OT:Washing trainers ?

[Jethro_uk]

The useless lump of lard known as my lad (!) has somehow managed to make his "skateboard" boots (cost c. £60+ - a present from the grandparents) smell so foul you can smell it from the next room.

No idea what he's done ... although it seemed to start when the snow was bad. Presumably he left them damp, kept on wearing them[1] etc etc.

Short of throwing them out, is my instinct to put them on a no-spin wash in the washing machine sensible. Obviously they'd have to drip dry and then dry out 100%.

They're some sort of synthetic leathery material, with a fabric inside.

[1]*You* try telling him. 16 years old, and knows everything there is to know. Actually it was unfair to call him lardish - he's painfully skinny if anything (not sure where that came from ;) )

[Mr Pounder]

Wrap them in a pillow case and stick them in the washing machine.

[Nightjar]

We used to put clean room shoes into a washing machine. They, however, were designed for it and came with a porous bag to put them in while in the wash.

Colin Bignell

[Jethro_uk]

SWMBO has just found a pillow case :)

But they're quite weighty ... no spin cycle, surely ?

[Simon Cee]

Yup, done loads of times. Bio powder works best. Pre-soak in a bowl helps. Even done with leather mix trainers - wear before 100% dry to stop going all stiff. Put a big old towel in with them to help cushion the crashing and banging.

[David.WE.Roberts]

Bacteria gorging themselves on sweat.

Firstly, have you checked the washing label sown into them? Some footwear has dire prohibitions against washing.

Secondly, have you tried taking out the insoles and filling the boots with talcum power? New insoles might help.

Thirdly a delicate was - probably a cold wash would be best - might help but the main aim is to kill off the bacteria and that would probably require a hot wash which would probably knacker the hi-tech footwear.

However once they have turned to the dark side it is often impossible to remove the lingering smell and the bacteria which will thrive as soon as the boots are worn.

I remember a pair of baseball boots (which I loved) rotting off my feet when I was a lad. It may just be an age thing - rampant hormones and sweaty feet sort of thing.

If in doubt, chuck them out.

The advice used to be that you should have at least two pairs of footwear and alternate them to allow them to dry out.

However this sounds a tad expensive.

Cheers

Dave R

[Mr Pounder]

I would say not.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Shoe sprays are available to kill this.

Buy them with enough space for odor eaters, which make an enormous difference (real ones, not just plain insoles). They work very well for this. You can change them when they wear out, and they make the trainers last longer.

[Frank Erskine]

The Miele washer/dryer WT2780 has a specific cycle for trainers, but the handbook describes it as:

Cold-40C. Prewash with no detergent. No leather shoes.

1000 rpm spin. No tumble! No fabric conditioner.

It suggests you brush off any loose dirt before washing.

[The Medway Handyman]

[Tim Watts]

On Friday 08 March 2013 17:30 Jethro_uk wrote in uk.d-i-y:

You might try filling them with a liberal amount of bicarbonate of soda powder and leaving for a few days, then shake out.

It has a very good and proven ability to absorb odours.

[Brian Gaff]

Depends what the smell is really. When a fox decided my boots were his territory, it took many weeks to wash manually and hanging outside to get rid of the pong. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

If you are going to do this, then one would need some kind of anti bacterial mixture as the smell must be coming from something like mould or other growing stuff. it may well be too late to save them if this has got hold.

Brian

[bert]

Our WM has a sports shoe setting - slow spin.

[usenet2012]

In message , Jethro_uk writes

That pong, don't forget, is normal for teenage lads as their body goes through the hormonal swings of adolescence.

After washingdrying I'd get him to spray the inside of the trainers with Pitrok or one of its equivalents each time before/after use.

Pitrok is sold as an under-arm deodorant but works equally well IME on trainers/shoes. It creates an environment in which the smell bacteria can't grow.

[GB]

OIr some Mycota athletes foot powder - it's antifungal, so should do the trick nicely.

[F]

[snip]

Pet shops sell a liquid that removes the smell of cat pee using enzymes. Would it be worth giving that a try?

[fred]

?When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly s tand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was ast onished by how much he'd learned in seven years.? Mark Twain

[Phil L]

Not sure what you're asking here as I thought it was common to wash trainers in a washing machine...mine has a setting just for trainers, and AFAICT it spins dry just the same as the other settings for clothes, so with that in mind, the second time I came to wash my trainers, I threw them in with my work clothes on a normal wash - they came out gleaming and washing just a pair of trainers seemed like a waste to me

[ARW]

+1

And you COULD smell my boots 3 doors away.