Huh?

Haha. I almost never clean my shoes. I toss them after 350 miles, so usually they do not develop stench. Every now and then, I will get some major stench foot. Typically, I just live with it. But, I may have run a pair or two through the washing machine and then let them air dry. The last time would have been several years ago.

Fellow sweaty footer here, always used Brooks during the running days (daily 10-12 mile runs).

First and foremostI always took out insoles after I got back from a run. It's amazing how much quicker everything dries when the insoles are removed.

When it comes to cleaning, washing machine was last resort, and always washed after taking out laces and putting sneaks in a mesh bag on delicate cycle with very little detergent.

For non-machine wash used an old toothbrush, little bit of detergent mixed with baking soda and vinegar in warm water and air dried overnight. Took about 5-10 minutes every month or so, but helped immensely with the general funk.

I recommend reading up on Jolie Kerr and her "Ask a clean person" articles. She knows her stuff and really dictates the finer points like a normal person, not some automaton.
See this article for extra reference:
http://www.esquire.com/style/advice/a47618/ask-a-clean-person-machine-wash-sneakers/

Take a knee high stocking, add a cup or so of baking soda, tie knee high closed. Shove the ball in your shoe. Ta da!

My wife bought a new washing machine a few months ago. It doesn't even have an agitator (technology?). I'll run mine through a wash and air dry without thinking twice. Works great.

I run almost exclusively on a hard-packed granite dust track....and my shoes get filled (outside) with the dust. I don't think a thing about washing them (by themselves).

When it's that bad, best to just hose them down when you get home. They're already soaking wet, so flush them with fresh water to get all bacteria out. Leave insole out while they dry. I just put mine on the patio table and they'll be good to go by next morning.

I don't. I shake some Gold Bond Foot Powder into them after every run, and replace them after a couple hundred miles.

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Don Larkin
Reach For More
http://www.reachformore.fit/
USAT Lvl1 Coach, NSCA-CPT, NASM-CPT, BS Exercise Science

I just turn the upside down over the AC vent in the laundry room after every run. Same with the cycling shoes after every ride.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Not exactly sure what that smells like, but I'd imagine it can't be good.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

My sneakers don't really start to smell too bad until their life is almost all gone (around 300 miles) so I use the stench as an indicator to get new sneakers. Whatever you do, do not use a blow dryer to dry them off. After a track meet in the pouring rain I was in the hotel room and put the blow dryer in my shoe in hopes of it drying a bit. BAD IDEA, entire hallway smelt so bad and I even burnt a part of the sneaker; there were some small flames. I'm sure most people know better than to do what I did but just incase you thought of it :)

Except for the moment that I'm putting them on, my shoes are pretty much always about five feet away from my nose

If they stink, I can't tell and I don't care

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I don't. Running shoes don't last long enough to need cleaning. 400 miles is about 12 weeks tops and the shoes get donated to goodwill. They are still wearable. Just not good for running in.

The smell BTW is bacteria feasting on your skin flakes and skin oil. You need to wear fresh socks each run to minimize that. And use something antibacterial to kill the bacteria. Then dry the shoes as quickly as possible. Bacteria loves wet conditions.

Don't bother freezing the shoes (common advice). Bacteria won't die. They will just go dormant until shoes thaw out.

I put those odor eater balls inside my shoes followed by a few pieces of newspaper, this will get them at least dried out, and I suppose, not as smelly. Same for cycling shoes too...

I don't. Though I'm a heavy sweater too, I haven't noticed mine stinking it up too bad. I do let them dry thoroughly, especially during the warm summer months.

I put them in the garage to ripen nicely then the next day put them on and go again. Repeat until 325 miles then donate or throw them out. I do rotate two or three pairs so they have time to dry. Wife laid down the law a long time ago, no running shoes in the house.

I found a very good solution to this problem earlier last year when I was in the midst of high-mileage marathon training and thus was constantly soaking my sneakers with sweat.

I spent $40 on Amazon to buy a 4-headed 'shoe-dryer'. You actually only need a 2-headed one (one for each shoe), but having 4 heads allows you to dry gloves on the other two, which is handy. Just get the highest-highly rated ones on Amazon.

I usually just dry my shoes immediately if I really soak them on run on hot days or 1+hrs, and periodically just for kicks I'll rinse them with a hose and then throw them on there. It seems to really reduce the buildup of stink - the less time the sneakers are sitting damp, the time for bacteria to grow in that 'ideal' environment. So your shoes are damp for like 1-2 hours compared to 8+ hrs without drying.

I guarantee you i sweat worse than you. I literally squish squish squish down the street after hot day runs....I find that just airing them out, occasionally with balled up newspapers in them does the trick. Just get those bad boys out of your gym bag ASAP.

I take out the foot bed. I rub some Handy Andy or other floor cleaner over the entire outside, the top and bottom of the foot bed and some inside the shoes too.

I toss them in the washing machine on warm or hot cycle with several other pairs and a couple of old towels and they come out perfect. I do this every month or so and I've been doing it with every pair of running shoes I've had over the last 25 years. I have never had any issue.

I air dry them in the sun, or in winter, over a heating vent in the floor. I don't put them in the dryer unless I'm desperate for them. But as I buy them 2 pairs at a time, I always have one usable pair available.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

My co-workers are all looking at me. They all have that look "What the ---- are you laughing at?"

"Bigfoot's taint". I will be using that one for sure. It even surpasses my "Dryer than Ghandi's sandal"

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Years ago, I had a running shoe salesman tell me to bring my shoes to him and he'd clean them. 3 months later I showed up with my dirty shoes.

He gave hem a split second spray with something and dabbed them with a dry cloth and handed them back to me. I managed to hold in my laughter.

Now I toss them in the washing machine

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

I have a front loading washing machine and just washed 3 pair of running shoes. I pulled out the footbed liners and threw in a couple towels and a pair of jeans to cushion and balance the load. I used a good powdered detergent and added a tablespoon of Sodium Tripolyphospate. Used the extra rinse cycle and they came out looking brand new. I stuffed them with newspaper for about 2 hours and put them on a drying rack with a fan blowing on them. Worked great.

+1 on "throw them in the washing machine with some towels"... I do mostly trail runs, so I'll clean the outsole mud off, then toss them in the machine if they get... odorous.... I'll just tie the laces together so they don't get all mangled up.
Pull the insoles after the wash for drying. Let them air dry. (maybe cram some newspaper in them.) Never had any issues.
Good luck!

Washing machine with detergent and bleach (to kill all the bacteria). Remove the insoles, but throw them in the wash as well. Air dry.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

My shoes disintegrate before they get too smelly...I keep them outside and in the sun.

I do not want to torture my washer with them (too much noise). So in some cases I do soak them in a dish-pan with detergent, scrub them, rinse and dry outside.

And I don't pee during my run.