I have a pair of shoes that smell like death. They're not even my running shoes. I just wear them around. I've put them in my washing machine twice, but now they just smell like a combination of laundry detergent and a decomposing body. Any ideas? Or is it a lost cause?
I've found with certain cheap shoes, it's a lost cause. Maybe try some odor eaters? Or Febreze? Or sprinkle Arm&Hammer baking powder in your shoes.
Some new shoes like the adiStar Ride offer X-Static which cuts back on odor!
Put both shoes in a plastic bag and dump an entire box of Arm & Hammer in there. Remove insoles and strings. Shake it really good so the shoes get coated. Tie the bag off and leave them in there for an entire day.
Also, check the shoestrings. I had a pair of stinky shoes and a lot of the smell was from the strings. They had gotten sweat soaked and never dried thoroughly. Throw them away and get new ones. Replace the insoles of necessary.
For me, Mizunos stink like no other shoe.
May be a lost cause, though if you do the Arm & Hammer thing I'd be interested to know the results.
In future, if you want to keep shoes from stinking, wear them with socks. All the truly horrendous stankshoes that I've encountered had been worn sockless.
soak in ammonia and water if that doesnt work bleach and water. ive done it many times and it will do nothing to the color.
The other posters probably gave better advice. But if my shoes stink, I get them soaked in water, then stuff them tight with newspaper after taking out the insole (which I also wrap in newspaper), also covering the outside with newspaper. Once the newspaper is soaked, replace it with more newspaper until the shoes are dry. The bacteria which keep crapping The water-loving newspaper molecules suck the water out of the fabric, and with it, the smell.
The bacteria, whose crap are causing your shoes to stink, then die because they're deprived of the air and moisture they needed to survive.
There's a very minor newspaper smell after this procedure, but it's not a bad smell-it's neutral.
Hopefully this helps. It's cheaper than the other suggestions.