Things that smell REALLY bad

[Nettester]

My youngest DD will not wear socks, even in the winter. There were times her winter boots/liners were soaked at the end of the day. Sometimes I would put them in front of the living room forced air vent to dry out before the next morning. But then that stinky boot smell would just be there hanging when we woke up in the morning, yuck!

Agree with the others about the dog glands. Frugal DH thought he would save us some money and express our dog himself. He did that once, and said never again. We just pay the groomer or vet to do that now. That horrid smell would not leave his hands.

 

[sms]

Cherry flavored medicine.

 

[bcla]

My youngest DD will not wear socks, even in the winter. There were times her winter boots/liners were soaked at the end of the day. Sometimes I would put them in front of the living room forced air vent to dry out before the next morning. But then that stinky boot smell would just be there hanging when we woke up in the morning, yuck!

There really is no such thing as "foot odor". It really should be called "shoe odor". It's really sweat forming an environment hospitable to odor-causing bacteria. That's on top of most shoes being rarely cleaned or at least thoroughly aired out, where they'll continue to have a good growth environment, where the bacteria are producing various stinky waste products. Even after a stinky shoe has been aired and is bone dry, the odor will almost always remain unless it's cleaned.

It's also not just that it's moisture, but that sweat, socks, and shoes contain stuff that the bacteria use and convert into that smelly stuff.

http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/communications/familymedicine/archives/2003/2642(FM).htm

There are a number of bacteria that can cause foot odor problems. Two of the most common are Corynebacteria and Micrococci. It’s important to understand that these bacteria are not infecting the skin itself but are feeding on waste materials in the sweat and on other organic material on the surfaces of the skin, sock and shoe. It’s what doctors call an overgrowth of bacteria.

So now, what do we do about this overgrowth and the foul-smelling odor its produces? There are many products available to help minimize foot odor, but most of them are ineffective in the long term, since they treat the odor and not the sweat.

Wearing shoes causes more sweating than let's say sandals, although winter presents and interesting problem. However, I live in California and I knew one guy who wore sandals (with socks) to work almost every day. He said it was healthier for his feet and less constricting to his toes. That combination still had some of the raw materials to make the smell, but not the large amounts of sweat.

One of the better ways (mentioned in that article) is to rotate several pairs of shoes and make sure they're aired out after wearing. I remember going backpacking once with a single pair of Gore-Tex lined boots. After three days of sweating and some dipping in creeks, they were smelling pretty ripe.

 

[chiisai]

Cherry flavored medicine.

I'm with you on this. I can handle the smell of it. But the taste is hideous.

 

[ronandannette]

Skunk (has anybody else said skunk yet?). I had one briefly take up residence under my back deck late last summer. It's also super-embarrassing because here in the land of "basement grow-ops" people tend to jump to conclusions...

 

[lesliekatya]

As someone who has been living in a house full of stomach flu all week, vomit. Ugh.

 

[Lintasare]

A wet ferret

Hows about ferret in general? My brother has one now but had two at one point. He always reeked of ferret. He claimed he couldn't smell it. I say the stench burned out his nostrils. I refused to go to his place because it stunk to high heaven.

 

[tennvalgirl]

Fish heated up in the microwave has got to be one of the worse things