I don’t know about you, but smelly dance shoes is most definitely my cryptonite! I have had some students that I almost had to send right home. Just kidding!!!!
How should I clean my smelly dance shoes? Well, there is not a super clear answer for this problem. Every one is a little bit different when it comes to the amount of sweat that comes from the bottom of their feet. But, there are some things that you can do about it. First you need to understand why your shoes end up smelling and then you can focus on prevention, things you can do about it once they start to stink, and things that you should not do.
For the most part I see this problem happening more with my female students. Not to say this can’t happen with my male students but the females are more at risk because of the shoes they are wearing and the fact that they typically do not wear socks with their dance shoes.
There is nothing wrong with you
It is natural to sweat when you are being active and at the end of the day, if you are doing it right and dancing hard, you are going to sweat. It is completely natural and perfectly healthy.
The Science
Each one of your feet contain over 200,000 sweat glands! Yes , your feet are suppose to sweat and if they didn’t sweat your feet would dry out and start cracking. Ouch!
However, this sweat that comes from your feet and gets trapped in your dance shoe becomes a breeding ground for bacteria.
Why do they start to smell
Unfortunately, the inside of ladies shoes tend to be suede . Suede is like a sponge that just sucks up all that sweat and retains that moisture for an extended period of time.
That just make the absolute perfect conditions for bacteria to grow. Not only is there moisture, but there is also warmth from your foot. Bacteria absolutely loves this.
Lets talk Prevention first
The best way to keep your shoes from smelling to begin with, is to not allow the wet and warm conditions in your shoe from happening.
Don’t get me wrong, while you are dancing this is going to happen, but if you get on top of it right away after dancing, you can make sure the bacteria stays away.
Wear socks
I know, I know, this looks absolutely ridiculous in your sexy Latin ladies shoe. But here is the thing, the sock will absorb most of the moisture rather than your shoe. Its just an easier choice and prevents most of the problem from happening to begin with.
The only down side to this, besides looking a bit funny of course, is you do run the risk of stretching out your shoe a bit. So, this might not be for you.
And, whats the sense of buying sexy shoes if you are going to ruin the sexy feel by wearing socks. I’m totally with you!
Air Dry Your dance Shoes
One of the most important things you can do is to air dry your shoes after dancing. You want to make sure that the inside of your shoes are completely dry. Its the moisture in the shoe that becomes a breeding ground for bacteria.
Once this bacteria begins to grow your shoes will begin to smell a bit funky! Yikes! Not good! Unless, you are actually trying to keep people away from you!! Or perhaps you are trying to incapacitate small animals!
You could try keeping your shoes in a mesh bag that is breathable. A lot of my students have these bags and they actually work really well. Of course once they start to smell , you might want to keep them in a air tight bag!
The issue you could have with one of these mesh bags is that you might end up stinking everything else up that is next to them. Especially if you have them in a second bag with perhaps some of your clothes. You may want to keep them in a separate bag away from your other items. Just in case!
I think that it would be a great idea to speed up the drying process and set them in front of a fan or on top of an air purifier. Anything that will circulate air on them would be perfect. The faster you can speed up the drying process, the less chance there is for bacteria to grow.
Try A Little Alcohol.
Some of my students will actually put some alcohol in a little spray bottle and right after they get done dancing they spray some alcohol on the inside of the shoe. This would actually act against any bacteria that might be starting to grow.
Along with the alcohol you could also try mixing a little bit of tea tree oil with the alcohol. Some of my student have had some success with that as well.
Baking Soda
Turns out baking soda is not just for baking and brushing your teeth. Just sprinkle some baking soda in your shoes after dancing and this will help absorb some of that moisture and keep them smelling fresh.
And no, the baking soda will not damage your shoes. The next time you use your shoes just brush the baking soda out of the shoe and you will be good to go.
Dryer sheets
So yes putting some dryer sheets in your shoes will definitely make them smell better. The only thing is, I would make sure you are doing the other things as well. It is important that you are killing the bacteria rather than just trying to cover up the smell. Kill the bacteria first!
Freeze Them
I know, I know, this is definitely a weird one! I don’t have first hand experience with this one but I have heard of some dancers doing it with their shoes. They take their shoes and put them in an air tight bag and put them in the freezer overnight.
I know it sounds crazy but it does make perfect sense. I remember learning this in my Microbiology class that bacteria cannot survive in extreme temperatures. So, I would say that it is worth a shot!
Enzyme cleaners
So you could always try some of these cleaners. The nice thing about these enzymes is they actually kill the bacteria. So instead of just covering up the smell, put some enzymes on the front line to go in for the kill.
These enzyme cleaners work wonders for getting rid of odors and have many applications pertaining to just that. I would be careful though as far as having a skin reaction to the enzymes.
Everyone is different and I would just be cautious of that. It would probably be a good idea to freeze the shoes overnight after using the enzyme cleaner so that the enzymes are killed off also through the freezing process. Something to think about for sure.
Prevention
Well I know this is perfectly obvious but keeping your feet clean is a great way of keeping the bacteria out of your shoes. Washing your feet with an antibacterial soap daily would be a great idea.
Make sure your feet are perfectly dry before putting on your dance shoes. You definitely don’t want to speed up the process of moisture in your shoes. That is a big NO NO!
Last But Not Least
What I usually do and what I definitely recommend is rotating your shoes out. I keep at least one pair of shoes just for performances and special occasions. Then I have 2 to 3 pairs of shoes for my everyday lessons and practice and I alternate them out each day.
This will allow each pair of shoes to dry completely between dance sessions. I also use the alcohol spray after each lesson and sprinkle the baking soda in the shoe. This has worked really well for me. But keep in mind that I wear men’s shoes and do not go bare foot in them.
So you females may have to try different measures for yourselves. I have many different students and they all have their own little rituals on keeping there shoes fresh and clean.
Final thoughts
I would say that the biggest takeaway here is, that wet shoes equals bacteria, and that equals smelly shoes. The best way to avoid this is to keep your shoes dry or make sure you dry out your shoes immediately after you dance.
Add a bacterial killing solution to that ritual for some extra success. And of course it is always good practice to have more than one pair of shoes so that you can rotate them out allowing each pair to dry out thoroughly. Besides, who doesn’t like multiple pairs of shoes!?
And one last thing you definitely need to do is have that one perfect pair for your amazing performance events. Always got to look your best! I hope this helped you out and good luck with your smelly dance shoes and see you on the dance floor!