Long-suffering baseball parent here. Hex spray, leaving them out in the sun, and bags of activated charcoal slipped inside are my go-tos.

That and letting oldest buy his own car. He can now keep all his foul-smelling gear (did I mention he’s a catcher?) in there and I don’t have to lose my sh!t (or lunch) when I open my own car door. Extreme, but effective.

We switched to leather for a few years and no more stinky cleats. Then Nike switched the material on my son’s favorite soccer cleats to a synthetic material and it they once again stink.

Dryers helped me but they were expensive.

A while ago I tried anti-smelling insoles. You put that insole for a night inside a shoe, cover it with a film and leave for 8-10 hours. In the morning the smell and bacteria should be gone. If it is not, then repeat and leave the insole there for longer. It was called Podophylus insole. https://podophylus.com/

Anonymous wrote:I got a dr. Scholl’s odor-x spray on Amazon and I spray them frequently, it seems to help.

+1 I spray Dr. Scholl's Odor-X or other types of anti-fungal spray to get rid of smells. I think it is because the kids cleats are synthetic materials that do not breath and hold moisture, encouraging mold growth.

Wow. I guess nobody is properly sanitizing their kids gear? You need Lysol sanitizing spray! Also, get Lysol sanitizing liquid for their clothes/gear. Thank me later!