Hiking boots are high maintenance and expensive investment. They accompany hikers on many trails keeping the feet away from blisters and providing ample support while climbing the hiking trails. While they are all durable and have your back on the trails, if not maintained properly, they will stink. How To Clean Smelly Hiking Boots?
The smell inside the boots can be due to sweaty socks or external factors added such as mud or water when dried and leave stains; they stink badly.
Since you can’t control the terrain conditions, such as rain and muddy areas, stomping onto one of the conditions will make your boots wet. When left for a long time and they dry, mold and bacteria cover the boots, and eventually, you feel smelly boots exacerbating.
That is why you should clean them frequently so that they do not cause any foul odor or fill your feet with a stinky smell. Water-resistant boots absorb moisture quickly, which is why heavy-duty hiking boots or waterproof boots cause more smell problems.
So, how do clean smelly hiking boots?. Luckily, there are methods that you can include in your cleaning hiking boots regime to reduce the smell, so they stay fresh like daisies for your next hike venture.
Cleaning Methods For Smelly Hiking Boots
Your hiking boots take a toll from the unpredicted weather conditions such as snow or rain, dirt or water, and the rough rocky terrain. Cleaning your boots from inside to outside seems like a daunting activity, and it takes time to clean them. How to clean smelly hiking boots?
Cleaning them should be a regular part of your hiking boot routine. Before going to the next hiking venture, follow our guide so that the hiking boots are fresh as a new pair so you can enjoy the trail and mother nature at its best.
Clean With Water And Soap
Foremost, unassembled the hiking boots by removing the insoles and cleaning them separately. Also, remove the laces, so they don’t get tangled; otherwise, they will remain untidy, and clean them with soap and water.
For this purpose, add water into a container and pour in some soap or surf. Next, take a soft bristle brush and soak it in soapy water. After that, take the brush and move it in circular motions onto the boots, insoles, and laces. Finish off by rinsing with a clean cloth and place the boots in some dry and cool place.
Use Baking Soda
Baking soda is well known for keeping the foul odor away or eliminating any bad smell. It can also be used to clean hiking boots. Fill a water container and pour baking soda into it. Mix well, then dip the hiking boots into this water overnight.
You can also use some drops of vinegar to clean the hiking boots but make sure that the fabric of the hiking boots is durable and withstands the reaction of vinegar. Otherwise, the color of hiking boots may fade, and their fabric may be destroyed by vinegar.
Do Disinfect Spray
Disinfecting sprays kill bacteria and other harmful insects or organisms causing harm to the environment. In case of foul odor, the culprit is mainly the bacteria and moles, so to kill or eliminate them, use the disinfecting spray on the hiking boots.
After that, clean them and dry them in a cool place. Don’t place them directly under sunlight; otherwise, they will get damaged. Moreover, don’t spray near the warm areas with led lights or fire.
Wear Fresh Socks
Besides cleaning the hiking boots with soaps or serums, also clean the trail socks you wear while on the terrains. Socks tend to absorb most of the sweat and get wet while you accidentally stomp on the water, so they get smelly, which can cause the smell to spread all over the boots.
Sometimes, the insoles can also get dirty and stink like a dead fish. So, you should always wear a fresh, clean pair of socks. Moreover, try to carry an extra pair of socks while on the terrain so the boots have no smell.
Use Essential Oils
Foul odor can’t be something you can get rid of, especially when you’re a hiker. If the odor seems to be prompted out of the boots causing your pet to vomit, try using the essential oils on the feet. The essential oils have a sweet fragrance that can mask the odor of the hiking boots while you plan to clean them.
Clean The Feet
Wash your feet with mild soap before wearing hiking boots. Feet tend to sweat a lot and carry debris from all over the surfaces that you walk on barefoot. So, before putting on the boots, try to soak the feet in the baking soda water for half an hour.
Then, clean them with soap. Further, dry them with a soft, breathable towel, so they don’t remain wet while you wear them on the terrain; otherwise, they will start to stink.
Don’t Use Alcohol Or Harsh Chemicals
DIY claim that the alcohol helps clean the hiking boots and also helps eliminate the foul odor caused by the bacteria. While it may be effective, it can damage the boots and may not last much longer. To increase the life of the boots and make them accompany you for more extended periods, don’t ever spray or use alcohol or other harsh chemicals while cleaning the hiking boots.
Dry In Clean Air
After cleaning hiking boots, please place them in nice weather, so they dry naturally. Do not use hair dryers or put them under a direct heat source such as sunlight and fire because it will harm them and cause them to lose their durability. Fresh, clean air will take the odor away or at least help to reduce it to some extent.
You can do some odor eliminator sprays to reduce the foul odor smell from the hiking boots. The methods are very effective for cleaning the hiking boots but ensure not to use the harsh chemicals or brutally brush off the hiking boots because the fabric is stiff but not durable enough to endure the hard brush bristles.
Keep the hiking boots clean and away from the moisture because sometimes the moisture builds molds into the insoles of the boots. If not checked by you on time, they can cause stinky smells in the shoe racks. If the fabric of your hiking boots is leather, wash them off with leather cleaner rather than using the soaps or surfs.
Final Thoughts
How To Clean Smelly Hiking Boots? Hiking boots are costly and take time to clean off. Some specific methods help eliminate the foul odor from the hiking boots. For instance, you can soak them in the water and add baking soda or washing soap to kill the odor-causing bacteria.
Use leather conditioner and shampoos to clean the boots made of leather material. Please don’t use chemicals or vinegar too much on the boots as it will cause the fabric to tear.
In this guide, we have formulated some tips and tricks to help you know how to clean smelly hiking boots, and if you follow them carefully and maintain your boots, their life will extend, and you won’t have to budge onto the stores to buy new pair now and then. Make sure to clean your feet and use good fabric socks to absorb the moisture and not cause an odor that stinks.