Smelly shoes

[MerryMarigold]

My kids' and husband's shoes smell like cat wee. For ages I was blaming the poor cat but I now realize it's their shoes. And it's got considerably worse in the heat. How do I get rid of the general smell in my hall and the specific smell in the shoes? I just want to wash them all in bleach, leather and everything.

Trainer can go in washing machine

everything else outside

You mean just leave them outside. What if it rains?

Well I don’t mean forever.. just until anything not easily washable is well aired out. Put them out of a dry day

The uv for the sun on a sunny day will get kill off bacteria as well

Trainers here can go in the wash. Anything else gets a spritz of vinegar, or Febreeze or sprinkled with bicarb. Whatever is to hand. And a good airing on the back doorstep doesn't hurt either.

Put in ziplock bags and in the freezer for at least 24h. The cold kills the bacteria that causes the smell.

Wow, that is so interesting! I will try thisas well as using the outdoors trick.

I wash shoes that aren't leather or suede in the washing machine.

Dettol anti bac spray (the aerosol one) worked well in my sons school schools! Although I will still need to incinerate them now that school has finished 🤣

Theatre costume people use vodka in a spray bottle to kill off smells

I have vodka. Don't have Dettol. Will try all these things. Yes, school shoes o m g 👃💩🐟🧀

I would agree with spraying with white vinegar and leaving out in the sun. It works.

You need a spray designed to kill the bacteria that cause the odour in the first place. This one is excellent, I find it to be very effective:

www.boots.com/peditech-actifresh-foot-odour-spray-100ml-up-to-8-months-supply-10103164

You can spray it inside the shoes themselves (although I would was trainers etc anyway first). You also need to spray it on the feet to kill the odour causing bacteria at the source. You use it once a day for a week, after that you only need to use it once every few days.

I realise I'm reviving a very old thread, but just saw a device advertised that dries sneakers and emits bacteria-killing UV light. You put the sneakers on two prongs. I don't want to mention brand in case it looks like I'm advertising. Has anyone any experience of such a device? I'm sick of the football boot stink!

Fungus makes them smell

Could be fungus. My shoes smelled awful til I had my toenails treated with some kind of laser thing

My sons trainers have been making the whole house smell of cat wee, I sloshed the insides with zoflora to kill the bacteria and washed them in the washing machine and it's completely cured it. Was on the verge of binning them prior to this