De-scenting your rubber boots

[Nicholas buck]

I put a good bit of miles on my lacrosse burly rubber boots and they take a good beating. I wanted to know what methods everyone does to get rid of the odors that build up on the inside of your rubber boots. beacuse for me my socks are alway soaked with sweat when I take them off espically in the summer to early season if I am hiking in deep up and down in hill country.

I have read about two options: one to fill them with a mixture of water and the scent free laundry detergent or put a few pieces of charcoal in them when you store them.

Now i store my boots in a tree in my yard tied to a branch hanging upside down until I use them. And spray the outside down with a scent killer spray before I go in the woods. But I was thinking that the air from inside the boot must get pushed when walking. Is there a good way to minimize that odor????

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[Jackson Marsh]

I use a boot dryer after every hunt or scouting trip so they never get too nasty....I'm not overly concerned with how I smell when hunting.

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[matt1336]

a boot drier is a must.

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[Dewey]

Boot drier after every use. Also sprinkle some baking soda to eliminate odor not so much for the deer but for my own nose.

[UofLbowhunter]

Dead down wind makes a foot powder! I also use a boot dryer

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[Stanley]

Hang them upside down in the weather.

[JoeRE]

Yea I think rubber boots are giant human stink bombs, squirting scent out with every step. I used to go nuts trying to deodorize them and never found a good solution. You can dry them out but they will start smelling as soon as your feet go in them and sweat a little bit. Powders help some, like baking soda. Also have seen improvement putting them in a container with an ozone generator...but be careful because that deteriorates rubber at high enough levels

Ultimately though, your feet will sweat and your boots will stink. Learn to worship the wind, not scent control.

[Florida-East]

I use a boot dryer
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0018EZH ... ref=plSrch
and put an ozone generator next to the fan.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0058WEW ... rator+hunt

I use this to dry hiking boots, my lacrosse boots, and my waders... as well as gloves, pants and anything else that gets wet that I plan on using again soon.

If I am only drying one pair of boots I put tape over two of the short stacks.

This method has always left my gear smelling fresh. I can pack my gear into a gear box after drying and not have any odors several days or weeks later

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[Florida-East]

Looks like joe just beat me to it... though I don't get the same old stench problem with the generator.

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[vtbuck]

Boot dryer and 2 pairs of boots that I alternate

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[dehart89]

i use a boot dryer to dry them up. i usually use spray and leave them out for a couple of days. I did hear in F&S a couple months ago that a reader tip was to use corn.

[DaveT1963]

Scrub with scent free soap, inside and out, dry with boot drier, sprinkle inside with baking soda, then store in tub with cedar and baking soda. I have three pair lacrosse aeroheads that I rotate after each hunt.

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[ThePreBanMan]

The boots stink because of bacteria. A boot drier helps because the bacteria needs a moist environment to propagate. But alone I find it to be insufficient. You want to KILL the bacteria. Hanging the boots out isn't going to get that job done.

Go to wally world and buy 4 or 5 bottles of hydrogen peroxide. It's like .99 cents a bottle. Dump an entire bottle into each boot and slosh it around for a while. Make sure you get every nook and cranny. Tilt the boot to get it up and down the part that comes up to your knees, etc... Make sure every inch gets submerged. Then dump out the h2o2 and then put the boots on a dryer. They'll be good to go the next day.

H2O2 is odor free and will kill the bacteria.

Repeat as necessary.

[Florida-East]

The boots stink because of bacteria. A boot drier helps because the bacteria needs a moist environment to propagate. But alone I find it to be insufficient. You want to KILL the bacteria. Hanging the boots out isn't going to get that job done.

Go to wally world and buy 4 or 5 bottles of hydrogen peroxide. It's like .99 cents a bottle. Dump an entire bottle into each boot and slosh it around for a while. Make sure you get every nook and cranny. Tilt the boot to get it up and down the part that comes up to your knees, etc... Make sure every inch gets submerged. Then dump out the h2o2 and then put the boots on a dryer. They'll be good to go the next day.

H2O2 is odor free and will kill the bacteria.

Repeat as necessary.

O3 has the same affect, as it is toxic to all life, and doesn't require soaking

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[Ack]

Using the boot drier helps a lot, but I agree with Dave that rotating boots will not only make them last longer, but will cut down on how quickly they get to stinking. I also have three pairs of rubber boots....one pair for scouting only, one uninsulated pair and one insulated pair for hunting only.