I can't stomach any more news for the moment so I'm going to do a little lighter public service here and talk about sneakers, feet, and doing a little much needed housekeeping.
E had been on a swim team or even taking swim lessons since he could walk. That meant wet feet, pool decks, locker rooms, and other germ laden places where his feet were unsocked and touching. When he got athlete's foot, it wasn't a surprise but it was certainly gross. Not only was it disgusting, but the instructions to get rid of it were like dealing with The Princess and the Pea. The pediatrician told us to do something like clean his feet in a bowl with medicated wash. Daily. It may have even been twice a day. No one wants to do that or has time for that kind of foot attention. We were also told to make sure he has more than one pair of shoes or sneakers and rotate them. I've always kept athlete's foot in the back of my mind, so he's always had a plethora of sneakers. Not expensive sneakers- you don't need expensive sneakers to have a few extras. If you need deals to be able to do this- I'm more than happy to help you. But at this point? He has so many extras just by cleaning them instead of throwing them out.
Why is this even coming up? Well, we only use one door as the entrance to our home. And that door opens right into the kitchen. We are a shoes off kind of house per my husband's insistence. I get it- shoes are gross, they touch the elements, dog poop and pee, whatever people put on grass, etc etc. With B, E and I, it's not a problem because we have a lot of different sneakers and shoes and....
I WASH THEM. But more about that in a minute.
E's friends come over. These are fifteen and sixteen year old boys. All their sneakers are now in my kitchen. Imagine, anywhere from five to TWELVE pair of teen boy sneakers just airing out in my kitchen. I actually don't even have a keen sense of smell like B does, and I've gagged on my way in there, especially when I didn't know there were people here to begin with. Normally, I keep Funk Away Spray in a kitchen closet and when they're downstairs in the basement, I spray the living ish out their sneakers. But most recently, when there were twelve of them here, I also had to use Lysol. And it still was putrid. Just as an aside- Funk Away makes a great line of stuff- I use the liquid in the wash, there is an extreme sports spray, etc. There's a whole Funk Away store on Amazon.
Here's the deal. Pretty much ALL sneakers can go in the washing machine. I know this, because I've done it. For YEARS. Leather sneakers? No problem. They ALL WASH. E has had a favorite pair of Nike sneakers for a year and a half now- they still look great, and SMELL great.
Have there been any issues with washing? The year and a half old pair does have a faux leather trim around the back that has now shredded a bit in spots. (See the top photo). But that's only after washing maybe six or seven times by now. And I don't know that it was from the washing or just extreme wear. Normally, without washing, those sneakers would've been garbage by now anyway, so I don't have a problem with that small piece of trim getting messed up. I also have that Coconix leather fixer stuff that's As Seen on TV and I repaired it for the most part, because that's just what I do.
Here are my easy peasy wash instructions-
Get some Clorox 2 For Colors Stain Remover liquid. You can get it at pretty much any supermarket chain. I just picked some up at Shop Rite, but it's at Acme, Stop and Shop, Walmart, Amazon etc.
Pour yourself a cap full and pour it all over the inside and outside of the sneaker. If it's mostly leather on the outside, just pour it on the inside. Use enough to cover the whole insole. Not swimming in it, but cover the foot bed and the inside sides and heel back - if that makes sense.If they're canvas or whatever isn't leather, cover the whole outside. I pour a little swish around with my finger, to make sure it's all covered in a nice layer. Then, I leave the sneakers in the washing machine sink basin if I don't have anything else to wash or I put them in a large plastic shopping bag (because I still have a bunch of those). I leave them overnight for the Clorox to really sink in. I put them in the washing machine the next day and wash on warm or hot with one Tide Pod and one Oxy Clean Pod.
In the winter, my laundry room is already hot because it's where the boiler is- so they dry pretty quickly. Definitely within twenty four hours. If it's spring, summer, or fall, if it's sunny out, I put them outside to dry. They take a little longer but it works. And putting stuff out to dry in the sun takes out smells anyway. If you want to do a little extra to be nice and keep them looking fresh, take a Mr Clean Magic Eraser and just wipe around the white side soles. It really works like magic!
I can literally put my nose in E's sneakers right now, take a big whiff, and all they smell like- is Clorox 2.
Thanks for reading, and you too, can have clean smelling and looking teen boy sneakers. And you'll save money by not having to replace sneakers so often. It's really a win-win for everyone, not just for me and my kitchen.