A bit embarrassing but… I sweat a lot… so after playing my shoes are somewhat drenched in sweat also. Live in a tropical humid country too so that doesn’t help with getting things completely dry… i make it a point to take them out of my bag when I get home and air them out. But they still smell horrible after (so bad my cat who loves shoes won’t even go near them). Sweaty clothes can be washed and put in the drier but what do I do about shoes with the gum soles…
Not sure if it help but from my experience, 1. Take out the shoes out off bag when you are at home so it would dried out from air room temperature. Before i was to lazy to take it out thinking next 2 day o would play again, so why taking it out. But i end up with smelly shoes & bag. Its better if you losen up the lace & open wide the middle area (idk what it called. Lid/lips/whatever) 2. Put a chunk of old newspaper inside the shoes. Some says it could absorb some moisture inside. 3. Put in some silica gel that some food had inside the package. Kinda my habit, when i buy stuff that had silica gel pack in it, i would throw it in my bag, wardrobe, etc. 4. Last if it cant remove the smell, cover it up with stronger smell but not quite disturbing. For example a bag of coffee bean.
It sounds very hard to cure if already smelly as all the material inside has absorbed the old sweat and smell. Your best approach may be to buy a new set of shoes and look after those. Sometimes you would have to dry out the insole to dry or even change, spray inside with antifungal antibacterial spray and small charcoal bags that you can put into the shoe when not in use to absorb smells (you can get these for boxing gloves). Your feet may need some treatment. Can also soak all your socks in antiseptic every so often to really try and reduce the bacteria count. If you are driving home, you might want to take the shoes out of the bag before driving so that the drying process can start earlier. It can be a fairly common problem in hot humid countries
There is an easier road to take...get those deodorizing spray from supermarket. They make them for shoes.
Thanks for the replies. Will try a bit of each of the suggestions, and see which works for me. Thanks again
Sweaty feet seems to recently happen to me as well, even without physical activity. Changing socks often and even shoes if needed helps. But to help dry the inside of shoes I use cheap Tea Bags + Desiccants. Seems to work well with changing the shoes and letting them dry out when they feel damp
Tropical country , play with no aircon, sweat from first game onwards make the shoes easily go smelly. Be prepared to use all methods together at the same time.
Hello, It's one of the reason I bought another pair of shoes. So I could alternate between them so the wet shoe gets enough airtime to dry, especially during summer. I have a small fan installed in the store, just in case my shoes get completely soaked. This only happens in humid conditions with long sessions and if I don't have a change of clothes and also I have forgotten my knee supports + calf support/compression sleeves. All these gears that's between the shoes and your body surface would help absorb the sweat and keep your shoes dry. I even wear full length socks as they absorb the sweat trickling down my legs but they are harder to find these days. I have also seen Yonex Deo Balls in the shop but never tried them personally. Some people sweat significantly more than others, they should invest in antiperspirant too imo. Because they render the court, the sitting area, the changing rooms unpleasant.
I've been using these charcoal bags for quite some time and it has worked really well I put them in the shoes right after the session, come home and take out the shoes from the badminton bag. I leave the absorber in the shoes. No smell except when I forget to take out the shoes. I always have 2 pairs of shoes and always swap between them
Dump a load of baking soda powder in the shoes, leave it in there for a day or two and then vacuum it out.
