Taking good care of your shoes, washing them fairly regularly and using a quality shoe deodorizer spray is one way to keep your shoes smelling fresh and avoiding embarrassing situations when removing footwear indoors. ShoeFresh is one the best shoe odor eliminators around, even boasting three months of freshness from a single treatment. Yet however you decide to combat shoe odor, this is a solution after the fact, and there could be a root problem that is making all your shoe-deodorizing efforts that little bit harder – or little bit more frequent.
This is the simple problem of sweaty feet, a problem that can often prove less than simple to solve. And while the effects of sweaty feet can be efficiently tackled, you may have noticed that your feet sweat excessively, meaning more deodorizing to be done. Sweat itself is odorless, but it contributes to the warm, moist, air-tight environment inside a shoe that allows bacteria, which are very certainly not odorless, to thrive. The sweatier your feet are, the faster this process will occur and the more often you might find yourself tackling foul odors emanating from your shoes.
Sweaty Feet Aren’t Inevitable
There are between four and five million sweat glands in the human body, and a disproportionate number of them are located on the feet. As rotten luck would have it then, this is also the part of the body that is often trapped with close fitting shoes, creating a friendly environment for bacteria to thrive. If these glands are working overtime and you suffer from excessively sweaty feet, it is easy to see from where a problem might arise.
Nevertheless, the amount your feet sweat is something much more within your control than is typically thought. Short of seeing a doctor for a case of hyperhidrosis (which is necessary in more serious cases) there is actually a lot you can do to make your feet sweat less often, meaning you can go right to the root of the problem.
Tips for Sweating Less
Change Your Diet
Eating a healthy diet is a cure for more ailments than anyone would care to count, so it’s not surprising that it can also have an effect on how much you sweat. Specifically, avoiding spicy, processed, and fatty foods will reduce sweating if these have previously been common in your diet.
Reduce Emotional Stress
Emotional stress effects all manner of physical processes in the body, generally putting them under more strain and thus leading to increased sweating. Doing something about your stress levels, for example exercise and relaxation techniques, can make all the difference.
Soak Feet in Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is a classic home remedy for sweaty feet. The substance acts as an astringent, meaning it tightens skin and closes pours, thereby decreasing sweating in the area to which it is applied. It also has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. For best results, dilute the apple cider vinegar 1-1 and soak for at least 15 minutes.
Apply Lemon Juice
Lemon juice has the ability to close pores and prevent sweating. It should be applied using cotton balls to the soles of the feet just before putting on shoes. Lemon juice also acts as a natural deodorant.
Wear the Right Socks
Specifically, go for wool or some other moisture-wicking material. While not actually reducing the sweat produced, these materials can soak it up before it ever becomes a problem.
Shoe deodorizers and deodorants are great when you have a foul smell on your hands, but by tackling sweaty feet, you can solve the problem before it even appears.
