To wonder if people regularly clean the foot jam out of their shoes in warm weather?

[Chumhum]

My ballet flats have a lovely patina of black foot jam inside them after I wear them without socks. I've noticed that other people don't have this (I regularly have to take my shoes off at work). So is it that I have yuk key sweaty dirty feet (leather shoes, daily showers) or do people go to the bother of cleaning the insides of their shoes?

This is why I wear crocs ballet flats. You can put them in the machine with your washing. I also use dettox spray and a toothbrush- that's pretty good.

What else should we call it, if not foot jam? Foot marmalade, for those orange of feet (fake tan)? Foot crud would do it.

I wear flip flops from about April to October, so don't have this problem (although recently discovered that my husband hid my birthday present in my own sock drawer as he was sure that I wouldn't open it for months! He was right.).

I clean my summer shoes by paddling in the sea in them. Love my crocs

DoJo - that's hilarious! My husband could do the same, I hate wearing socks.

I recently soaked my beloved ballet pumps in a solution of Ariel liquid. Scrubbed them with an old toothbrush with a bit of Fairy laundry soap. They are lined with satin-like material and came up really clean and nice smelling.

Alternatively if they stink you could list them under "trashed/well worn" on Ebay and make a fortune!

Mine are utterly lifting atm, I disgust myself. The bicarb thing works for a while but I've resigned myself to just slinging a pair of 8 quid ballet flats in the supermarket trolley every fortnight and just binning the stinky ones after a couple of weeks wear.

Reading this thread shows how absolutely right I am to say that wearing shoes without socks is disgusting.

have you lot never heard of footsies?

I can't imagine any circumstances where I would ever want to wear ballet flats. I guess if I literally didn't have any other semi-casual dress shoes. They look like owners' feet must always be freezing (or rubbing blisters).

ps: DD has at least 9 prs of b-flats 2nd hand from mate of DH's. But I am not inspecting the state of them. No way.

Agree re rotating your shoes etc but when it does happen, bicarb is your friend here.

Bicarb liberally sprinkled in and left overnight. The next day, shake it out and then, with a flat bladed knife or similar, scrape away the black stuff, which will have hardened and gone non smelly.

Honest, this works.

I think those footsies are even more minging, tbh.

I am aghast at you minging lot!! I wear ballet flats with no socks but there is no foot jam!

How can footsies be minging? unless you don't wash 'em?

I admit they aren't the height of sartorial elegance, but better than sweating into you shoes [bleaugh]

Footsies are made of synthetic material that makes my feet ming whereas they are otherwise fairly non-stinky when left to their own devices. So, personally, they are more minging than going au naturel is, although I am sure that they do the job for other people. If the world wasn't so full of potential hazards/dog poo/other people's deposits and secretions, then I would go barefoot all the time with no foot jam to worry about!

DH just pointed his nose in the direction of my feet and said "no wonder the dog has gone to bed"