7 Super Simple Ways to Deodorize Lacrosse Shoes

Alright, so perhaps I may not have ever actually been to a lacrosse game, BUT somehow or another several of my very good friends have been avid lacrosse players, and so I’ve heard plenty about the trials and travails of the sport.

When I was 7 one of my best friends introduced me to lacrosse– I had previously only ever engaged in the world of sports through my juvenile soccer team, but she assured me that lacrosse was by far the superior athletic pursuit. She told me all about how one game could be wildly different from the next, and how she had all of this really rad equipment that she got to use– I had only gotten to use the soccer ball, and she got a whole stick! It seemed to me somewhat magical, almost like a witch’s broom, and I was very nearly convinced to try it out– very nearly, but just not quite.

I was still just a touch intimidated by the whole idea– particularly after she talked about how hard it was to keep her shoes from smelling like radioactive cheese sprayed ad nauseam by a surfeit of skunks. I mean, when you’re 7, there are certainly much more significant matters in life to attend to than stinky shoes, especially when you only have to worry about wearing those shoes a few times a week for practice and then for weekend games.

But it really isn’t too much of a bother to deodorize smelly lacrosse shoes, I pinkie-promise. Any of these following 7 options are sure to help out, and it’ll hardly be any effort at all on your part.

1. Airing Out

 

So the phrase “airing your shoes out” probably makes them sound just a wee bit like laundry or something, but I pinkie-promise that it’s much more simple (and way less hands-on than that). “Airing” out your lacrosse shoes is quite simply that: airing ‘em out. Literally just storing them somewhere sunny and arid.

It all comes down to some pretty rad science about your rank shoes. You see, it actually isn’t your shoes, nor is it your actual feet themselves that are producing the notorious footwear funk. Said stank is, in most actual and kind of unfortunate fact, bacteria which lives on your feet (and also in your shoes) that are the responsible and odorous party.

See, the aforementioned bacteria live off of the moisture from the sweat on your feet and also from the spare dead skin cells that also just happen to be on your feet– seriously, your peds and the bacteria kind of just make for the most perfect pungent pair. Not the greatest news to hear (well– it would be read in this case, I suppose), but there you have it. 

That’s why airing our shoes out is literally so stinkin’ (*pun intended– always) important. Giving your lacrosse shoes time to dry out after you use them will in essence deprive the stinky bacteria of one of their major food sources, which is great for all of us with a poor, used, and abused sense of smell

So after you’re done with your lacrosse shoes for the day, simply make sure to store them in a sunny and/or arid spot so as to make sure that they have the chance to quite literally clear the air– and whatever you do, do NOT store your stinky shoes in your enclosed gym bag! Do you want radioactive levels of funk? Do you really just hate your nose hairs that much? For real, air ‘em out– don’t make the footwear funk worse than it already is, you hear?

2.  Replace or Wash the Soles

 

Another simple tip for success in how to fix stinky shoes easily is just replacing the soles. You know, that soft pad of fabric or perhaps foam between your feet and the rest of the shoe? It’s essentially a sponge for all kinds of bacteria and is thus a literal haven for the rank bacteria to set up shop in. I mean, they’re safe from air and temperature shifts what with your feet in the way, and as a result, the soles tend to harbor plenty of sweat for them to chow down on in the interim even when you're not wearing said shoes.

And you want to know what’s freakin’ great about soles? They’re easy to just take out and chuck! Maybe straight on into a fire, a garbage can, or– if the means are at your present disposal– launch 'em straight into orbit with all possible and very much overdue haste.

Basically, option numero uno here is to simply replace the soles– I mean, I am all about trying to reuse where one can (my wallet would hamstring me otherwise), but sometimes the stinky shoes’ sole is so malodorous that at that point it’s practically pointless to try and save it– hey, at least it’s better/cheaper than chucking the whole shoe? In buying new soles just make sure that you get the proper size and fit so that the replacements are snug in your (hopefully no longer) stinky lacrosse shoes.

Merely washing the soles (if you think you can save them) can also help to deodorize shoes quickly– just a PSA to make sure that you let those soles dry completely before shoving them back into your shoes, because if you’ll care to recall, the bacteria happen to love spare moisture, and sticking soggy soles straight into your shoes will only give fodder to the stink.

3. Soap in the Sole

 

And speaking of soles (if you’d like to perhaps double up on your options to easily fix your stinky lacrosse shoes, that is), one only needs soap to save the day. 

Of course, I wouldn’t be suggesting sitting down and literally just scrubbing your funky footwear with some good old-fashioned suds and water– no heckin’ way is there time for that kind of de-stanking shenaniganry– oh no. I’m merely suggesting the usage of a dry bar of soap. Well, preferably two, given as that is the typical given number of podiatric appendages (stinky or not).

You see, when washing hands or literally just anything, the water acts as a kind of shove to force dirt or whatever off– water can be pretty rad mechanical force, and it’ll take said debris down the drain with it.

 

Soap specifically, however, bursts apart the fatty membrane surrounding and protecting our little bacteria (not really) friends. So, no protective membrane, no bacteria, and no footwear funk!

Like I said earlier, however, we won’t merely be scrubbing stinky shoes in our valiant attempts to save them from olfactory oblivion– that’s totally way too much effort when we could instead be using a simply dry bar of soap to accomplish the same end goal– removing the foot odor from your lacrosse shoes.

So get two plain old bars of soap, stick ‘em on into your smelly shoes when they’re not in use, and you’re well on your way to living your best stank-free life! Leave the soap in there as long as you can, but at least overnight in order to achieve the best results.

4. Salt

 

Salt will work to directly take away one of the rank bacteria’s primary sources of nutrients– all of the moisture in your smelly shoes that’s simply a leftover from your sweat.

 

I mean lacrosse is a literal sport, and it’s totally and completely natural that your shoes might be a little sweaty after any kind of practice or game– that’s not what we’re going to be worrying about here.

Salt naturally is able to sop up moisture like an actual sponge. I mean, just think back to the last time you were at the beach– the waves crashing, the immense crush of sunscreened bodies, all topped by the tang of a salty gust of wind blowing off from the water– do you remember the chapped lips? Or perhaps just the frizzy hair?

 

Some of that obviously has to do with the humidity typical at these climes, for sure, but salt also plays a tiny little part. Salt dries up moisture, causing some of these things, but it also makes fixing stinky shoes for good a (sea) breeze!

Get yourself some salt (any kind will work, but I’d personally opt for whatever variety is easiest on your wallet– no need to season your stinky shoes with the good stuff! Salt is salt, in this case)-- at least a couple of tablespoons, and put it all directly into your shoes.

 

If you’re worried about an easier cleanup, just put the same amount of salt into some socks, tie ‘em off with a rubber band or something, and then for BOTH options leave the salt inside of your shoes at least overnight, but longer if you can manage, although the salt won’t really be quite so effective once it’s started to clump up  (that’s what happens when it absorbs the moisture from your sweat, and can’t really take in any extra).

5.  Essential Oils

 

But sometimes all we want to do is go for the simple approach, especially when the sports season is already in full swing, and there’s hardly a moment to breathe (in the funky and not-so-fresh tang of your pungent peds), much less remember anything important that you’ve got to do, such as those pesky stinky lacrosse shoes that you’ve simply got to get around to deodorizing one of these epochs.

Now, any of the options on this list for how to fix stinky shoes can totally help you with that, but essential oils are going to be… well, essentially one of the speedier stratagems. Indeed, the most difficult part of using essential oils to deodorize funky footwear is probs just picking out your favorite scent beforehand.

If you aren’t already totally and most completely familiar with the phenomenon that is essential oils (trust me, you’re not alone– that was myself just a small while ago) then you’re in for a treat, because this stuff is actually kind of fabulous.

Think of essential oils as kind of comparable to pickle juice– yes, ya’ read that right– pickle juice. Essential oils are basically just minute bits of organic plant matter suspended in oil (not vinegar, I’ll concede), and so when you use that oil on something else (your rank runners, for a prime and sort of pressing example) the lovely scent of whatever plant bits are suspended in that oil can be transferred pretty simply to the item in question.

 

It’s also kind of nice how the carrier oil can literally stretch the reaching and staying power of just those small bits of plants– a little will absolutely go a long way with this stuff.

All you have to do in order to deodorize stinky shoes with essential oils is pick first pick a favorite scent (many people tend to go for a fresh peppermint, citrus, or even a bright floral one), dab a couple of drops onto a few cotton rounds or pads, and then stuff those directly into your stinky shoes. Leave overnight or even longer if you’d prefer, and that’s that!

6. Freezer

 

But then again, it sure would be great if we could just use a method that’s a little more familiar. I mean, essential oils are fine and all, but how about the options that are just that plain, down-to-earth kind of sensible? Don’t get me wrong, I’ll use the essential oils and all, but it’d be kind of rad if I already had a good foundation for the hows and whys of the matter.

 

And that’s going to be where your own freezer can come in! If you can remember those bad-smelling bacteria we chatted about earlier, we’re going to be using the common household freezer to chill and turn those little buggers into (hopefully) not-so-smelly popsicles that shan’t be bothering you again!

 

The smelly bacteria normally produce the funk that invades your poor footwear when all of the conditions are just right– moisture (from your sweat), spare dead skin cells (of which there is typically a natural abundance on one’s feet), and warmish conditions (which is also not typically a problem, especially for athletes).

 

In order to use a freezer to fix smelly shoes for good, all you’ve got to do is first stick the shoes into a bag or perhaps even just a pillowcase (just something to separate the shoes from the ice cream and all of the spare frozen casseroles, am I right?), and then stick all of that directly into your freezer. Leave overnight, but go for longer in order to achieve the best possible results.

 

7. LUMI’s Natural Shoe and Foot Powder

 

LUMI’s Natural Shoe and Foot Powder is probably going to be the easiest go-to item on this list, given how easy it is to use and also how quickly it can successfully restore your stinky shoes to their prior not-so-pungent glory.

And it’s not just me who thinks that it’s fabulous (although why you wouldn’t trust me implicitly, ma’ dear reader, I certainly wouldn’t know). Just take a look at any or all of the absolutely perfect 600 5 star ratings on Amazon (averaging out to a solid 4.6 stars). One such reviewer– an Antony E. Faase– raved over how LUMI’s Natural Shoe and Foot Powder may be natural but is still totally solid enough to pack a punch for athletes:

 

 

LUMI’s Natural Shoe and Foot Powder is one of the best products out there for preventing odor because of how it so effectively prevents moisture in one’s sadly stinky shoes. It uses ingredients that are– quite simply put– positively marvelous for one’s skin, for example zinc oxide, kaolin clay, bentonite clays (all of the good clays, it would seem), etc. etc.

LUMI is also a super freakin’ fantastic small, family-owned business that doesn’t test on animals, uses only the highest quality all-natural ingredients in each of their products, and produces literally everything in the USA. 

You can save your funky footwear from their presently dank doom with a couple quick taps of LUMI’s Natural Shoe and Foot Powder directly into the lacrosse shoes. That’s it! You’ve done all that you need to do in order to hit the playing field smelling great and playing even better!

Simple, and takes no more than a few moments on our part. Thanks to LUMI’s Natural Shoe and Foot Powder stinky lacrosse shoes shall be a thing of the (smellier) past.

But let’s just run through all seven of the options, alright? I’m always down for a good summary, given that I have the short-term memory of half a gerbil, myself.

Airing out your stinky lacrosse footwear is totally one of the most simple options for quickly and easily deodorizing shoes out there. Simply make sure to store your shoes in a sunny and arid spot after use so that they can properly dry out. Outside works perfectly well, but if it’s inside, just go for somewhere near a window perhaps– as long as you don't put your stinky cleats inside of your zippered-up gym bag– that would actually be the freakin’ worse (for real, if you even care a smidgen for your schnozz, literally do NOT do that).

Replacing or washing the soles is also pretty easy to do, and is kind of a really great “reset” of sorts when it comes to your lacrosse shoes. Simply swap out the old stinky sole for a new one, or if it’s machine-washable, send it through the wash (it always pays to double-check these things, so make sure that you take a look at the shoes’ care instructions). If you’re going for the washing route, make sure to air-dry the soles completely afterward, or else you’ll simply be exasperating the shoes’ mephitic malady.

Placing dry bars of soap in the sole will also work well in our efforts to fix stinky shoes for good. Simply get two (one for each shoe, obviously), and stick them straight on into your smelly shoes as soon as you take them off your feet– no time like the present to deodorize shoes permanently with these quick little tips for success! Leave the soap in for as long as possible or at least overnight; although longer will certainly help us out a bit more.

Salt is also an absolutely fabulous option that we’ve got to help to deodorize your stinky lacrosse shoes, as it’s great for absorbing all of the moisture from your sweat that the stinky bacteria simply love to feed and make extra pungent stank off of. Stick a couple of tablespoons of salt directly into your funky footwear or put the salt into a tied-off sock that you’ll leave in the shoe– at least overnight, but longer if you can. Once the salt has started to clump you’ll know that it’s time to put some fresh salt in there.

Essential oils work well to be both simple and effective in how they fix smelly shoe problems for good. All you have to do is dab a few drops of your favorite scented oil onto a couple of cotton rounds or pads, and then put those into your lacrosse shoes overnight or you can feel free to leave ‘em in there a wee bit longer should you so choose.

Freezers can definitely work wonders on putting a dent in the stinky bacterias’ plans for world (and apparent shoe) domination (given as the smelly little suckers know no bounds!) and all we have to do is first, stick the stinky shoes into a bag or pillow case, and then place that directly into your freezer. The cold temps ought to put a stop once and for all in the shoes’ stank, as you leave them in there overnight or just a bit longer in order to freeze out the bacteria.

LUMI’s Natural Shoe and Foot Powder is the last super amazing strategy up on our list, as we simply tap in just a little bit of this uber powerful and effective product straight on into your stinky shoes, and that’s it! All you need in order to deodorize stinky lacrosse shoes in one super simple and rad powder. 

You’re welcome to use any of these seven easy fixes for smelly shoes, but also totally feel free to use any of them together! Triple up, if you’d like. Anything we’ve got to do to get your lacrosse shoes smelling better than ever! Fix stinky lacrosse shoes easily and quickly with whichever or with however many strategies you’d like!