Sandal care

July 8, 2005 4:06 PM

How do I keep my sandals dry, clean, and non-smelly?

It seems that whenever I get a new pair of sandals (This is my current pair) they'll be perfectly fine at first, but after a few days of walking around in the heat, the surface will act as a sponge for foot sweat and any other moisture it might come in contact with, leaving the sandal perpetually damp and eventually unpleasant-smelling. Is there any way to treat the sandal so that this won't happen? How should I clean it to make it nice and dry and pleasant again?

posted by ludwig_van to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

Do you wear them every day? It's probably best to rotate shoes- wear a pair one day, then the next day, wear another pair. This lets them air out and not be so damp. Of course, this involves owning more than one pair of shoes you can wear on a daily basis.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:18 PM on July 8, 2005 [1 favorite]

Yes the pink superhero is right. You need to get at least one more pair . and alternate wearing them, they will last much longer .I like to mix one drop ceadarwood oil and one(expensive)drop sandalwood oil and apply sparingly to the soles of my feet, keeps em sweet.
posted by hortense at 4:32 PM on July 8, 2005 [1 favorite]

I found that there is a huge difference in funk between different brands of sandals. In my particular case OP sandals are pretty much stink-free, but Nike ones are the worst -- when I went to Europe last year I literally had to put the sandals out on the balcony at night, and wash my feet and powder them as soon as I got to the hotel room.
posted by clevershark at 4:49 PM on July 8, 2005

This thread may be helpful too: How do I clean Tevas?
posted by jewishbuddha at 6:14 PM on July 8, 2005

For future reference, if you end up looking for another pair of sandals and you'd like some that are odor-resistant, you might try looking into Crocs.

If you'd like to keep the same design as your current pair, they aren't exactly the same, but a lot of Crocs have a similar closed-top design.
posted by sellout at 6:50 PM on July 8, 2005

You can use spray on deodorant on the bottoms of them too.
posted by k8t at 7:06 AM on July 9, 2005

I've got Dr. Marten's sandals, had them for 4 years now, they don't smell at all, the foot part is leather and I sealed it with mink oil and that weather resistant spray stuff. If they ever get extra sweaty or wet I wipe them down and spray them with Desenex. After four years they are so soaked with all that stuff that it is like getting a foot massage.
posted by sciurus at 7:51 AM on July 9, 2005

There was a thread awhile back in which someone said putting a dryer sheet inside each sandal, and then storing them in a plastic bag overnight, will get rid of the smelliness, and it does indeed work for me. On the other hand, that wouldn't help you much with the dampness (au contraire, in fact), so should only be tried after the insoles have dried out.
posted by Kat Allison at 11:52 AM on July 9, 2005