The best investment for anyone who likes to hike is a good pair of hiking boots. New hiking boots will eventually start to smell bad after a couple of hikes. You can get rid of the odor which is a good thing because if you don’t your hiking shoes may end up smelling so bad that other people will notice it on your hike. It’s a good idea for you to clean your shoes after every hike so that bacteria and other nasty stuff do not grow in your hiking shoes.
In order to clean out the smell in hiking boots, you are going to need to scrub and wash the inside of the boots using an enzyme-based odor eliminator. One of the enzyme-based odor eliminators that is popular is Mirazyme. Once you are done scrubbing and washing your boots you will need to air it out so that it can dry properly and not end up smelling like mildew from being wet.
In this article we will help you keep your boots smelling fresh as possible after every hike that you do. You are going to want your shoes smelling fresh after every hike because if you leave it smelling over time then sometimes you may not be able to get rid of the smell.
Why is your hiking boots smell bad?
The inside of the hiking boots is made with fabric that can absorb a lot of moisture aka your sweat. Your feet will sweat as you hike your way through the trail, there’s no way around it.
Your hiking boots tend to hold more moistures than a regular running shoes because it has more cushion than a regular running shoes and it tend to not let your feet breathe. There’s another reason why hiking boots tend to smell more than regular running shoes and that’s because you are putting your hiking shoes through harsher environment than running shoes.
When I mean harsher environment, I’m talking about going through mud and crossing rivers on your hiking trail. If you put your hiking boots through that then of course your hiking shoes will smell more than your regular running shoes. That kind of environment, wet and muddy is a perfect breeding ground for odor causing molds and bacteria in your hiking boots. Right at the end of your hike you should air out your boots properly even if you are at the campsite still. If you don’t then the smell will be ten times worse when you get home.
Waterproof boots tend to smell worst than non-waterproof boots because it traps in the moisture better. Cleaning both the waterproof boots and non-waterproof boots is the same techniques, you don’t need to do anything special to clean waterproof boots.
How to clean the inside of my hiking boots?
First thing is to get all the supplies you need to clean your hiking boots. You should clean the outside and inside of your boots after every hike just to have a gear maintenance routine. He is the following things you should do in this order:
1. Prep the boots
You will need to remove the insoles and shoe laces off your boots. You can clean the sole and lace at the end of this whole process or at the beginning. For me I would clean the shoelaces and insoles at the beginning so that it has more time to dry.
2. Rinse and scrub the outside of your boots
You should rinse your boots first then use a shoe cleaning brush and scrub your boots since it may be covered in mud or other dirty things out on the trail.
3. Fill a container with water
Once you have cleaned the outside of your boots, fill the container with warm water. The container should be big enough to submerge your entire boots in water.
4. Add in your odor eliminator
So you have your container with warm water, time to add in your odor eliminator product. Follow the guide on the odor eliminator product to see how much you should add to the water, it’s usually per x amount of gallon of water you should add x amount of odor eliminator product.
5. Put your boots into the container
Submerge your entire boots in the warm water along with the odor eliminator product. Use a clean brush and scrub inside of your boots, mostly along the bottom.
6. Rinse out your boots
Rinse your boots with clean water so that you can get rid of the water with the odor eliminator product. You may want to rinse it a couple of times with clean water so there won’t be any stains when the boots dry off.
7. Dry out your boots
Once you are done with rinsing your boots, place them in a dry and warm place so that they can dry off completely. The best place would be under a shady area when the sun is out. Do not try and use any external heat source like the dryer, fireplace, radiator, etc. because it can damage your hiking boots.
8. Scrub and clean the boots insoles
Use the same water with the odor eliminator product to clean the insoles. The insoles need to be scrubbed and clean separately from the boots because that is where the majority of the bad smell is coming from. Then let them dry off completely before putting it back in the boots.
9. Clean your boot laces
Rinse off your boot laces a couple of times because it may be muddy and let it dry before re-lacing your boots.
10. Finally, clean hiking boots
Once everything is clean and dry off you can now put your insoles in and head out to your next hiking adventure without having to worry about having smelly boots.
Hiking boots odor eliminator products
There are a lot of odor eliminator products out there for your hiking boots but the ones we recommend to use during your cleaning process are the following:
Gear Aid ReviveX
Gear Aid ReviveX is designed for the use of outdoor equipment which means that it’s safe for multiple surfaces like leathers to nylon.
You can also use this with water in a spray bottle when you just need to quickly clean your boots before a hike. You just need 2oz of this stuff with 16oz of water in your spray bottle. Just spray and let it dry for a bit and you will have less smelly hiking boots.
This product is on the expensive side of things but it works like a charm.
Baking soda
If you don’t want to buy Gear Aid ReviveX you can also use baking soda to get rid of the smell. In order to use the baking soda to get rid of the smell in your boots, you just put a few teaspoons of the baking soda into the hiking boots and leave it overnight.
The only downside of using baking soda is that you may have to repeat it a few times to get rid of the smell and sometimes it might not be able to get rid of the smell.
Defunkify odor remover
Defunkify odor remover is a spray that can get rid of the smell in your boots. It is made of a mixture of essential oils and ionic silver great for getting rid of the smell and mold.
This product is meant to be used for regular upkeep and maintenance of your hiking boots. This is not as powerful as Gear Aid ReviveX.
Can you use the washing machine to clean the hiking boots?
No, because the hiking boots would ruin your washing machine and it would also damage your boots in the process. Washing machine is made for clothing, not boots.
Also, you can not put your boots into the dryer because it will also ruin the machine and the boots. The sole of the boots is attached by glue and exposing the boots in high heat will melt the glue off and ruin the boots.
You should only hand wash your boots to make sure that it can last as long as possible.
In conclusion
Smelly hiking boots can be a problem but with the right type of care and techniques you can eliminate that smelly odor. You do not want to be that person with the smelly boots on the hiking trails that others can smell your boots.
You should use the spray on deodorizer after every hike to keep the smell back a bit. Then after a certain amount of hiking you do, you should give your hiking boots a deep clean along with the insoles.
When you take care of your hiking boots it will last you a long time and you will be enjoying your hiking adventures that much more because you’ll be stench free.