How to Get Rid of Athletic Shoe Odor With Baking Soda

Foot odor making you pinch up your nose in disgust? It's simple to remove with baking soda. Baking soda absorbs foot perspiration and odors. Learn how to use this quick fix for sneaker stink.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Smelly shoes
• Baking Soda

1. Unlace your athletic shoes so that you can air the insides. Fully pull the tongue of the shoes back and let air until they feel dry. Baking soda will absorb odors, but it will also absorb wetness. The goal is not to create a paste in your shoes, so you'll want to make sure if you've just taken a run or a walk you let the shoes dry in this manner for at least 15 minutes depending on how much you sweat. If your athletic shoe has an insert, remove it so both the shoe and the insert can dry.

2. Once dry, sprinkle a light dusting of baking soda inside each shoe. Be sure to tip the shoe so the baking soda gets down into the toe area where a lot of sweat can accumulate. If your athletic shoes had inserts, also sprinkle them with baking soda. Set the shoes, and any inserts aside for at least 8 hours.

3. Once 8 hours have elapsed, tip the shoes and inserts to shake out any remaining baking soda powder and your shoes are good to go. Replace inserts if they were removed, lace up and you're ready to run, romp and play with better smelling shoes.

Tips & Warnings

• Use only plain baking soda. Store brands are as effective as name brands.
• Never put baking soda into wet athletic shoes or you will get a messy paste.
• Try sprinkling baking soda into your socks before you exercise to increase odor absorbing capabilities.
• Never use baking soda with additional fragrance added. This can be a chemical irritant and cause foot rashes.
• Be sparing in the amount of baking soda you use. Less is more, as with too much you will get an uncomfortable clumpy paste in your athletic shoes.

[mittermeier]

on 1/23/2009 ...and to prevent the shoes from getting smelly again, I am using disposable anti-odor insoles/inserts which can be placed into the shoe. After around 5 training sessions, I just replace the used insoles with new ones. This really prevents your shoes from bad odor and keeps them fresh.
I made good experience with Odor Eaters from Walgreens ($10 for 3 pairs) or the more cost efficient Fresh Soles ($10 for 8 pairs online at http://www.fresh-soles.com)