Nick and I were relaxing on the sofa the other night when he said, “What is that smell?!”
“What smell?” I asked, completely oblivious. A few sniffs around the living room – where our four bikes and trainers have been permanent furniture since October – and I figured it out.
My cycling shoes.
OMG.
I have a pretty keen sense of smell, but apparently when it’s your own sweat, it just doesn’t register right away.
Like most triathletes, I don’t wear socks with my cycling shoes (heck, when I was a roadie I never wore socks). The shoe tan lines are bad enough!
Not really having any idea how to eliminate their awful smell, I took to twitter for suggestions. Unanimously, everyone said: Run ’em through the dishwasher.
So, I did.
Much to my surprise, they came through the normal cycle just fine and in one piece. And bonus: the dishwasher didn’t smell.
Here’s what you do:
- Remove your cycling shoe insoles (if you have any). Mine are custom molded to my feet, so I didn’t put them through the wash cycle for fear they would be ruined (in hindsight, I’m sure they’d be fine… and, would seriously benefit from a wash!).
- Place shoes upside down on top rack of an empty dishwasher
- Use the regular dishwasher washing detergent (I like Cascade pods). Do NOT use laundry detergent or dish soap – bubbles will be everywhere if you do.
- Run your dishwasher on the normal wash cycle. Do NOT run the heated dry cycle.
- After washing, remove shoes and dry in the sunshine. I stuffed mine with crumpled newspaper to soak up dampness.
Other cycling shoe cleaning tips (via instagram friends):
- Pre-treat your shoes with baking soda prior to a cycle through the dishwasher
- Spray with Lysol after each use
- Stuff dryer sheets in them between use
- Use Stuffitts, cedar inserts that combat moisture and odor
- Store your shoes in the sunshine after use
Happy cycling, friends!
24 Comments
oooh awesome idea! My cycling shoes stink horribly, I am definitely going to try this!
Let me know how it works for you, Katie!
Good call! I think mine are waaaaaaay over due.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s back up here… you don’t wear socks? I have never even pondered the idea of not wearing socks (I guess it’s my runner mentality), but that is something that I would be curious to try. Is it way different or do you have any advice for a sock-free newbie? My cycling shoes could definitely use a little dishwasher action.
Nope! I never have (not even in middle or high school)! My advice… try it when it’s warmer outside (I do wear them if it’s super cold). It makes T1 faster if you don’t put socks on after swimming… they’re harder to put on when your feet are wet! Hope your training is going well! Can’t wait to see you rock Boise!
I use the dishawasher myself, but have also heard if you stick them in the freezer it rids the smell as well.
haha- my hubby would kill me if I put my bike shoes in our freezer! : )
Ooo! I haven’t heard of putting them in the freezer! Totally trying. Thanks for the tip, Becca! 🙂
Very interesting! Not something I ever would have thought to do. I generally wear socks (short socks though, to avoid bad tanlines), so that probably helps with the smell. My running shoes definitely smell worse than my cycling shoes. Thanks for the tip though. When they start smelling, I’ll send them through the dishwasher. I’ll just make sure my wife’s not home first – not sure how she’d feel about me doing that!
Until this post, I had never thought of the stench my cycling shoes might be emitting…OH.MY. I am afraid to check it out. I’m like you and prefer to go sans socks, so I’m sure my shoes are rancid 🙁 Thanks for the tips, Erin!!
I sooo need to try this! Sadly, I think I’m in the same boat as you, and my cycling and tri shoes are probably a lost cause, as they are both on season 5. Eeek! But, I might as well give it a whirl. Note to self: Do this when I buy new shoes, to keep them fresh and clean. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Interesting! I have never washed my shoes before. I guess they get rained on enough I haven’t thought about it. 🙂 Thanks for the tip maybe I will wash them now!!
Such great tips- thanks for sharing! Last year Kelly peed on his shoes during Coeur d’Alene! I don’t remember how he washed them, but I should get him to do them again 🙂
Omg I need to try this! My shoes not only stink, but they are super sticky from my sport drink spilling on them during a ride! I’ve been delaying cleaning them for weeks and this might just be the ticket. I never ride with socks… One of my rookie tri mistakes was trying to put on socks after the swim, bad idea!
I never EVER thought to do this (but think I should probably give it a try). My husband is constantly teasing me for how stinky my bike shoes are, so it’d be nice to get rid of a bit of the ‘hum’ coming from them. 🙂
This was soo helpful! I get stinky feet as well and always am asking my man-friend, “What’s that smell?”…but never once thinking it is me! I’ll definitely be trying this! 🙂
That is a GREAT tip! Those shoes are so tough to clean! A few of my shoes have recently failed the sniff test. Yuck!
I stumbled on this post, cause I don’t want to ruin my biking shoes, while cleaning. Somewhere else I saw recommended cold cycle in laundry machine wrapped in towels and pillow cases. Concerning the smell… I recently got the advice to add 7% white vinegar from time to time, to get rid of the sour smell from hard workouts. I wonder if that would work on my shoes too? Or would vinegar somehow destroy glues and what-not?
I forgot to say the vinegar is added when washing out the smell from sportswear.
I’ve never thought to add vinegar to combat the smell. Did you try it, and if so, did it work?!
Is because of the bacteria in the insoles.
[…] HealthFullyLiveStrongSweetSweatLifeGrangers […]
This was the best advise !
My shoes smelt soooo bad – I could not even leave them in the car for 30min they smelt so bad
I put my $500 S-works in the dishwasher
Stuffed them with newspaper
And they smell like roses and look BRAND NEW again
[…] how to clean smelly cycling shoes. – sweet sweat life […]