You walk in the door of a friend’s house and need to take off your shoes. It’s a courtesy to her since you know she never wears shoes in her home.
So off come your shoes and on comes your very red face as the green cloud of stench erupts from your feet. You showered just before you left home. What you need are a few sound smelly feet remedies so you never have to be embarrassed about smelly feet again.
Before we discuss smelly feet remedies, you might be interested in learning what causes smelly feet. The short answer is bacteria and fungi that happily grow on your feet are the cause of the bad smell. These critters just love the warm moist environment provided by your feet. This is particularly significant in the summer when your feet tend to sweat more
Smelly feet remedies include killing bacteria and fungi growing on your feet.
To kill bacteria and foot fungus:
- Wash your feet every day. Make sure to scrub around the toenail cuticles and thoroughly clean between your toes. Always dry feet thoroughly.
- Exfoliate your feet once a week. You can use a Loofah sponge or brush, but don’t be too rough. The idea is to remove dead skin cells that reside on the surface of your feet, not the living ones underneath.
- Soak your feet in a salt solution at 107.6 F (42 C) for 20 minutes to kill over 99% of the fungi and bacteria. The water will feel hot, but not so much so that you will be uncomfortable unless you are especially sensitive to heat. If it is too hot for your tender little feet, let it cool a bit and let your feet soak a little longer. If you want to increase the kill to 95% of the remaining viable fungal cells, add tea tree oil and lavender oil. (See recipe below). The foot soak should be done at least once a week. You can use the recipe more often, but take care that you don’t dry your skin out too much.
- Spray your shoes with an antibacterial/antifungal spray. Be sure and let your shoes dry thoroughly after spraying them. You can purchase a deodorant shoe spray or use anti-odor inserts.
- Don’t wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row.
This is a good recipe to follow as part of your smelly feet remedies:
- 5 liters of water (1 1/3 gallons) brought to 108 F
- 5 drops of lavender essential oil
- 5 drops tea tree essential oil
- ½ cup of sea salt or plain table salt
Pour water in a basin large enough to accommodate both your feet. Add salt and essential oils. Soak your feet. (The temperature of the water will cool down fast so be ready to submerge your feet right away.)
Once you employ the smelly feet remedies this post provides, you can breathe easy that your feet won’t be driving people out of the room when you remove your shoes. No more green cloud, no more embarrassing moments and, as an added bonus, you can have beautiful feet. A bit later, I’m going to post ways to get rid of calluses and corns and how to make softening, healing lotions for your feet. Watch for them in the next week or so.
Now go have fun an relax.
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