This story is part of our RE:HACKS series, in which we detail some easy guidelines to help you care for and maintain your PUMA products, so the stuff you love lasts longer.
We’ve got good news and bad news. Are you sitting down? Okay.
We’ll start with the bad news: your shoes are smelly. No – your devices aren’t sharing your odor data. We can just tell that your shoes probably smell bad (that’s why you clicked on this article, right?)
Don’t worry. Here’s the good news: we asked our product experts for some tips on how to get bad smells out of shoes.
Tip 1: Air them out
Our first smelly shoe remedy: don’t let your sneakers fester in a locker, car trunk, or closet. Odor-causing bacteria thrive in damp, warm, dark spaces. Prevent shoe odors by letting them dry completely in a well-ventilated area – every time you wear them.
Mesh gym bags offer more ventilation and will help your sneakers dry out a little more if you can’t air them out immediately.
Tip 2: Baking soda is your friend
So you’ve aired out your kicks and the odor is still kicking – what to do about these smelly shoes? We recommend simple baking soda sachets for managing shoe odor. You can even make them right at home.
Here’s everything you need to make baking soda sachets for smelly shoes:
- Baking soda
- 6” x 6” swatches of cloth
- Essential oils (optional)
- Rubber band or hair tie
Take two 6”x6” swatches of fabric (roughly napkin-sized) and put about ½ cup of baking soda in the center of each. Use a rubber band to secure the sachet so the baking soda stays inside.
Toss one in each sneaker whenever you aren’t wearing them – the baking soda will reduce humidity inside, preventing the propagation of stink-causing bacteria and removing bad smells from the shoes.
Tip 3: That’s the tea
Okay, so maybe you’ve tried everything above and your shoes still smell like the carpet in Man City’s celebration bus. It might be time to deep-clean those smelly shoes.
The first thing you should try is putting a tea bag in your smelly shoe. The tea will absorb odor, humidity and dampness – and maybe even give your sneakers a fine tinge of chamomile.
We can’t believe we have to say this but do NOT, under any circumstances, try to make tea with your used smelly shoe teabags.
Tip 4: Make your insoles…out soles
Before this step, make sure your insoles can be removed. If they are attached to the midsole of your sneaker, don’t remove them. They might never go back in the right way. If they’re the removable kind, you’re in luck: that means you can give them a deep cleaning. Here’s how to clean your smelly sneaker’s insoles.
Use gentle soap and low-temp water – and take it easy: we’d recommend hand washing your insoles. When they’re good and clean, allow them to dry fully in a well-ventilated room before putting them back in your shoes.
Tip 5: Dealing with heavy-duty smells
Well we’ve made it to Tip #5 and you’re still wondering how to get the bad smell out of your shoes… No worries, there’s still hope. What follows is our most extreme stinky shoes remedy.
Before doing anything too drastic, make sure you know what materials your shoes are made of. Cloth, mesh, rubber, foam, leather, and suede will all have their own unique ways of getting clean. To combat those tough odors, we recommend a two-step process.
- Sprinkle your sneakers with baking soda and let them sit for a bit.
- Then put a 1:1 mixture of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle and lightly spray the shoes.
The vinegar and baking soda will work to kill the bacteria that are causing your shoes to stink. Use a clean cloth to wipe any remaining water droplets off your sneakers and let them sit overnight to dry thoroughly in a well-ventilated room before your next workout.
There you have it, five easy tips for removing bad smells from shoes. Make sure to bookmark this page, you never know when you’ll need. It. Proper maintenance, cleaning, and care of your favorite gear can keep it in your rotation for years to come.
For more tips on protecting, cleaning, and caring for your PUMA gear, check out our other RE:HACKS guides.