Funky smell in shoes

[Ed13]

I have a pair of EG that have developed a bad smell. I had worn them on a wet, mucky day and gotten mud on the soles and edges. They then sat a few months with shoes trees before wearing again. This is when I noticed the smell while wearing them.

I have tried a couple of types of foot powders with no improvement. I can't even keep the shoes in my closet now because of the smell. I am hoping someone can help me solve what I believe is a mold problem.

Right now the shoes are unwearable. My last resort will be soaking them in a bleach/water solution but I don't want to take such drastic measures if I can help it. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Jetta]

are you sure it is coming from inside the shoe and not some crap (literaly?) that you stepped in? Maybe that wasnt mud!

 

[Margaret]

Doesn't EG have a refurbishing service?

 

[Ed13]

I did clean the outside of the shoes before the next wearing. The smell is definately coming from inside the shoes.

I had considered sending them to EG and let them take care of it but after reading the recent post concerning charges and the shipping to and from Canada I would rather try to solve the problem myself. By the time I pay to have the smell fixed, resoled, etc. I may as well wait until I see a pair I like on sale. If I can salvadge this pair then I can still use the money I saved to buy another pair of shoes. You can never have too many shoes.

 

[Jetta]

Well if foot powder didnt do anything, maybe using fabreeze on them? Not sure how it will react with the leather, but I doubt it would do any more damage than bleach and should kill/cover whatever is stinking in there, though it may take a few applications to get rid of it totally.

 

[kitonbrioni]

Are we going into the sewer again? Why not steam them and put some new or newly sanded cedar shoe trees in them and air them out real good.

 

[Ed13]

Will steaming kill mold or fungus? Is it possible to get the steam hot enough?

 

[Drinkwaters]

I'm not sure if your shoes have a full sock linning but if they do, pull it back and discover if the material underneath is rotting. Often times, shoemakers use a cork footbed and this could have gotten saturated and is deteriorating.
Other than that, mold could have formed inside the shoe and is the cause for the nasty smell. Maybe a good alcohol rub inside will cure this but I might apply some leather lotion after you do this because the alcohol will be drying the leather out. Good Luck!

Best Regards,

Gary

 

[acidboy]

theoretically, "funky" odors are caused by bacteria. in all probability, there are some rotting inside the shoe that is causing the smell, as drink8648 said. imo steaming will not kill the smell and might even make it worse since mold and bacteria pretty much thrive on moisture. it would be best to have this shoe looked upon professionally.

 

[Ed13]

I am going to try to wash them out with IPA first and see what happens. If this doesn't work I may still try to bleach them. I have been itching to try this since reading about it here. If I don't bleach these shoes I may have to sacrifice a pair of AE's I rarely wear.

 

[suitforcourt]

I bought a pair of "new old stock" Florsheims on ebay that came with a deep cigarette smell. This is what I did:

1. Took old pairs of socks that I no longer want, and filled them with dry tea leaves. The leaves can absorb moisture and smells;

2. Stuff the socks into the shoes and let them air out on a windy day or 2;

3. Day 3 and 4, let shoes air out naturally.

Chemicals like Febreze are temporary fixes. Try my method. My next action would be sending them back to manufacturer, or B Nelson.

Good luck.