So this is a bit embarrassing. I noticed yesterday my daughter had no socks on when she came home from school. I told her she needs to wear socks because A) it's winter, B) Tennis shoes are not something you can wear without socks, and C) Her feet will stink.
Sure enough, today, when she got home from school, I smelled the worst smell of my life. A cross between skunk, garbage, and vomit. No joke. I sniffed around until I found the culprit. It's my daughter's feet dangling below her while she's doing her homework. She showers nightly, so that part of her hygiene I am not worried about, but it is unbelievable that such a horrible smell could come out of someone so beautiful!!
SO here's the dilemma. How can I get rid of the smell? Are the shoes toast? Can I put them in the washer? Do I just air them out for a few days? HELP!!
I hate wearing socks and I work for the post office so I do A LOT of walking....I tried everything from creams, sprays, powder, and the only thing I've found that will work is a pedicure every other week. I also invested in a Ped-Egg that can be found at Walgreens that exfoliates? feet. The point is that you get the dead skin off your feet. I rarely wear socks, so I go through a billion pairs of shoes and my husband won't rub my feet unless I've recently had a Pedi or used the Ped-Egg.
Hi Mia,
Oh have I been there! My 4 year old princess had a pair of ballet flats that did the same thing. I Put everything including leather shoes in the washer. You can add vinegar & baking soda to rid the shoes of stink. And make sure she wears those socks for extra protection & she should be set.
Had the same issue with my daughter. There is foot spray you can spray in the shoe, not to mention on her feet. And if she sweats excessively, the shoes will have to be replaced more often. You could also talk to her about consequences with her peers possibly making fun of her or choosing not to be near her if her feet smell so bad. Yes indeed, it is embarrassing!
I like to use Odor Eaters powder in my shoes. The bottle says you can put it on your feet, too. Also, maybe she would wear socks if you let her pick out some cute, novelty ones. They aren't too expensive and may be worth it if she will wear them.
I know that smell. I used to sprinkle my shoes with baby powder because it absorbs the sweat (main source of stink) and it freshens the shoes at the same time. Have to sprinkle them every day, though.
I know how you feel. My husband's snow/work boots are the same. I would walk around the house trying to find the smell of rotting trash, and could not figure out what the source was. THE BOOTS!! We could not wash them, but we found a product called Solumel that we sprayed inside them. It cut the smell by 2/3. It is a non-toxic product, and it really worked. When i wash my tennis shoes/running shoes, and put in 1-2 capfuls of Solumel and it helps to whiten them as well as de-odorize them. If you would like more info let me know. www.livetotalwellness.com/wyn. I started out as a customer with this wholesale company for a year, but I am now a rep because I wanted the company to pay for my products. (Not a bad deal!!) I hope this helps. Good Luck :-)
When I was a nanny one of the children I took care of hated to wear socks too, the only kind that she finally liked were very thin dress socks, so her parents bought her a bunch of them and ta-da! No more arguments about wearing her socks! As far as the smelly shoes, they may be "toast," it is so hard to get rid of that awful smell!
I do know that drier sheets work but they have to be in the shoes while being worn to be effective. Or this sounds really weird but put deoderant on her feet. This acctually works, my brother-in-law has to do this he uses a crystal deoderant but the stink leaves and it really could kill something, and he wears socks!
Good Luck!
I wash my girls tennis shoes all the time. I normally do it on a Friday so they can wear other shoes over the weekend and then they are good to go. I just toss them in the washer with a couple of towels. Works great.
My dad and my daughter had the same problem. Dad alway put powder in his boots and shoes and it would work for a while but then that didn't even work. Mom watched a program on TV that said to soak your feet in water that is as warm/hot as you can stand it and put in 2 family size tea bags. Do this every night for 2 weeks and it stops the smell. When you notice the smell again do it again. It has to be repeated but it does work.
Hi, this is not so bad. I often have this very problem. What i do is put som powder in my shoes. She does need to start wearing socks but the smell will not be bad with just a little powder.
Just because she showers nightly doesn't mean her feet are getting washed. As a massage therapist I have smelled some rather disgusting smelly feet. One client told me she had showered, but there was a watermelon seed stuck to the bottom of her foot. Which, when I asked about it, she told me she had stepped on it the day before. She then said her feet were in the shower with her so they must have been cleaned. What she had failed to do is actually wash her feet with soap and water. After I brought this to my client's awareness, she now actually washes her feet and they smell so much better than before. So, just because your daughter's feet are in the shower with her doesn't mean she is washing them with soap and water. Then wearing the same shoes everyday, especially without socks, compounds the problem. You could try using "odor eaters" in her shoes.
Mia G. I have a perfect solution to stinky shoes in my home because I own a Sargent Steam steam cleaner. This machine is one of my most favorite things in life. It solves so many problems for me and makes my cleaning faster, easier and cheaper. You can visit this companies' website at www.sargentsteam.com
Ok. I’m gonna break it down to you the real way, unlike most of the comments. Little girls get stinky cheesy smelling feet. This is not a big deal. I am sure most of her friends have the same thing going on, adults only make a big deal out of it because they conform and act so perfect. She can wash her feet and shoes a billion times a day, and they still will stink. It is normal. They are feet. They are meant to smell like that. Girls have very cute feet and the smell makes it even better. And don’t listen to anyone who says she will grow out of it, because she will not. if that were the case there would be no women with stinky feet. And don’t listen to people who says it could be a medical condition, that is a load of crap. And it does not matter how beautiful she is, most young girls are beautiful anyway. There are billions of guys that would do anything just to get a whiff, believe me I know. I would never date a girl if her feet did not stink. The stinkier the better. Some of us love that smell from girls feet. So just love her and her stinky feet and tell her if anyone doesn’t like it, they can kiss off. Girls stinky feet rule=) Now if she were a boy, then that be another story. YUCK!
It’s definitely a GIRL thing. Little girls tend to have very stinky feet until they hit adulthood. I hear of many many little boys crying about how bad their little sisters feet stink. And I hear so many parents of both genders crying about the girls having the worse smelling feet. I just seen this on FB the other day. The woman had 2 girls and 2 boys. She said her boys feet never stink, but her girls feet will clear a room within mere seconds. Trust me, it’s a girl thing. The moms who complain about their sons feet have no idea what REAL stinky feet smell like until they have girls.