7 Remedies For Smelly Feet

Smelly feet is socially unpleasant and often leads to embarrassment. Imagine, sitting with your friends (or colleagues) and you suddenly realize

that people are getting uncomfortable with some unpleasant odor. Oh My God, And that’s from your feet! Most of us know if we have this problem of smelly feet.

This is actually caused due to sweat. Sweat does not have any unpleasant smell, but it creates an environment in which some bacteria produce materials that smell awful. This smell of products by bacteria is the reason for foul odor. The issue can be worked upon with the help of simple home remedies stated below.

Effective Home Remedies For Smelly Feet

Choice of Right Socks

Choosing right socks can greatly reduce the problem. Foul odour is mainly caused due to sweat as it provides comfortable environment for certain bacteria. Allowing your feet to get good ventilation should avoid excess sweating. For this, you need to choose the socks made of right type of material. Socks are usually made of Polyester and nylon which do not allow adequate ventilation, so you can go for those made of cotton or wool as they allow your feet to breathe.

Do Not Avoid Wearing Socks

Socks absorb sweat that is released from your feet. Missing out socks while you go out in shoes would intensify the problem of feet odor. Since there are no socks between your feet and shoes, all of the sweat remains unabsorbed making condition extremely convinient for bacterias to multiply and do their job of generating foul smell. Hence, do not ever find a reason to not wear your socks.

Baking Soda

Baking Soda (Sodium bicarbonate) is a good option to avoid smelly feet. It works by creating an environment unsuitable for bacteria that cause the odor. You can use a pinch of it in each of your shoes and socks to avoid bacterial breeding.In case your feet already have a foul smell, wash them thoroughly and apply a little sodium bicarbonate. The smell would go in one or two washes.

Tea

Boil about two cups of water in a pan and dip tea bags in it. Wait till the black tea is prepared and essence of tea fills the water pan. Now, fill one-fourth of a bucket with cool water and add the black tea in it. Dip your feet in bucket for atleast 30 minutes. Tannic acid present in tea kills bacteria and closes pores to prevent excess sweating.  For best results, follow the procedure daily for atleast a week. You’ll end up with healthier odor-less feet.

Salt

Soaking feet in salty water can be another easy -to-do remedy against smelly feet. Fill one-fourth of a bucket with warm water and add half cup of salt in it (preferably sea salt). Stir well with your hands to dissovle all the salt in water. Once it is completely dissolved, dip your feet in the bucket for 10-15 minutes. Salt works by killing bacteria that reside on your feet and cause foul smell. Do not wash your feet with clean water after the salty dip, rather allow them to dry completely.

Vinegar

Vingar works just like salt. It kills all the unwanted bacterias that reside on your feet. Just mix one-third cup of vinegar (preferably apple cider vinegar) in a bucket quarterly filled with warm water. Allow vinegar to spread throughout the water and then dip your feet for 15 minutes. In the mean while acid in vinegar works to kill all those smelly microbes. Lastly, wash your feet in clean water and dry them thoroughly.

Cornstarch

You can use some cornstarch in your socks and shoes to prevent foul odor. Cornstarch works by absorbing sweat. You already wear socks to get the sweat absorbed, but socks can work only upto a certain extent after which they stop doing their part.To work well with this concept of sweat absorption, you would require something additional. You can use either cornstarch or baby powder. Both work equally well in absorption and hamper favourable conditions for bacterial growth.

To avoid smelly feet, it is very important to keep them dry. If you sweat alot, make sure you remove your shoes and socks whenever you don’t need them. Wash your feet properly and dry them thoroughly. Rub your feet in towel to get all the water soaked so that you are left with fresh, dry feet.Also, avoid wearing same pair of shoes continuously. It would be best to alternate between them. If any of your shoes get wet (either by water or your own sweat), do not wear them or you’ll not be able to avoid that smelly condition even with cornstarch and baby powder. Rather, keep the shoes in sun for atleast a day to let them dry properly.