Getting the smell out of football boots

[MyDaydream]

My DPs football boots have started to smell like death. He's washed them, but all that happened is that when he dried them on the radiator they made the whole house smell like warm sweat. It's disgusting.
So what can he do to make them smell better?

Watching with interest as DS's boots are disgusting

Ds had trainers of death this Summer. Changing the insole to an Odour Eater helped, when I took the old one out I sprayed the inside with a pong killer as well. Made a huge difference.

Have you tried shoe/boot spray? Boots do one, as do Scholl (and plenty others, I'm sure). Spray it inside the boot and then leave to dry. DH's walking boots used to get super smelly then FIL (avid hiker/outdoorsy type) recommended just giving them a good spray, it works really well and we've had no problems since.

You can try prevention/minimisation as well - making sure he uses clean socks each use (I mean, super clean, hot washed type socks; especially if he just has a few pairs of football socks that he uses regularly), spray feet before putting on the boots (you can get foot antiperspirant, although we've gone with regular antiperspirant before), and leaving the boots outside or on a window sill to air after use if possible. Socks too! The socks can be just as bad ime.

Leather should not be dried on a radiator as it will go hard and cracked.

It will tend to go mouldy if warm and damp.

If you get a cold, windy day, you can put them (open end down) on the washing line - lots of cold airflow will dry them out.

You can safely dry out leather items in a fridge (true!) but you might not want to put boots in there. They must not be wrapped up, so the moisture can evaporate off.

Does he wear nylon socks?

Are they wiped clean and left in a dry place between uses?

What about shaking baking soda into them? I just used it successfully on a wetsuit DS keeps peeing in (he's 2)!

pigletjoyn, I'm not sure footy boots are made of leather these days And there is NO way I am putting them in the fridge!!!

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll see if there's any technical football reason odour eaters aren't acceptable and pick some up for him. I'd never thought of foot deodorant, but makes sense.
He does chuck them in the shower when he gets in and then leaves them in the bathroom, I don't think there he cares for them in any special way. I'm not sure about the state of the socks, they belong to the club so get sent off for washing with the rest of the kit.
And no leather in the boots, they're made from hideous orange plastic.

Fill an old pair of tights/socks with cat litter, tie the ends off, shove into the offending boots and leave for 24 hours.