Work boots help you in work and offer excellent protection for your feet when you work in dangerous conditions. It’s natural for your work boots to develop foul odor.
You rock them for over 7 hours every day for about five days in a week. Your shoes can’t smell fresh for such a period. But, you can get the odor to stay out of your boots. This informative piece takes you through a step-by-step process of keeping the smell from your work boots. Let’s get started!
1. Buy the Right Work Boots
The first step to keeping the odor away from your boots is by buying the right work boots. When you buy the wrong set of boots made with inferior materials, there would smell.
Modern boots offer cool features that have to improve the comfort and safety of the users. Features like safety caps and linings are great additions. But, these features have reduced the breathability of work boots.
Hence, you sweat faster and for more extended periods when you wear sophisticated work boots. To help you make the right choice is, consider the following factors when buying a work boot.
Toe Caps
Rather than buy work shoes with steel caps, settle for the composite toe caps. They do not cause your toes to sweat like the steel counterparts. Above all, wearing proper composite toe work boots have features that keep feet fresh all day.
Side Zips
When buying insulated work boots, you should consider getting boots with side zips. The side zips allow you to ventilate your feet when it gets too sweaty.
Leather Boots
Leather boots look excellent, no doubt, but they are less breathable when compared to other synthetic materials. With a leather boot, you are likely to sweat more. Leather boots are durable.
Thus, get a kick that combines both leather and a synthetic mesh to give room for airflow. This way, you can use long-lasting shows and enjoy the breathable benefits of meshed/woven materials. To avoid synthetic leather as they are far less breathable compared to natural leather.
2. Clean Your Feet
Another primary reason why your work boot has a foul odor is from your feet. When your feet sweat for a long time, fungi and bacteria will begin to develop around your feet. These organisms breed and multiply in warm areas.
They are responsible for the odor on your feet and in your work boots. Thus, it would be best if you washed your feet with antibacterial soap to stop the growth of these bacteria.
3. Use Clean Socks
Most times, your sock causes a foul odor in your boot. When you don’t change out your socks, the bacteria growing in your boot will build up there. This will lead to persistent foul odor in your boot.
Also, when buying socks for your work boot, avoid cotton socks. Socks made from pure cotton absorb more sweat, thus keep the bacteria around your feet. They also make your feet soggy and uncomfortable in the long run. Go for bamboo or woolen socks as they help keep moisture off your feet.
4. Change Out Your Boots
Another great way of preventing the growth and buildup of bacteria in your boot is by having two or three pairs of work boots. When you use one pair of boots for 5-6 days in a week, you may not have ample time to dry them out. Thus, the bacteria responsible for the foul smell in these boots will continue to thrive.
But if you can afford to have another alternate pair, you can dry your boots to prevent the growth of bacteria. This will keep them clean and fresh for a long time.
5. Dry and Store in an Open, Ventilated Space
Always dry out your work boots in a well-ventilated space. Bacteria and fungi thrive in a dark, moist environment like closed boxes. When you store your boots in such an area, you will promote the growth of these bacteria.
Store your work boots in open racks and ensure the space is well ventilated. You can use old newspapers or baking soda in a sock to help them dry faster.
6. Use Activated Charcoal
If you are stuck with a smelly work boot with a stubborn odor, then you may have to try out a couple of home tricks to get the smell out. First, you can use activated charcoal to get the smell out. How does it work? Charcoal has a tremendous absorbing property that would take out the moisture from your boots within hours. You can leave them in your boot overnight for the best results.
Another trick you can try out is using baking soda. Baking soda combined with vinegar will go a long way to removing foul odor from your boots. You can fill socks with baking soda and drop it inside your boot for a couple of hours to get the smell out.
Wash your feet in a mixture of baking soda and vinegar to disinfect your feet and kill off the bacteria responsible for the foul odor. You can also use this mixture to rinse out your work socks and prevent the growth of bacteria in them.
7. Invest in Foot Spray
If you can’t contain the situation using the following methods, you should resort to foot sprays to help you manage the foul odor from your boots. These products inhibit the growth of the bacteria responsible for smelly feet.
They also help with freshening up your shoes to keep your feet smelling fresh after long hours. Buy quality foot spray to help you deal with smelly feet. You can check out this Shoe Deodorizer Foot Spray for your feet.
Summing It Up
The following tips will help you dry out your boots. The key to keeping your boot fresh and clean is by eliminating the growth of bacteria in them.
Once you can keep them out, you won’t have to worry about smelly shoes. Yet, your work boot will develop a foul smell. At this point, you should replace them with a new boot.
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