Cinderella Filter

March 1, 2006 7:51 PM

Second-hand shoes: What are the odds of contracting some sort of fungus or some other nasty thing from second-hand shoes? What, if anything, can I do to disinfect them? And will it work?
posted by Krrrlson to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Considering the assumed safety of renting bowling shoes I'd say spraying some disinfectant would be enough. P.S. Soak the shoes in a diluted Oxyclean mixture for an "amost new" shine. P.P.S. But don't do that with hockey gloves because they'll fall apart.
posted by rob paxon at 7:55 PM on March 1, 2006

Sprinkle baking soda inside them and leave them in a dry environment (important) for a week. Any bad smell will go away and you should have no problems with contracting fungus or trenchfoot or gangrene. If you're ultra-paranoid, wait two weeks.
posted by louigi at 7:59 PM on March 1, 2006

Used shoes == bird flu
posted by moift at 8:18 PM on March 1, 2006

Moift makes a great point there. Are you sure the previous owners of these shoes weren't, in fact, birds? Extra measures may need to be taken.
posted by rob paxon at 8:42 PM on March 1, 2006

Find out what bowling alleys use to disinfect their shoes between customers.
posted by tracicle at 9:30 PM on March 1, 2006

Glass slippers are easy to disinfect. For other footwear, your biggest concern is athlete's foot, which is a fungus. Air them really well, and add some antifungal powder if you want to be really cautious.
posted by theora55 at 9:44 PM on March 1, 2006

By the way, I have some old shoes if you've fallen on hard times, Son of Krrrl.
posted by rob paxon at 5:11 AM on March 2, 2006

As an anecdotal example of "things that could go wrong": My boyfriend bought a (fucking excellent) pair of cowboy boots from a shoe-shine guy on the street in New Orleans last year. He wore them, with socks, while doing a lot of walking. He got a sore on his foot and it got infected to the point he could hardly walk. Course of antibiotics and a week of limping followed.

So yes, things could get ugly. Then again, I've bought a bunch of shoes at flea markets/thrift stores/etc. and never had a problem. And we're still not sure if it was the actual boots that caused the infection or just an open wound on his foot.
posted by ruby.aftermath at 11:46 AM on March 2, 2006