How to Clean Dog Poop Off Your Shoe

You’re taking a walk through the park, admiring the scenery, when your shoe lands on something suspiciously soft – and very smelly. Dog poop seems to have unique properties, expanding to fill every little crack and crevice in your shoe treads and unfortunately all dog owners don't use pooper scoopers. One look at the mess smeared on the bottom of your shoe and you may be tempted to toss it into the trash, but with some time and energy, you can clean your shoe and make it fit to wear again.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Newspaper
• Nail
• Nail file
• Paper towel
• Bleach/water solution
• Spray bottle

1. Wipe off as much excess dog poop from the bottom of the shoe as possible as soon as you notice that you’ve stepped in poop. If you don’t have a paper towel handy, wipe your shoes off with a large leaf, a stick or on a rock.

2. Leave your shoes outside or in your garage when you get home and forget about them over night. It is much easier to remove poop when it’s dry.

3. Spread some old newspapers over the area outside that you plan to use to clean your shoes.

4. Use a nail or old metal nail file and begin chipping away at the poop wedged in the shoe treads. It will be a long job, but you’ll soon notice some progress.

5. Spray the bottoms of the shoes with a solution of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water after all of the poop has been removed. This will help kill any lingering germs. If your shoes are particularly fragile, you may want to skip this step and instead wipe off the bottom of the shoes with a damp paper towel.

Tips & Warnings

• Carry a few paper towels in your pocket whenever you visit an area frequented by dog walkers for quick preliminary clean-up if you happen to step in poop.