Cleaning Smelly Socks

Foul odors come from under the bed, they waft out an open closet door, and the smell under a car's front seat may even knock you out. But what's really happening can be blamed on foot odor. Dirty socks casually tossed aside are now knocking your socks off.

One clever mother's BLOG gives this advice: Put 1 Cup of baking soda in a bucket of water and place in your son's/child's/teenager's smelly, worn-all-day school socks!! Keep adding the socks each day -- until all 5 days worth are soaked. Wash and dry them on Saturday. Not only does this keep the socks fresh and white and unsmelly .... It also keeps track of all the socks!!

Yet, another BLOG writer tells about spraying the inside of shoes with Lysol spray. This keeps the shoes, socks, and feet from becoming too smelly.

Another line of defense includes washing both socks and shoes. Shoes might not be MACHINE washable, but if they are surviving daily soaks in sweat, they can certainly survive a hand soaking in water with light detergent and a heavy dose of "20-Mule Team Borax" found in the laundry aisle. Borax is famous for neutralizing biological odors. Let the shoes soak for a couple of hours. Air dry completely. Re-oil leather parts with mink oil, saddle soap, etc.

Another down-home method for eliminating shoe odor is to seal the shoes in a plastic zipper bag and place it in the freezer overnight. This reportedly kills the bacteria that causes the odor.

People must be overly offended by stinky feet. One women'ss magazine even printed this tip: "This works really well for summer shoes that you like to wear with bare feet. Before you wear the shoes, spray the inside with two good coats of silicone water protector for shoes. This will prevent sweat from penetrating the leather insoles of your shoes, thus preventing the buildup of bacteria and odor."

To lessen the need for some of those deep-cleaning suggestions, many people (organized people) try to be proactive and prevent the odor in the first place. They make sure kids -- especially teens -- wear socks and change shoes on alternate days so shoes have a chance to dry out between wearings. Sweaty shoes breed bacteria. Some parents insist that kids wash their feet with an antibacterial soap. They buy replaceable shoe insoles and change them periodically. If they are this dedicated to killing the foot odors, parents will definitely insist on spraying the shoes with a foot/shoe spray or some foot powder.

If none of these suggestions will work for your family, do what many people do: Throw out the stinky shoes and socks, and start fresh.