Stinky FiveFingers & other Minimalist Footwear ?

Stinky FiveFingers and Other Minimalist Footwear that we Love to Wear Barefoot?

I hear and see horror stories about the unbearable funk that follow some users like a nuclear mushroom over their heads and t heir feet…. God forbid when they take them off .... Run for your life !
I have to admit that, since my first pair back in 2005, I have never encountered such problem ever. I have taken some time to specially investigate the funk phenomenon at my lab using some of my friends' VFF's that have the issue haunting them. You sure do not want to wait till your partner ask you to spend the night on the back porch ... !
Here is the scoop:
Foot odor come from sweat, dead skin and the Corynebacteria and Micrococci bacteria;
A human foot, with it’s 250,000 sweat glands, during the course of a day can sweat up to 1/2 pint of liquids composed of the following ingredients: Fatty Acids, Urea, Sebum and many other organic compounds. Just add a little heat from your body a couple days of wear compounded by accumulating materials then you just made yourself the ultimate stink bomb. You just uncovered the bio-chemist in you ... !
When you wear regular shoes or sneakers with socks you don’t wear your same socks for an entire week… Socks absorb sweat & dead skin. When your wear VFF’s barefoot your footwear absorb sweat & dead skin. That needs to be washed or it will stink, sometimes very very bad, depending on the individual’s chemistry …..
I have these simple rules:

• I wash my feet before I get in my VFF’s 
• I apply  Crystal salts on my feet after a shower on hot days
• I jump in the shower and clean-rinse my VFF’s (with a little sud from my body-wash) at the end of the day, then let them air dry wherever there is air circulation (be creative here, a window seal in summer no direct sun, near an air vent in winter no direct heat).
• Every 2-3 days, depending on my daily activities My VFF’s will get a real wash in the machine and will air day as usual.
• Always use lukewarm or cold water with regular laundry detergent when using a washing machine.
• Always Dry my VFF"s away from the sun or heat sources and in a well ventilated area.

Never let you VFF"s go out of control. The more you wait, the more difficult it will be to get your VFF's clean again.

It all comes down to Basic hygiene; Prevention and a good maintenance regimen will give you years of fun times with your FiveFingers footwear. I am not a clean freak but since I was born with only 1 pair of feet and I hear that they are not replaceable I'd rather take good care of them and my footwear too.

Providing that you can stand socks, Injinji is a premier maker of sport toe socks & liners that works perfect with FiveFingers footwear. This solution works beautifully but if you choose not to wear socks then clean, clean clean.... repeat ... clean, clean, clean ...

There is also the issue with "hyperactive sweat glands";  a quick remedial is to spray a thin coat of antiperspirant  on the bottom of your feet.  This has worked very efficiently for our test subjects with that condition.

I also need to stress the fact that wearing dirty footwear without socks will drastically increase your risk in developing severe blistering caused by slippage.  (I also have an article on this topic in my blog here)

Among other we investigated the following products:

• Lysol
• UV Light bacteria killer
• Mouthwash
• Peroxide (H2O2)
• Vinegar / Water mix
• OxyClean
• Denture tablets
• Baking Soda pockets
• Fabric Softener sheet
  
• Sportzyme by Norwex
• SteriShoe™ shoe sanitizer
• Crystal  deodorant salts

Is my Footwear Clean Yet ???

It wasn't easy but fun, it took some time and finally I have some very interesting results on a range of cleaning methods for out of control funk on FiveFingers.

The research work and all products & footwear used in the process were funded by myself, for the sheer benefit of my own curiosity.

Each product or recipe was graded as follow:

• From 1 to 10 as 1 is the least efficient and 10 the most efficient
• A $ represents the cheapest methods and $$$$$ the most expensive.Enjoy and give them a try

---PRODUCT---------------------------- Effectiveness--Cost per month

• Lysol ---------------------------------------------- 6------ $
• UV Light bacteria killer --------------------------- 7------ $$$$$
• Mouthwash -------------------------------------------4------ $
• Peroxide (H2O2) -------------------------------------7------ $
• Vinegar / Water mix ---------------------------------7----- $
• OxyClean ------------------------------------------- 8------ $$
• Denture tablets -------------------------------------8------ $$$
• Baking Soda pockets ---------------------------------9------ $$
• Fabric Softener sheet -------------------------------8------ $
  
• Sportzyme by Norwex ---------------------------------7------ $$$
• SteriShoe™ shoe sanitizer -------------------------- 7------ $$$$$
• Crystal Deodorant Salts -----------------------------10 ----- $
  

The research is based on the following:

• 3 consecutive days of wear @ 12 hrs per day
• same activities on each test pair
• We used 6 pairs of KSO All black, Size 44
• 1 shoe used for each test cleaning method
• 1 shoe left out since the experiment requires 11 units

The VFF's were carefully cleaned and processed in the same manner; the cleaning process was followed by a 12 hrs drying period in a controlled environment consisting of a box 36x36x24 with the item placed on a stainless steel mesh shelf. 2 fans developing 15 cfm were used with a 25 watts incandescent light bulb, the temperature inside the container was at 77.5 Deg. F. Relative humidity was contained and kept constant at 30%.

A bacteria culture was conducted in an inert medium after the drying cycle was completed. Colonies count were conducted after 24 hrs of incubation.
My Thanks to 2 interns with keen olfactory senses for providing the human sniff of approval.

Analysis and results:



Some of the best results come the simplest ideas !
Take your daily shower with your footwear, when your are done, give em a quick rinse and let them dry in a cool ventilated area overnight.  Your favorite footwear will be ready for you, cleaned and bacteria free, ready to to take you to more fun places !  And every 3  days or so give them a good wash in the washing machine !  It's the most simple method and the quickest too !  On hot days I apply Crystal deodorants rock salts on sole of my feet right after my shower; these salts inhibit bacterial growth to nearly 100%.  That combination is the most efficient VFF's odor control to date.  Nothing else comes remotely close to this method.

I must say that OxyClean and the baking soda pockets were the most efficient of all the tryouts. OxyClean was used in the sink at 30% dilution with a soak in warm water for 5 minutes followed by a quick hand scrub then a rinse with clean water followed by air dry. OxyClean will not affect the colors of your footwear. It's formula Na₂CO₃•H₂O₂ is composed of sodium carbonate and peroxide. It is eco-friendly and nitrogen and phosphorus free.

The other systems that worked very well were a clean water rinse the dry the VFF"s with a Arm & Hammer softener sheet on the foot-bed (or the Baking Soda Pocket) and a regular dry period. (Other brands of softener sheets gave very poor results as in general it left a very unpleasant mixture of foot funk - flowers scent potpourri)

The denture tablets are interesting ..... Soak for 4 Hrs, wash in the machine, air dry .... The result is minty fresh VFF's providing that you have 6 to 8 hrs to fiddle with a cleaning process. For my own taste I'd rather clean in 10 minutes and enjoy a nice trail trek for the next 5 to 6 hrs. ... (There was still a lingering very mild smell of foot funk mixed with mint post clean-up)

The UV lights systems (SteriShoe and a couple of others) are interesting, cost more than $150.00 for the system. Yes, it will kill the bacteria causing stench but it will leave all the dead bodies on the insoles. You will still have to wash clean the accumulated dead gunk once every other week or you will be in a very slippery mess ....

Mouthwash, vinegar and peroxide do work well but will not kill everything and there will still be a pesky smell remaining.

Sportzyme and worked OK; it's an expensive product that I believe to be overpriced for its performance.

Lysol was very interesting, as it did removed the smell but the bacterias were mostly still active after treatment was applied. And I am told that there was a slippery feeling in the VFF's afterward.

Notes on Vinegar:
My lab tests and results do show that exposure to vinegar diluted to 2% (pH 2.24) and subsequent exposure to moderate UV lights (similar to a northern 42 Deg. Lat.  summer sun) drastically accelerated the degradation of the glues binding the fabric to the rubber in VFF"s.  Use with extreme caution.

For people with severe foot sweating,  a simple solution is to spray antiperspirant or apply Crystal Deodorant Salts on your clean dry feet before donning your footwear.  It's simple and works great. No sweat, no stink !

I am sure that, as the time goes by, there will be new tricks used to clean your favorite footwear.

Then again, I must emphasize the following:

Never let you VFF"s go out of control. The more you wait, the more difficult it will be to get your VFF's clean again. 

Also, your VFF's will last much longer if you keep them clean. 
Keep in mind that sebum, sweat and other fatty acids are formidable enemies of rubber compounds and other synthetic textiles. 

It all comes down to Basic hygiene; Prevention and a good maintenance regimen will give you years of fun times with your FiveFingers footwear. I am not a clean freak but since I was born with only 1 pair of feet and I hear that they are not replaceable I'd rather take good care of them and my footwear too.

Providing that you can stand wearing socks, Injinji is a premier maker of sport toe socks & liners that works perfect with FiveFingers footwear. This solution works beautifully but if you choose not to wear socks then clean, clean clean.... repeat ... clean, clean, clean ...

Agent Orange Blossom

Keep on Trekking !

Notes:



Dirty minimalistic footwear can also cause nasty blisters;  here is the rundown on the topic
Blisters, Tips & Prevention

Tea Tree Oil appears to dissolve the glue on our test trails .. so, if you use the oil be very careful.
Info on Culture Media for the Growth of Bacteria
©2000 Kenneth Todar, University of Wisconins-Madison

This article is a follow-up to my previous entry on the same topic. If you haven't read it yet I highly recommend it; it's very informative, and can be found here

http://fivefingers-tips.blogspot.com/2011/06/stinky-fivefingers-why-and-fix.html
Lysol, OxyClean, Sportzyme, SteriShoe, Arm&Hammer are commercial branded products owned by their own Copyrights on which I have no claim.