Keeping Sandals Fresh
If you want to keep your sandals fresh season after season, it's easy! First of all it depends on what your sandals are made out of how you will keep them clean.
If the foot bed (where your foot goes) on your sandal is made out of rubber, simply clean with a good soap or even a mild shampoo works well to cut through the collection of dirt and skin oils that are collected on the sandal.
If the thong on your sandal is looking dingy and dirty, take a toothbrush and use some mild soap or shampoo and lightly scrub it. Then rinse the entire sandal and set outside (out of direct sunlight which can fade both rubber and fabrics) to dry.
If your sandals have a fabric foot bed, you can use the toothbrush and gentle soap or shampoo method to clean them. Scrub the soles of your sandals too to really get the dirt and grime loose. If your fabric foot beds have stains you can usually lift them out very easily by using a laundry stain remover and then using a toothbrush on the area very lightly. Then rinse well and set out to dry out of direct sunlight.
If your sandals have developed an unfortunate odor from too little wash and too much wear with sweaty feet, you can remedy the problem by using a shot of a bacteria killing foot spray that kills tinea (the main bacteria that causes foot odor) then place in a heavy duty freezer bag and all the bacteria will be killed. Now that you have a clean slate with your sandals, sprinkle a little baking soda on them after wearing or use a good commercial foot powder sprinkled on both your sandal's foot bed and your feet prior to wearing to keep sweating to a minimum.
Use these tips to keep your favorite summer shoes in tip top shape!
posted by Sandals Giant
