Dirty Man Socks

[Asparagus and Lemons]

Im sure many of you have this problem as men can be quite stinky..
But dh wears explorer socks to work every day, and big boots that do not breath.
Dh comes home with the worst stinking feet, not as bad as some of his friends, but bad enough to make me want to throw up.
We found that washing the socks in the washing machine was no good as it stunk out the load, no matter what setting I put it on and the socks still stunk.
At the moment I get him to put them in a bucket, each time putting a little bit of bi-carb on them to neutrilise the smell in the laundry. And every few days I will fill the bucket with hot water, let it soak for 2 or so hours, drain, then wash with about a cup of washing liquid by hand, stiring and squeezing for about 10-20 mins then rinse till there are no soap suds left and wring out and dry in the sun.
It kind of works.. but does anybody have any suggestions? as, yes I know my nose is probably a lil sensitive atm, but the socks can still be a bit stinky.
Help?
TIA

[AnyDream]

Have you tried putting them through a bucket with some napisan or similar in? The oxygen bleach element will kill any nasty bacterial element (which is where the smell is coming from).

To fix the foot smelliness, try this remedy. Brew up a jug of strong tea using 4-5 tea bags. Add it to a footbath and have the Man soak his feet in it for 10 mins or so, every day for a few days. Did this with my DD1 - who had gagorific feet - and it fixed her after only 2 soaks. Repeat every few weeks/months whenever you notice the whiffiness starting. It works because the tannin in the tea dries & hardens the outer layer of the skin so the bacteria haven't got anything to feed on.

[Astrid]

Are the socks natural or synthetic? I know there are 2 types of explorers. Natural is much better for letting the feet breath.

[{sarah}]

Try adding some white vinegar with the bicarb

[Asparagus and Lemons]

Thanks Marydean, have tried napisan, doesnt work much better love the idea of tea will try that tonight!

Astrid, I have no idea what kind the explorers are, they are holeproof, probably a mixture of both though as he gets them from his mum and I buy them when they are on special.

[Liz]

Yeah I was going to suggest bicarb & vinegar... and lots of sunshine!

The tea treatment of the feet is a great idea! hadn't heard of that before.

Is there something you can line the boots with or some way to de-stink the boots? I know some shoes cause stinky feet more than others. My mum has a pair of sandals that make her feet STINK lol. But normally she doesn't have stinky feet.

[Asparagus and Lemons]

There are liners in his shoes, I have put in a few, they dont do too much, I dont think they like him either as they always seem to decay.. dont blame them.
I've tried puting bi-carb in the shoes and tea tree oil in there too.. tea tree worked for a day.

[~Hestia~]

I can sympathise, my DH also wears explorer socks & big work boots. His feet used to stink so badly I made him put his shoes outside as soon as he took them off & his socks would still smell after washing.
We bought an anti fungal powder called Pedoz that has really helped. Even though DH doesn't have tinea, if he sprinkles this in his boots before putting them on/after taking them off he has no more problems with smelly socks or boots.