How To Keep Your Shoes Smelling Fresh And Prevent Foot Odor

Having smelly sneakers is, to say the least, a big problem. I’m sure everyone has had issues with this at least once in their lifetime. If you found this article, you definitely know what I’m talking about. What I’m going to do here is to lay down a few strategies that you may want to put to use in order to keep your sneakers and footwear in general smelling fresh.

Because it’s better to prevent something bad from happening than to try to fix it when it’s already too late, I will offer here only tips on preventing the bad smell from sticking to your shoes. If your shoes already stink, the situation is a little more complicated and it deserves its own article.

In order of importance, here’s what to do to avoid stinky shoes:

1. Buy quality shoes. This is vital. Try to only buy shoes made of natural materials, because they allow you feet to breathe and the sweat to dissipate much easier. Synthetics are toxic for your feet, because they prevent ventilation. You go for an hour jogging wearing them and the next thing you know, everything around starts rotting.

It is nice to see good looking shoes at low prices and you may think you’re getting a good deal. Trust me, you’re not! They will break sooner than you can imagine, and the cost and effort to keep them in good condition and smelling great just isn’t worth it. You get what you pay for.

I recommend you chose a slightly more expensive and higher quality shoe for now and you’ll save more in the long run.

2. Maintain hygiene. Nothing new here, but a lot of people seem to overlook this detail. When you’re showering, don’t forget to wash your feet too. It sounds dumb, I know, but when showering, most tend to forget about the feet. Since all water and soap goes to the feet, why bother washing them? But that’s not enough. We’re talking about the most awful smelling part of our bodies. Do you think only water and soap will do the trick? I don’t think so.

There are many types of abrasive stones and sponges you can find in the stores specifically for this. Use them. They work wonders. They remove the dead lair of skin on your feet, the one that causes most of the bad smell.

Also, alternate cold and hot water on your feet. It better cleans the pores in your skin and well, the sweat smells a little better. If your feet smell so bad, you should also alternate soap brands. Soaps have different composition and they act on different chemicals. If you use two soap brands, you’re more likely to neutralize more of the bacteria that produce bad odor.

3. Change your socks often. Again, very obvious, but still, most forget about it. Use a clean pair of socks every day. Changing them twice or even three times a day is ideal, but once is the minimum allowed. If you use the same socks as yesterday, your shoes and feet may have something to say about it. And you don’t want to hear it!

If you do jogging or other sport, wash your feet before putting another pair of socks on.

Oh, and make sure you wear socks made of cotton or even wool, because synthetics make you feet rot.

4. Rotate you shoes. You should have more than one pair of shoes handy. One day you can use one pair, the next day another pair. This way, they have enough time to take some air and for the sweat to evaporate.

5. Leave your shoes to breathe. It’s a good practice when you get home to put your shoes somewhere out in the open (not if it rains, of course). The wind will brow some fresh air and the sweat will evaporate. And for some reason, when you put on a pair of shoes that’s been ventilated, you feel so comfortable. It’s like you have new shoes. You should do this especially if you’re involved in some kind of sport.

6. Clean your shoes once in a while. I don’t know why, but when you keep them clean on the outside, they tend to stay fresh on the inside for longer. Maybe because you sense that something isn’t all right on the inside and you need to do something about it. But don’t rely solely on this. You won’t get the results you crave for.

7. If they’re wet, leave somewhere to dry. If it rains, make sure you put the shoes to dry before putting them in the shoe box or wearing them again. When there is water inside the shoes, they start to rot in less than a day and it smells awful, especially if they are already a little smelly.

If you follow at least some of these simple strategies, you shouldn’t be having any problem with bad odors coming from your shoes any time soon. Good luck!