Smelly Feet: The Best Tips & Tricks

Smelly feet are a widespread problem. The cause is often sweaty feet. From bicarbonate of soda to foot powder: we explain what you can do against the unpleasant stink.

Smelly feet: Sweat as the main cause

Anyone who spends the whole day in closed shoes and thick socks knows the problem: cheese feet high ten. This not only causes heat accumulation and little air circulation, but also sweaty feet. Sweating is a completely natural reaction and serves to regulate the body’s heat. However, as soon as the sweat production becomes stronger than necessary to regulate the temperature, it is called hyperhidrosis. The 500 or so sweat glands secrete more than 50 milligrams per centimeter of skin.

Sweat is one of the main causes of smelly feet. Sweat itself smells neutral. It consists of 99 percent water. Only one percent contains salts, urea, amino and lactic acids. Only when bacteria decompose the sweat and produce butyric acid in the process does a bad foot odour develop.

Other causes of smelly feet

Besides sweat there are other reasons for strong smelling feet:

• Lack of hygiene
• Athlete’s foot
• Hormone Fluctuations
• Unhealthy or wrong diet
• Overweight
• Medication intake and side effects
• Stress
• Diseases like diabetes or hyperthyroidism

Smelly feet: The 7 best home remedies

1. Lavender oil not only helps you fall asleep, but also proves to be a good household remedy for smelly feet. It kills bacteria and thus helps to contain the smell.
2. Ginger ensures that bacteria cannot multiply and reduces smelly feet. To do this, pour a cup of tea with fresh ginger, let it cool down and rub your feet with the cold tea in the evening. Repeat daily for one week.
3. Soda also helps to prevent the unpleasant smell. A footbath is best suited for this. This is how it works: Put two tablespoons of baking soda in about two liters of lukewarm water and bathe your feet in the mixture for half an hour. Repeat the baking soda bath daily until the smell has disappeared. After the bath, dry your feet well between your toes. Otherwise there is an increased risk of athlete’s foot.
4. Another good home remedy against excessive foot perspiration is baking powder. It lowers the pH value and kills bacteria. It is best to bathe your feet in a foot bath of water and two to three tablespoons of baking powder for half an hour.
5. Similar to baking powder, apple vinegar neutralizes the pH value, inhibits the production of bacteria and helps to reduce the stench. To do this, mix half a cup of vinegar with two liters of water and bathe your feet in it for about 20 minutes. Then wash them thoroughly with soap.
6. Sage has an antiseptic effect against bacteria, viruses and fungi and helps to reduce the production of sweat glands. The home remedy develops its effect as tea or footbath.
7. Black tea is also good against sweaty feet. Like ginger, it kills the bacteria. That’s how it works: Boil two liters of water and steep five bags of black tea in it. Bathe your feet for about 20 minutes and dry them well!

How to prevent smelly feet

• Always ensure good foot hygiene and wash your feet regularly. This is the only way to stop the development of stinking sweaty feet.
• When buying shoes, make sure that the styles are not too tight and that the material used is breathable, such as leather, so that your feet don’t even start to sweat. Shoes made of cheap plastic only encourage the production of sweat and thus the development of smelly feet.
• It is also important to disinfect your shoes once a week. This kills bacteria that are responsible for the development of smelly feet. To do this, spray the shoes with disinfectant and let them dry.
• No synthetic socks, which cause the feet to sweat and cannot absorb any foot sweat. Better: Thin cotton socks or socks with silver ions that inhibit the reproduction of bacteria. Very important: Wash the socks regularly at 60 degrees.
• Insoles also help against smelly feet. In this case, it is better to use models made of leather, which can absorb foot sweat better.

• After a relaxing foot bath, for example with lavender or baking soda, rub your feet with a cream containing aluminum chloride. This tightens the sweat glands. Here you can get a foot bath to do it yourself.
• A foot deodorant with aluminum chloride or alcohol reduces foot sweat and aluminum-free deodorants at least the foot odor that has already developed.
• Another remedy against sweaty feet is foot powder. This absorbs the foot sweat. Important: Distribute between the toes.

Smelly feet? A visit to the doctor clarifies

If our tips do not help, we recommend that you consult a doctor. He or she can determine the causes of Smelly feet and treat hyperhidrosis with Botox, for example.