Lysol. Arm and Hammer makes a shoe spray for odor control. Also put them out in the sun if you can. That's how I do my riding boots which collect everything. Also if they are really bad replace the insoles.

Another option is charcoal odor absorbers. I put one in each shoe while I'm not wearing it and it seems to help. The insoles in my shoes are washable, so I wash them often. Good to know about the shoe spray.

Can he wear shoes that can be tossed into your washing machine?

Febreze?

Pet odor remover?

Are the footbeds removable?

Plastic bag that's big enough to slide them in and out easily, with top long enough to fold over (maybe twice?), then go under the shoes.

Ziploc?

Trip outdoors for a few hours every couple of/few days.

ole joyful, who, being old, doesn't see too well ... hear too well ... smell too well?/good?

I've read that putting them in the freezer overnight works. Might be worth a shot! Otherwise spray with a good dose of Lysol nightly.

I have had good luck with odors using this Lysol Disinfecting spray. It does have a bit of scent and even tho I am scent sensitive, it's not bad and dissipates pretty quickly. I used it on a pair of old Birkenstocks, which can be stinkier than anything. Didn't hurt the footbed and they smelled much better

Link below:

.Lysol Disinfectant spray

I throw everything at them: soak with disinfecting spray, into the washer with Lysol disinfecting rinse. In my experience slightly smelly shoes can be helped, but once they're really barking most solutions only work up to the point that you wear them again.

I've seen a bunch of recs for Rothy's shoes. Two big selling points for them are being made woth recycled plastic bottles (though supposedly you wouldn't know it) and being able to toss them in the wash. No personal experience but I've been tempted to try a pair.

You dont say what kind of shoes you are talking about, but, if it were me, I would get some good soap and water up in there. Wash with some soap, get a rag in there and slosh and soak and agitate, then rinse with running water and put them out to drain and dry and set in the hot sun. You do have hot sun, right? It seems the entire country is baking in hot sun today. It may take a few days to dry, or maybe not. Make sure that the inside of the shoe is as exposed to the hot sun as much as you can

Then add some fresh insoles and make sure that he is not wearing those shoes without socks.

I would use a good splash of Dawn in there to clean them with.

Better yet, give him the task of de-stinking his own shoes!

Then, do the same with his feet! Or have him do the same with his feet. Wash and scrub throughly and address any fungus issues that you might have, do a good medical grade pedicure and get new socks.

If all else fails, get some new shoes and new socks. There is a colony of microbes living in there and you need to clear out the encampment and lay down some new turf. If they stink, there is a real reason why. You can cover the smell with frebreeze, but he colony remains untouched and unless you get serious about attacking it on all fronts it will emerge again.

If all else fails---get a new husband, Maybe one of those robot models without real feet and also never leaves the toilet seat up or can find anything in the fridge without declaring that it is NOT there, hiding behind the mayo jar, which, of course was impossible to move to see behind it.

Serioulsy, it they are that bad, they need more than a cover up of odor. They need some serious intervention, both the shoes and the feet.

This reminds me, WHY do I see people -- mostly men -- wearing *shoes* without socks? Pee-UUU!

Well, you could put them in a plastic bag first, but wouldn't the smell just come back when they thaw?

And I use rubbing alcohol to clean the insides of non-launderable shoes. It kills germs and evaporates more quickly than regular water.

And how can one be sure that what looks like no socks isn't actually no-show socks? They make them in men' sizes too, I believe.

I would think the freezer thing is killing off bacteria? I can see that, possibly.

Febreeze does not work. I have learned to NEVER buy memory foam shoes. They absorb everything and you cannot clean them well enough. Icky!

^^^ Now we understand 'memory' foam. It has a short memory for cushioning, and it remembers odors.

chisu, what I think I see the most is women who dont wear socks. It is my personal opinion that it is the foot equivalent of not wearing underwear. There is a reason for underwear. It takes the brunt of our body's soil of oil, sweat and microbes and various and sundry other things. It keeps our clothing cleaner and is more sanitary to wear undergarments, especially underwear and socks.

People who dont wear socks develop that black slick inside of the shoe.

I, personally think it is unsanitary, period.

A sock allows your foot to have bit of an absorbant cushion in the shoe and is washed and changed easily, leaving the inside of the shoe still free of that black oil slick on the inside.

It is also hot and sticky inside a shoe with no socks, in the summer, And, the foot would be very cold inside that shoe without a sock in the cold weather. In this case, the sock can be seen as a little sweater for the foot. Even if it is just a little " no see" sports sock it will still serve that purpose. If nothing else, at least a removable insole that can be washed and changed would be an improvement.

Back centuries ago our collective health improved due to the fact that it was more sanitary to have undergarments that could be cleaned.

Elmer, they are leather!

He doesn't always wear socks!

Claudia, I'll try the insoles.

I'll try the sprays.

Robot hubby might work!

If he can't smell it, it is my problem he would say.

Think I might see if I can replace them online.

Thanks everyone for the ideas and suggestions.

Buy him a shiny new pair of washable cross-trainers for the next occasion.

I would take soap, water and hot sunshine to them no matter what they were made of. It will get dry, even with leather.

I have the answer for you! I had the same problem with a pair of crocs I bought online (ebay) they stunk of smoke so bad you could not wear them. I found out you have to bury them in cat litter, in a few days they didn't not smell anymore. I did an old book also, it had a bad smell, it was gone in about a week of being buried. this works with anything you can bury! BTW, no other methods worked for me.

Leather is actually quite tolerant of water. Wet them down, use Murphy's Oil soap on them and rinse well. Let them dry and repeat if necessary. Then recondition them with leather conditioner.

Are his feet stinky? Be sure he doesn't have some sort of skin issue on his feet. Or of course get him new shoes.

" Are his feet stinky? Be sure he doesn't have some sort of skin issue on his feet. "

Expert advice from socks.

Get him some new socks and remind him of how much cleaner it is to wear socks. If his shoes have a bad odor, he has been invaded with colonies of microbes. You cant cover up that odor anymore than you can cover bad body odor with perfume. He needs to treat his feet, get new socks, wear them and probably get new shoes

If they are leather shoes like New Balance, I have washed in the washing machine. Mine had a removable insole. The washing machine is a top loader, regular agitator, but has a wool cycle. I removed the insoles, used a lot of water, and the extra rinse cycle. I set the out into the sun to dry. Worked great.

It is likely to be a fungus that is causing the odor. Fungus is hard to kill. Bacteria is more of a sitting target, but fungus will hunker down for the long haul.

He really needs some foot intervention, and some socks.

Have you thought about these going forward?