Deodorizing shoes

I have an old pair of shoes that I like to wear upon occasion, but let us say that they have a formidable scent, to quote Ron Burgundy.

What's to try? Leaving them out to "air" doesn't work. Cedar doesn't work. There must be something that can salvage these shoes.

I use talc, especially in my golf shoes. It's an old trick of locker room attendants, I think. Clubman is what all the golf clubs carry, so that is what I picked up. It's pretty inexpensive, especially considering how long one bottle lasts.

I use these Shoe/ sneaker deoderizing balls in my cycling shoes and they never have any bad odors. I think you can pick them up at most shoe stores or Sports Authority. Just pop a ball in each shoe and then put the shoes in a box. They work well for me.

In another thread, it was mentioned that a dampened alum block left over night in the shoes works well. You might also try simple baking soda (left over night or longer and vacuumed out).

Sprinkle some Alum powder into your shoes to get rid of the smell.

Get a big box of baking soda. Use it to fill a couple of old socks and tie them off. Stuff those into your shoes and leave them for a day or two.

Food Detectives did a show on odor absorption. Activated charcoal was found to be the best. You can put some pellets in your shoes (or in a sock in your shoes) for a couple of days and see if that helps.

I've tried powder but the residue builds up over time and shows on black socks. The deodorizing balls work best for me. I've also left them over an air-circulation vent in a 'spare' room to air out...it all depends on the potency of the odour I guess but my vote would be to try the deodorizing balls before resorting to more desperate measures!

dklaiman said:

Food Detectives did a show on odor absorption. Activated charcoal was found to be the best. You can put some pellets in your shoes (or in a sock in your shoes) for a couple of days and see if that helps.

Click to expand...

+1

If it can take the smell of two week old thawed meat out of a freezer (don't ask), it can kill most any foot odor.

If none of these work, do a websearch for Sterishoe. It seems to get rave reviews but you can buy a lot of baking soda for $120.

Powder will only make it worse. Charcoal is best.

Much in the same way charcoal functions I've been using a volcanic deodorizer. The nice thing about these is that you can pour boiling water over them and then leave to dry in the sun to "recharge". They were from Lee Valley. I also have a larger one that I hang in my closet.

Mike