How To Effectively Remove Bad Odor From Your Shoes?

We all know how embarrassing it is to remove your shoes and immediately regret it because of the pungent odor that comes out of them. No matter what we do, the smell seems to linger on. Dumping talcum powder inside the shoes might give you temporary relief from the smell but ultimately, it still lingers around. If you have tried every trick in the book and nothing seems to work, then maybe give these hacks a try. Do them the right way and you can get the smell out of your shoes without spending much elbow grease. 

Yes, you read that right. Cat litter is one of the effective ways to remove the stink from your shoes. But this hack works only if the odor problem is on the lower scale. For super stinky shoes, you must resort to stronger cleaning methods. Coming back to the cat litter, all you have to do is fill in an old pantyhose or sock with some of this and let it sit on your shoes for a whole day. Within 24 hours, the smell will be gone and you will be left with a decent-smelling pair of shoes. 

Take half a cup of cornstarch and mix it with ¼ cup of baking soda and ¼ cup of baking powder. Just like what we did with the cat litter, tie this mixture in a sock and put one in each shoe. The smell is ought to vanish because baking soda along with the other ingredients, absorbs the bad smell and eliminates the bacteria. 

I know this may sound bizarre, but freezing your shoes is one of the quickest ways to get that stinky smell out of your shoes. Tie each of your shoes in a plastic zip-lock bag and put them in your freezer. We know that bacteria cannot thrive in extreme conditions. This is why we boil water to get rid of any germs. The opposite extreme also works. The cold temperature in the freezer will help kill the odor-causing bacteria, hence getting rid of the bad smell from your shoes. 

Fight odor problems with essential oils. There are an overwhelming number of essentials available in the market, the most frequently used ones being lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus. Just add a few drops of essential oils to your shoes and let them dry completely. You will be amazed to see how effectively the smell will be removed. But be mindful of choosing essential oils that have a strong smell. Your best choices can be lemon, bergamot, grapefruit, sage, mandarin, tangerine, orange, and lemongrass. 

One of the last resorts when it comes to removing a pungent odor from your shoes is to throw them in the washer. But not all shoes can be washed. If your shoe falls in this category, then rubbing alcohol can be your savior. Take some cotton balls. Dip them in rubbing alcohol and then stuff your shoes with these alcohol-soaked cotton balls. Leave it overnight for the hack to do its magic. The odor will be gone. 

This must be the cheapest hack on the list. All you have to do is keep your shoes in the direct sunlight for some time. The moisture and humidity present in the shoes will get dried out, taking away the odor-causing bacteria along with it. Maybe do this every once in a while to prevent the bacteria from growing back. 

Orange peel or the peel of any citrus fruit can be of help to you when it comes to getting the nasty smell off your shoes. What you can do is peel the skin off of lemon, orange, or fruit that is accessible to you that belongs to the citrus family. Then put it directly in your shoes and wait for a whole day before taking them out. The smell must have gone by now. 

One of the most effective, yet easy hacks when it comes to getting the stink out of your shoes is to grab a few teabags and put them inside each of your shoes. But like the essential oils, you will have to be careful while choosing the right flavor. Mint would be an excellent choice. Leave them overnight and the smell will be gone by morning. 

To remove mild to moderate stink from shoes, you can try this trick. Slip in a bar of soap into each one of your shoes and let it sit overnight. What happens here is that the porous nature of soap helps it absorb the odor effectively. But do not put in wet soap, as the moisture only encourages bacteria growth. 

No matter how many hacks you try, if your foot isn’t neat, there is no point in cleaning your shoes often. Just like how you do a deep cleaning to your house to keep it clean, you must maintain the hygiene of your foot to keep your shoes clean. You can also consult a doctor if you have any fungal infection in your foot,  just like how you hire professional cleaners to tackle the cleaning problems of your house when it gets out of control.