, and in the morning shake it well or vacuum it.
What you should not do to get rid of the smell of shoes
- Hide the malodor perfumed by means of Perfume does not eliminate the unpleasant smell of shoes, but only dilute it. This combination will not bring a pleasant flavor. Spirits and sweaty feet are clearly not the best combinations.
- Antiperspirant for feet. Alternatively, you can use an antiperspirant for the feet, but this way out is very unnatural since it is not only using excess chemistry, but also stopping the process of natural moisturizing of the skin of the feet.
- This method can only help for a short period, as the process of freezing does not kill bacteria that cause an unpleasant smell in shoes. If you still decide to freeze your shoes, leave them in the freezer for a few hours. Immediately after the refrigerator, there may be no smell, but it will return in a day or two, even if you don’t wear shoes.
When nothing helps.
If none of the proposed will help you, you can return to the socks. They will help to contain an unpleasant odor, protect the skin from drying out, cracks, corns, and rubbing.
