How to Remove Bad Smells From Shoes With Vinegar
Our shoes help to take care of our feet, protecting them from the elements and from the ground. Keeping them in good condition keeps our feet in good condition. Not only should they have good tread and support our arches, but they should be clean. Bad odors in our shoes come from fungus and bacteria which can grow and spread easily. The warm and, often, moist conditions of our shoes help this proliferation, potentially encouraging infections. At the very least, they can make our shoes unwearable.
At oneHOWTO, we show you how to remove bad smells from shoes with vinegar. It is an easy, effective and cheap way to make your shoes last longer and avoid any problems which might come with smelly shoes.
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How vinegar combats odor
Looking for home remedies for foot odor? You should know that vinegar has been used for centuries as a natural remedy for many cleaning issues. This includes everything from cleaning our hair to unblocking drains. The composition and properties of this ingredient make it a perfect ally to combat odors.
The acids in vinegar (especially apple cider vinegar), among which acetic acid and malic acid stand out, are responsible for the antibacterial and antifungal properties of this foodstuff. These acids work to combat foot odor. The stench is caused by the fungi and bacteria that accumulate on our feet. When we wear socks or closed shoes, these can proliferate more. The same happens in very wet or very hot conditions.
Vinegar is perfect to combat excessive sweating of the feet and the bad smells that accompanies. By using only apple cider vinegar and warm water, we can achieve effective results. If you want to know how to remove bad smell from shoes instantly with the help of vinegar, keep reading.
How to use vinegar to remove bad smells from shoes
If after a whole day with your shoes on you come home and they smell bad (as do your feet), you should know that letting them air out overnight may not be enough to remove the bad smell. This is because they have already permeated the shoe. In this case, if you wonder how to remove the bad smell from shoes with vinegar, you can follow three effective methods:
- Gauze and vinegar the first advice we give you is to take a gauze or a scrap of cloth and moisten it well with a good squirt of vinegar. The fabric should be wet but it shouldn't drip, as an excess of liquid could damage your shoes. Once you have the gauze impregnated with vinegar, pass it all over the inside of the shoe, without squeezing and without soaking the inside. Do not leave any nooks untouched. Pass the fabric on the sole, on the sides and the inner tongue of the instep of the shoe. It affects the toe and the heel most, as they are places where more bacteria can accumulate. Let the shoe air dry by allowing it to sit for at least 10 hours.
- Cotton and vinegar: the second option is to put some cotton balls inside the shoe with a few drops of vinegar on them. Remember not to soak the cotton, as this could damage your shoes. Once again, we recommend that you leave it on overnight so that the cotton absorbs bad odors.
- Water and vinegar spray: the last method that we recommend, and that you can use together with one of the previous two, is to prepare yourself a solution with three parts of water and one part of apple cider vinegar. Add the mixture to a spray bottle, shake, and finally spray a little in the inside of the shoes. Although it is a useful tip if you do not have much time, oneHOWTO recommends that you always use it together with one of the previous methods, since this will see better results.
In addition, to know how to remove the bad smell from your shoes, we also advise you affect the source. Soak the your feet in warm water for about 20 minutes. Add a cup of vinegar to the bowl so that it gets rid of bad odors and you will avoid bringing the stench back to your shoes. In addition, we advise you to visit this article on how to remove foot odor using apple cider vinegar.
Other remedies to remove bad smell from shoes
Before putting your shoes back in the closet, always check that they do not give off an unpleasant odor as a result of moisture derived from sweat. This smell could permeate the rest of your footwear or, if you leave them close enough to your clothes, it could also make them smell bad. If you want more advice on how to remove the bad smell from your shoes when washing them, oneHOWTO is at hand to offer some very effective options:
- Bicarbonate of sida: as with vinegar, bicarbonate of soda is a product with very good antibacterial properties to combat bad odors. We advise you that once you have passed the gauze moistened with vinegar all over the inside of the footwear, add a small amount of bicarbonate to the sole. The absorption capacity of the bicarbonate will take care of neutralizing the unpleasant odor throughout the night, so you just need to have a little patience. Clean off with a clean cloth afterwards.
- Lemon peel: another effective trick to camouflage the bad smell of feet and shoes is to replace this with a stronger and more pleasant aroma, such as that of lemon or orange peel. Proceed as in the previous case, but, this time, instead of baking soda, place the lemon peel inside the shoe after applying the vinegar.
If you want even more options, you can check out our article on how to remove bad smells from trainers and other shoes.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Remove Bad Smells From Shoes With Vinegar, we recommend you visit our Home cleaning category.
