Yeah VFFs are funky...but sometimes not in the good way

[PB Junkie]

     Last night i tried something new. I mixed a big tub sink with dawn dish soap, and the brand softsoap odor neutralizing kitchen soft hands (citrus cent). Scrubbed my fivefingers with a toothbrush to get all the way into the toes and then let them soak in the sink for 2 hours.
     
     After 2 hours i put them in my washer on medium spin cycle, and chose the option deep clean with steam (my washer is a whirlpool duet). I believe any laundry detergent will work but i used tide if that helps. After the wash i hung them up to dry and this morning they smell fresh and good as new. not only that but my insoles no longer are black with grime. Its honestly the best smelling i have ever gotten my fivefingers after a year of owning them. I don't know how long the nice smell will last though

I wonder if the steam/heat would eventually degrade the VFFs?

I soak my VFFs in hot tap water with efferdent tablets (for 1/2 to 1 hour), scrub with a toothbrush and softsoap, then wash in the washing machine with cold water.

[barefootin]

     Last night i tried something new. I mixed a big tub sink with dawn dish soap, and the brand softsoap odor neutralizing kitchen soft hands (citrus cent). Scrubbed my fivefingers with a toothbrush to get all the way into the toes and then let them soak in the sink for 2 hours.
     
     After 2 hours i put them in my washer on medium spin cycle, and chose the option deep clean with steam (my washer is a whirlpool duet). I believe any laundry detergent will work but i used tide if that helps. After the wash i hung them up to dry and this morning they smell fresh and good as new. not only that but my insoles no longer are black with grime. Its honestly the best smelling i have ever gotten my fivefingers after a year of owning them. I don't know how long the nice smell will last though

I wonder if the steam/heat would eventually degrade the VFFs?

The steam setting on our Samsung will melt a pair of VFF's...  Literally...  Say goodbye to the little Logo and the glue holding the sole on......   We found out by accident...  Luckily on a well worn pair of KSO's...

[BlackFoxSees]

So I must have introduced some horrible new strains of bacteria to my Komodosports a few weeks ago. The stank has gotten worse than it's ever been before.

About 4 weeks ago I started going to a free rock climbing instruction session at my university's student rec center. They have a really cool bouldering setup with routes going all over a couple big, artificial rock structures. It's been a blast, and I'm already climbing problems that I wouldn't have thought possible for me. I've always been a scrambler; if I see a cool looking rock I just have to get on top of it, and finally getting into serious climbing feels amazing.

I don't have my own climbing shoes yet, and I've been checking out a pair from the rec center every week. Socks aren't recommended in climbing shoes, so I've been going without. The people at the equipment desk weren't even sure if they had a pair in size 13.5 the first time, so it's not like I'm sharing them with hundreds of other students, which is nice. By the time I finish climbing (read: when my hands are too weak to pick up my water bottle) my feet are sweaty wrecks. For the first few weeks I put them right into my Komodos, which turned out to be a big mistake. The bacteria zoo of those rental shoes has some critters that are much nastier than the furry kitten organisms that have called my VFF's home up to this point. My Komodos now stink pretty badly from a distance, which has never been the case before, and when I take them off after a full day my feet need to be cleaned immediately. I'm breaking out the big guns. No way am I going to give the little bastards a foothold in Poland.

Moral of the story: be careful with shoes worn by other people. Bowling shoes, climbing shoes, skates, ski boots, whatever - don't risk infecting your Vibrams with someone else's personal bacteria collection.

[SgtPepper64]

Ok, so my blue pair of Bikilas has a stink and I can't get rid of it despite having washed them recently.  We all know alcohol kills bacteria.  But would it damage the shoe?  If I soaked the shoes in a combination of alcohol\water would it hurt the glue or anything?

If I try the distilled white vinegar trick should I put it in the wash in conjunction with the usual detergent or just the vinegar?

I also thought about just getting some oxyclean and using that instead of the usual detergent I use.  Is that effective?

[PB Junkie]

Ok, so my blue pair of Bikilas has a stink and I can't get rid of it despite having washed them recently.  We all know alcohol kills bacteria.  But would it damage the shoe?  If I soaked the shoes in a combination of alcohol\water would it hurt the glue or anything?

If I try the distilled white vinegar trick should I put it in the wash in conjunction with the usual detergent or just the vinegar?

I also thought about just getting some oxyclean and using that instead of the usual detergent I use.  Is that effective?

I don't think I'd use alcohol.

I've had good luck with filling a sink with hot tap water, putting two efferdent tablets in each shoe and soaking for about an hour.
Then, I would take an anti-bacterial liquid soap and scrub the footbed with an old toothbrush.
After that, throw them in the washer using regular detergent.

[echerub]

I'm pretty new to VFFs, having worn them very regularly for about a month now. I spray mine with 70% rubbing alcohol at the end of each day and so far everything is fine. The alcohol is a pretty simple water-soluble chemical and it evaporates pretty quickly - the two properties that enable it to kill microbes

'Course I also spray my feet with the alcohol solution before putting them in my shoes too.

[violaceousmumsy]

Washing my classics & kmd for the first time. I cloth diapered my kids so I am good at laundering funky smelling things. Tmi? Sry. I'm a hippie ish. Anywhoooo I scrubbed the inside with warm water and bac-out. It's a natural enzyme cleaner that smells like limes. They are in the washing machine now I'll let them air dry. I didn't put my alitzas in there cuz they're my favorite. Lol

[violaceousmumsy]

Why in the heck did I wash my shoes!? They did not stink anything like they do now. I refuse to wear socks with them unless its snowing outside. I'm also not a fan of spraying them with harsh chemicals. Those that use deoderant stones how does that work for you? I don't mind washing the shoes occasionally but as someone who just casually wears them washing weekly is obnoxious. (I post too much sorry)

[skyli]

strange  

I have my pair of KSO's since 3 weeks now and they aren't a bit stinky. Ok maybe i should let my mom or brother smell it but it seams odorless. So as soon as I wash them, they'll become stinky with use?
I only use my kso's, no other shoes and without socks.

[UpNorth]

Washing my classics & kmd for the first time. I cloth diapered my kids so I am good at laundering funky smelling things. Tmi? Sry. I'm a hippie ish. Anywhoooo I scrubbed the inside with warm water and bac-out. It's a natural enzyme cleaner that smells like limes. They are in the washing machine now I'll let them air dry. I didn't put my alitzas in there cuz they're my favorite. Lol

I see below you didn't get good results with the Bac-Out.  I had tried that too and did not get good results either. I don't know why, it seemed it should have worked but flat out did not.

To undo the bac-out damage, I opted for the tried and true efferdent method.  I have to say I wish I hadn't waited to try that.  I washed four pairs and they all seem like new. (The VFFs ranged from 6 mos old to 3 years.). I'll post again if my initial optimism is unwarranted.

As an aside, For some reason- perhaps frequent washing, it took a very long time for any of my VFFs to get hit with any true stank.  The only ones that ever got a problem were the ones I don't usually wear socks in.