The tea bag trick for smelly shoes: How to freshen footwear with something simple already in your kitchen

If your shoes start smelling unpleasant after a long day, the solution may be sitting in your kitchen cabinet. Instead of immediately reaching for a commercial shoe deodorizer, some people use tea bags to help absorb moisture and reduce mild odors in footwear. The trick is particularly associated with black tea, which contains tannins that have antibacterial properties.

The method is simple: steep tea bags, let them cool, place them inside your shoes and leave them there for several hours. But why do shoes smell in the first place, and how could something as ordinary as a tea bag help?

Why do shoes start smelling bad?

The main culprit is usually sweat. Human feet contain around 250,000 sweat glands and can produce roughly a pint of sweat each day. When that moisture becomes trapped inside socks and shoes, it creates a warm, damp environment where bacteria can thrive.

The bacteria living on your feet feed on components in sweat and produce compounds that cause the familiar unpleasant smell.

Moisture can also encourage fungal growth. Warm, damp shoes provide an environment where fungi can multiply, potentially contributing to conditions such as athlete's foot.

How can tea bags help with shoe odor?

Tea bags may help with mild shoe odors because tea contains compounds that can interact with both moisture and odor-causing bacteria. Black tea is often preferred because it contains relatively high levels of tannins, naturally occurring compounds that have antibacterial properties.

A tea bag can also help absorb moisture inside a shoe, creating a less hospitable environment for odor-causing bacteria.

It is not a guaranteed solution, particularly for heavily soiled or persistently smelly footwear. But for shoes that simply need a quick freshening up, the method is inexpensive and easy to try.

How to put tea bags in shoes

For this method, steeped black tea bags can be used. Start by placing at least one tea bag in boiling water and letting it steep for about one to two minutes. Carefully remove the tea bag with a spoon or pair of tongs and allow it to cool until it is safe to handle. The tea bag should still be slightly damp when it goes into the shoe.

Place one tea bag inside each shoe and leave them there for a few hours. This gives the tea's tannins time to work while the tea bags help absorb some of the moisture.

Before wearing the shoes again, remove the tea bags and make sure the inside of the footwear is completely dry. You do not want to replace one source of moisture with another.

For stronger shoe odors, leave tea bags overnight

If one tea bag does not seem sufficient, several can be used. Place multiple tea bags along the length of the shoe, covering the area from the toe toward the heel. Leave them inside overnight, then remove them before putting on the shoes.

However, persistent or particularly strong odors may indicate a larger moisture, bacterial or fungal problem. In those cases, tea bags alone may not be enough.

Regularly washing socks, keeping feet clean and dry, allowing shoes to air out, and rotating footwear can all help prevent odors from returning.