Everyone knows that stinky shoes are a simple fact of life. Men’s Shoe Centre understand that the unpleasant odour that sometimes hangs around our funky feet can cause some socially awkward situations, and we don’t want that! We have put together some of our favourite, simple life hacks to combat smell shoes. Check out our tips concerning shoe care for stinky shoes to find what works best for you and your fresh new kicks…

Easy Shoe Care for Stinky Shoes

Shoes get smelly quite easily, especially when wearing closed shoes or perspiring during the day. We have collated some easy shoe care life hacks using household or easy-to-obtain items to fix your odour problem…

Your easily obtainable items include rubbing alcohol, apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil! Combine equal parts rubbing alcohol and apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle and add a couple drops of tea tree oil – these ingredients work to freshen the smell of your shoes, as well as fight bacteria that has accumulated in the shoe. No more stinky shoes!

Another one of our life hacks is to fill a pair of socks with kitty litter and squish them into your shoes overnight. As you might have guessed, kitty litter is extremely capable when it comes to soaking up potent smells… Odour issues are a thing of the past.

An easy shoe care tip is to sprinkle a little bit of baking soda in your shoes and socks. This ingredient combats bacteria already present in the stinky shoes as well as preventing further smell from being conjured up. Talk about a win!

Self-Care Life Hacks to Reduce Smelly Shoes

Sometimes, a simple change in your daily and weekly habits can aid in your war on smelly shoes. Simply exfoliating your feet once or twice a week with an exfoliating sponge or pumice stone will help reduce odour by removing dead skin cells from your feet. Dead skin cells accumulate every day and can become a breeding ground for bacteria and of course, smell! Shoe care for stinky shoes also extends into self-care.

Habits to Keep Your Shoes Fresher

Shoe care for stinky shoes starts with good habits! Try your best not to wear the same pair of shoes for days in a row – keep rotating pairs to allow the others to air out and lessen any odour that lingers before you wear them again.

Whilst your pairs are rotating, try leaving them out in the sun for a few hours now and then to remove the odour. The same logic that helps reduce the funky smells in mattresses works for smelly shoes.

Another habit to get into is to always, always wear clean, fresh socks! Damp or pre-worn socks merely rack up the bacteria count and trap two days’ worth of smell into your poor shoes.
Likewise, try to avoid socks made from synthetic materials - these are more restricting on the feet and don’t allow them to breathe, resulting in smelly shoes.

Shoe care for stinky shoes need not be time consuming or expensive! These life hacks are simple changes to your daily habits and routines that can quickly and easily reduce odour issues. Men’s Shoe Centre want you to get the best out of your kicks and make them last in style. Take care of your feet to minimise smelly shoes and combat said stinky shoes with our life hacks. You can browse our Shoe Care blog section for more genius tips to look after your kicks.