To prevent yourself from getting burned by a hot teabag, you may want to use a utensil for removal. A spoon, fork, or tongs can help you safely remove your teabags. Allow your teabags to cool for a few minutes after removing it from the boiling water. This will make it easier to handle with your fingers. For light odors, a single teabag per shoe may be enough to rid it of its bad smell. Odors that are especially strong may require several teabags.
In bad odor cases, you may want to let your teabags sit in your shoes for up to two hours. You can speed the drying process along with a blow drier. Simple point the blow drier so the hot air blows into the shoe until the shoe is completely dry.
If you have difficulty dripping the oil on the insole of your shoe or getting the oil into the toe of a shoe, you could soak a cotton ball or two in the oil. Then, push the cotton ball into the toe of the shoe. [2] X Research source
Be careful to keep the oil from coming in contact with the outside of the shoe, or any visible part of it. Some materials can be stained by essential oils, especially oils that are dark in color. For extra odor fighting potential, you can mix a few drops of essential oil in with a heaping spoonful of baking soda, which absorbs bad smells. Stir these ingredients together in a small bowl, then spread it liberally over the insole. [3] X Research source
You can remove and throw away the paper when the odor vanishes. A few hours might be enough to free your shoes from the unpleasant smell, but bad cases can best be treated by leaving the paper in overnight. You may want to check your shoes after a few hours have passed. Remove the paper and give your shoes a sniff to see if the odor has dissipated. If it has not, replace the paper and allow more time to pass before removing the paper for good.
In place of socks, you could also use pantyhose. The thin material of these will form less of a barrier between the odor fighting elements of the litter and the bad smelling parts of your shoe. [5] X Research source To give your cat litter a little more punch, you might consider adding some baking soda to it. Simply add a heaping spoonful to each sock, tie each off at the top, and shake or massage the socks to distribute the baking soda. [6] X Research source
If you find that your socks are too full, hold your socks over a garbage can while unknotting the tops. This way, stray litter will be contained in the garbage, preventing a mess.
Once the odor is removed from your shoes, you can throw away the cat litter and wash the socks as you would normally. If the cat litter is still good enough to use in a litter box, you may want to reuse the litter there. Give your shoes a thorough inspection after you’ve removed the litter filled socks. Small pieces of litter can sometimes push through the fabric of the sock and become an irritant later when you wear the shoes.
Used dryer sheets can also be used to combat shoe odor. This is a great way to recycle, and will leave your shoes smelling laundry-fresh.
Most sheets will last about a week before the odor fighting potential is lost. Once your dryer sheets stop smelling fresh, you can throw it out and replace it with a fresh one. [10] X Research source
A few hours with dryer sheets inserted will usually be enough to chase away the stink. Severe cases might benefit from a night spent with dryer sheets inserted in each shoe.
Some common disinfecting sprays include Lysol, Smelleze, and Dr. Scholl’s foot spray. Most of these products can be found at your local drug store or pharmacy.
For daytime deodorizing, you can speed the drying process by leaving your shoes in the sun. If the smell comes back later, repeat this process.
If you live in a cold part of the world or a place with cold winters, you may be able to leave your shoes outside to kill the bacteria. However, you might want to cover the tops of your shoes to prevent snow from blowing in.
If the odor remains, freeze your shoe again, allowing even more time for the cold to work on the bacteria. After this, the odor should be gone. To speed the drying process, you might try putting your shoes in a clothes dryer, though this method may be damaging to more delicate pairs of shoes. A blow dryer can also be used to thaw/dry your shoes, though this might take a while.
