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My $5 buy is the cure for smelly shoes – it cuts down the odor of a dozen teen boys, I store it in a travel-size bottle
A CLEANING fan has shared an affordable buy to remove foot odor in shoes.
They added that it worked wonders in their experience with teenage boys.
Redditor Nintendrotron shared the cleaning hack in a post.
"So I work with teenage boys a lot," they said.
"The best thing I have found for smelly shoes and feet is mouthwash (with alcohol)."
While the unconventional trick may sound weird to some, they explained it worked wonders to eliminate bacteria.
"Put some in a small spray bottle (like a travel-size hair spray pump bottle) and spray your shoes and feet," they said.
"We do this every few days. Trust me, doing this even once cuts down on the smell of a dozen 7th-grade boys and makes the bus ride bearable.
"Plus, having extra mouthwash for its intended purpose isn't a bad idea either."
The tip, they warned, came with a caveat.
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"Make sure to moisturize your feet because the alcohol will dry them out," they added.
"Bacteria loves hunkering down in the cracks of dead skin on your feet."
Others added that the trick was useful for other cleaning and odor-elimination purposes.
A $5 bottle of Listerine was a dog groomer's go-to trick for tough clients.
"When I was a dog groomer, I would make a rinse that contained Listerine for the really stinky dogs because it helped kill whatever bacteria the regular bath didn’t. So this makes sense to me!" said one.
Another added that the key is to look for mouthwashes that contain Cetylpyridinium Chloride.
"Mouthwash that contains CPC is good for odor," added another.
"Be sure it's not PCP, not the same."
They explained that mouthwashes with adequate concentrations of CPC proved to be strong enough on their medical patients.
"I was a nurse for a long time and would sometimes use a bit of Cepocal mouthwash in the bed baths," they said.
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Although it wasn't part of their job description, they gravitated towards the effective trick.
"It wasn't in the procedure manual, but I was like, 'It works; who gives a f**k that someone didn't write it down,'" they said.