A simple solution for stinky shoes

Frankly, I haven’t had to worry much about “stinky feet” until lately. My husband and (increasingly) my almost-teenage son perhaps have had a bit of a problem, but my shoes were fine. However, that all changed this winter when I upgraded my footwear.

You may have seen my big project on Instagram or some such place: I have been planting hillsides here in herbs, primarily various sage and lavender varieties. The steepness of the terrain and difficulty of working on it is difficult to show in photos. Before this project, sneakers were adequate for any work I did around the property. I have since traded up to a Red Wing boot with a steel toe. Who knows if it’s a difference in the footwear or the work level itself, but the foot stink is there. It’s not terrible but I do know that it has a tendency to get worse if you don’t do something about it.

This one is an easy one to solve. I had all of the ingredients in easy reach and spent about five minutes on it.

You know how you stick baking soda in your refrigerator to absorb your refrigerator stink? You’ll do the same here. It works very well. I added dried rosemary to the mix for an additional fragrance boost, though the key ingredient is the baking soda. For even more fragrance, use an essential oil. Just as in your refrigerator, the baking soda will absorb odor but the added fragrance will help freshen the shoes up a bit.

For this project you’ll need a little cotton bag or pouch. I used small muslin bags, smaller than I might have used had I chosen the bags just for this project, but they work well. The key is to get the baking soda into the shoe and to keep the mess contained.

What to do about your stinky shoes!

(This quantity services one pair of shoes well.)

• Mix 1/3 cup of baking soda with your optional herb or herb oil.
• If using the herbs, mix about 4 tablespoons of dried herbs or 10 drops of essential oil (tea tree and orange work well for stink but your favorite oil will do)
• Add the mixture to your baggie.
• Tie the baggie and place in the stinky shoe.

In my muslin bag, a bit of baking soda finds its way into the shoe. I am not too concerned about the soda being in the shoe because it does serve a purpose there, but when I am wearing the shoes, I drop the baggies into a second set of shoes. There are always shoes in our shoe area for this purpose. If there weren’t, I would keep a little container close to the shoe area of my house to keep the little pouches. They are there when I need them and their little “puff” of baking soda stays contained in the container.

While I was at it, I made a double recipe to help treat some other common offenders in our shoe area. Wow. What a difference. 🙂