Sandal Odor?

M

maury

Joined
Sep 24, 2000
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606
Anyone have any suggestions for removing odors from a pair of Teva sandals? Just got back from most of a month traveling in Latin America and my Tevas seem to have developed a new life form. Just happy I wasn’t stopped at customs!

Anyway, have tried hot water machine wash with detergent and baking soda added: the smell’s reduced a it ,but still there. I am leary of trying any strong chemicals that might get them sweet smelling, but destroy them in the process. Sandals are still in fine shape otherwise and should be good for another couple of trips if I can find a way to deodorize 'em.

Any suggestions most appreciated.

Thanks!!
 
This is why I never spend more than 20$ on a set of sandals , they always wind up smelling horrid.

I'll put it this way , my foot odor is no worse than anyone else , I mean I dont have some rare problem hehe , when my family had Sea Doo's we used to go to the lake a lot and ride 'em , I got the idea that my smelly sandals could get one heck of a wash by wearing them whilest 'skiing' , thus eliminating the odor.
Wrong.
I've tried Lysol , putting those fabric softeners in my socks while I wear them , various cleaners and disinfectants , all to no avail.

So my "cure" now is a new set of sandals every summer.
 
I had a friend who would stick his hockey gloves in the freezer to kill the odor causing bacteria.
 
Soak them in some diluted bleach or diluted pool chlorine. Both can be hard on the materials if the solution is too strong but, they will kill unwanted stuff attached to your sandals.
 
The problem is some combination of three things:

Odorous chemicals (primarily from sweat)
Bacteria
Fungus.

For bacteria and fungus, freezing might work. Microwave oven might too. Antifungals such as athelete's foot sprays might help. Antibacterials such as Lysol might.

For odorous chemicals, neutralizing chemicals such as baking soda might help.

Bleach kills bacteria and fungus and also breaks down many chemicals. But, it does break down many chemicals, so you have to use it with care.
 
I've had the same Tevas for three summers now and have had to deal with htis problem. Once a week I give them a good scubbing with anti-bacterial soap like Softsoap, and a small scrubbing brush. Use very warm/hot water. Then I set them in the sun for a couple of hours to dry. The trick is to scrub them at the first hint of smell.

In warm weather we do alot of canoe and kayaking, so from April to mid September I live in Teva's and never wear shoes when its hot. A once a week washing keeps things from getting anitsocial.
 
My Tevas stink too. I've identified the straps as the culprits. I have a couple of Swiss army watches that also have a similar type of strap made out of woven man-made materials. Guess what? The watch straps stink too.
 
I had the same problem with my Swiss Army Watches , bands.
No matter how much I soaked them in hot soapy water it didn't matter , I would not go for bleach because I'm not fond of that smell either , so I just replaced the bands.

A different scenario , my Spec-Ops wallet got a little funky too from sweat over time , so I washed it with hot soapy water , being non leather , it actually worked , the smell was gone and it looked good as new when dry.

I think the material makes the difference.
 
This sems to work w/ my Keens which get pretty ripe from time to time:
Good wash in hot soapy water- I use Dr. Bronners peppermint liquid soap & then make a slurry of Old Dutch Cleanser & water & let it sit on the insoles for a couple of hours or overnight. Scrub 'em out w/ good hot water & let them dry in the sun. Works pretty well.
 
On some of my smelly bike clothes I use to soak them in some diluted vinegar. It seemed to help. Not sure it completely took the odor away but it made a difference.
 
I have a spray bottle that I keep filled with rubbing alcohol. I squirt my sandals every few days and they stay stink-free.
 
I use Fabreeze (sp?) on my kids' shoes when they start to stink. I don't know if it kills off the offending micro organisms that are responsible for the smell, but it does kill the smell.

If you don't get rid of the stink, you don't have to worry about anybody stealing them. If they did, it'd be real easy to track them down.
 
Try some non-chlorine bleach like Clorox 2 (oxygen bleach). If that and a HOT washing don't work, try hydrogen peroxide in a sink. That should kill the smell and the nasties without bleaching the nylon straps.
 
If I'm not wearing dress shoes, and I rarely have to, I'm wearing Tevas. When I notice them starting to smell, I just wash them in the deep sink with soft anti-bacterial soap and a scrub brush. I then dry them in the sun.

No one has mentioned it, but you might also change how/where you store them when you're not wearing them. I leave mine outside in the carport, and I imagine that storing them in a closet or other dark place with little air circulation might make the problem worse.

As best I can remember, I'm currently wearing my 4th and 5th pairs of Tevas. The worst ones for smell have actually been the 4th pair, which are supposed to have some kind of anti-microbial footbed.
 
The Micro-Ban impregnated foot beds do a good job of stopping the odor problem Teva makes a couple of upper end sandals with the Micro-ban footbeds and they work great. The Microban worked for me as my current Terra-Fi's have no odor, but my old pair sure did. But see above as it appears not to work for everyone.

There has been some concern over Microban treated objects in regards to babies chewing on them (there was a trend to make Microban plastic toys and such for babies under the marketing trend of keeping things sanitary for babies).

So if your baby or dog will be chewing on the sandals, you should choose a different product.

Phil
 
I use a shoe deodorizer (NewBalance). Sprayed the crap out of them then a couple sprays when the start to smell. I have used it on my keens and climbing shoes.
 
My Tevas get this way at times.

I soak them overnight in warm sudsy water made with antibacterial soap and a little of my wife's fancy AVEDA shampoo (nice, minty smell).

Scrubbing the footbeds a little bit with a soft brush doesn't hurt.

That takes care of the odor, and they're good for another 100,000 miles.
 
I wear Birkenstock pretty much year round, just can't stand to have my feet inclosed. Only wear boots when I need the protection.

anyway, I just spray em with FaBreeze occasionally.

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Take a cotton ball apply a few drops of oil of clove, take cooton ball and place in sandle then wrap in plastic wrap overnite. Do the same to other sandle. Old stinky sandle remedy.
 
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