I have a brand new pair of cycling shoes. However, I kept them by accident in an enclosed bag for about 5 days after a race, and now they really stink. I’ve sprayed them with a general foot/sneaker spray I got at CVS. Didn’t do the trick. Does anyone have any serious tricks on getting rid of the odor from bike shoes. Thanks.
vinegar works really well to get rid of the nasty.
i recently tried sticking them in the sink and running water over them. keep them filled with water and then adding in some detergent. Let them set in the sink with the water and soap and then rinse them out. lay them outside (but out of the sun) to dry. it won’t make them brand new, but it will definately help.
I have a brand new pair of cycling shoes. However, I kept them by accident in an enclosed bag for about 5 days after a race, and now they really stink. I’ve sprayed them with a general foot/sneaker spray I got at CVS. Didn’t do the trick. Does anyone have any serious tricks on getting rid of the odor from bike shoes. Thanks.
Soak them for a short while in a diluted vinegar solution, then put them in the top rack of the dishwasher and run them through a cycle.
I had the same problem a few weeks ago. I filled a large bucket with water, detergent and about 2 cups of bleach. I soaked my shoes for about 30 minutes and stuck them in front of a fan so they dried quickly.
BTW (yes I am replying to my own post), the absolute best way I have found to clean a stinky bicycle helmet is the dishwasher. Running shoes, too! Just don’t let the wife know you do it…
don’t pee on yourself and in them while riding???
g
1 Clean shoes with a tiny bit of non concentrated/non-bleach dish soap, and allow to dry completely
2 Cedar. It helps if you make some of these:
-Take old nylon soccer sock (or similar NOT cotton) fill about 4-5in at the foot-end with cedar chips, little blocks, rings whatever you can get your hands on.
-Tie a knot, keeping the cedar at the bottom.
-Move up about 6in up the sock and tie another knot.
-Fill resulting pocket with cedar as above, and tie off at top of sock.
It’ll look kind of like this: OOO—OOO
You now have a neat little pouch of cedar for each shoe that will kill all the fun smells, dry out damp shoes, and keep your relationship safe. I’ve got a set in my cycling shoes, running shoes, and soccer shoes.
Good luck!
zycam?
The pair of cycling shoes I keep at work for spin class always have two little hotel soap packs (with soap inside) in them when not in use. Maybe yours have reached a level of stinkiness that require stronger measures… But if you had just kept those little soaps in the shoes in the enclosed bag… 
I wash mine with a really big load of laundry twice and let them air dry upside down.
Worked well and got out the nastiest pee and sweat smells ever.
Bob
Emilio had a nice little thread about washing helmets and bike shoes. I laughed, but the dishwasher trick on the top rack really works. I don’t pee in my shoes, but the long ride attempt without socks left them smelling a little ripe.
But then your shoes will lose their sense of smell permanently…
The stink is half the fun.
I went for a ride a few weeks ago and for some unknown reason I kept my shoes on and wore them in the house (I always take them off in the garage). These shoes have 2 Ironman races and multiple HIM races on them and I’ve yet to pull over to go to the bathroom, if you get my drift. Anyway, about 2 nights later my wife and I are trying to find what reeks in our bedroom. We had a new kitten and were convinced it was using the bedroom as a litter box somewhere. Searched and searched and searched as to what was making the scent until she came across my shoes and before I could stop her she held them to her nose and took a big whiff. Needless to say they were outside in an instant and our bedroom no longer smells like stale cat piss.
Then last weekend I did a short sprint race. It took forever for the awards/post race festivities to start and my gear sat around in the back of my SUV as it festered in the hot sun for a couple of hours with the windows up. As soon as I opened the door I was overwhelmed by the funk. Drove 2.5 hrs home with the windows down, left them down the whole night and still when the wife and I went to dinner the next day she could not stand the smell of the car from the funky shoes.
I figure if I let this go long enough she won’t yell if I buy a newer pair this fall.
BTW (yes I am replying to my own post), the absolute best way I have found to clean a stinky bicycle helmet is the dishwasher. Running shoes, too! Just don’t let the wife know you do it…
Heat will delaminate your helmet. That is one reason why you are supposed to replace your helmet every couple of years, especially if you live in the south. Plus I would think the stickers would wash away. Which will get you DQ’d before you can start a race. Just rinse it out in the sink when you get back.
This is my approach, too!
I have come to terms with their stinkiness and am actually a little proud of it.
Hubby keeps trying to de-funk them, but I just put them in zip-loc bags with those odor eater pods and zip them up if I have to travel with them.
I may tell him about the dishwasher, though…don’t think he has gone that far yet.
G
Make sure your wife is out of the house. Then put them in the dishwasher and run it w/ regular dishwasher soap. Problem will be solved.
Put them in a large ziplock bag and toss 'em in the freezer for a day or 2.
stuff newspaper in them and leave them outside for a day or 2. freezer works great too.
Put them in a large ziplock bag and toss 'em in the freezer for a day or 2.
I have a real adversion to putting non-food things in freezers. Stems from an event years ago at my office when our receptionist, an older lady in her early 60’s and dingy as all get out, told us about the beautiful red fox she saw dead on the road on her way to work. Said she stopped and it was in such good shape that she decided to take it to have it stuffed. We asked where it was since it was a hot day out and she found it on her way to work, she sain nonchalontly that it was in the freezer in our lunch room. She wasn’t kidding. Had it wrapped in a blanket and shoved in the freezer. From then on we had to put a sign up “Please do not place road kill in this freezer” and she just could not see the problem with her actions.
Back to the original problem though, I think my wife would send me packing if she found my stinky ass shoes in the freezer, even if I triple sealed them.