Summerproofing your feet: Sweat & Odour

Well the summer weather has well and truly started, with some crazy heat waves hitting us before December has even arrived!
Now is the time to give those feet a Summer Health Check before it gets even hotter!

Podiatrist, Nicole Wright from Outreach Podiatry (Dubbo) says there are three main concerns she often hears from clients when it comes to foot health during the Summer months. These include foot odour, cracked heel prevention and care, and the control of foot fungus.

Nicole says: “It may surprise many of you that we have around 250,000 sweat glands on our feet alone, which can create over a cup (250ml) of sweat a day!”

“Foot sweat is a natural occurrence, and there’s no miracle cure out there to prevent it! Thoroughly washing your feet daily will help, scrubbing away dead skin cells and bacteria, including washing between your toes. Make sure your feet are dry before putting on socks and shoes.”

You may also find that a hand sanitizer used after washing and drying, or an antiperspirant deodorant spray can help with foot sweat, minimizing the formation of bacteria and helping with the odour.

If you’re STILL coming unstuck with foot sweat and saying “but I’ve tried everything” - Nicole suggests to use cotton sanitary pads as inserts in your shoes, and change them throughout the day, to help collect the moisture from your footwear! It's a little unconventional, but hey, whose to complain if it works, right?!


Ofcourse, with all this foot sweat, those poor shoes are likely to end up quite smelly! To help prevent the odour in your shoes, Nicole says “give your shoes a spray of tea tree, or even Glen 20!” Sprays can be far more hygienic than powders or inserts, when left to dry thoroughly before putting on your shoes.

Leather footwear also helps with the movement of air for those sweaty feet. Many of our clients often find man-made materials add to the problem, and seek our leather to help minimize the frustration of it all. Ofcourse, in Summer, open shoes and sandals help with air flow too!

A natural remedy for removing the odour in footwear is the use of cedar wood shavings or whole cloves, popped inside your shoes for a few days (when you don’t need to wear them!) – the odour will disappear after a few days.

And ofcourse, rotating your shoes, letting them dry out completely between wearing, helps to prevent the build up of bacteria and more odour. It can take at least 24 hours for a shoe to dry out completely! Help the process along with removing the innersoles (when able) or using crumpled newspaper inside the shoes overnight to help leech the moisture out of the materials.



With all this effort in preparing and caring for those feet, you’d be hard pressed to find time to do the same for the rest of your body!!  But it’s an important process for those who suffer extreme sweat or odour and are very self conscious about this problem.

If you find you have severe issues, then we recommend talking to your local Podiatrist or Doctor and making sure those tootsies are as healthy and comfortable as you can make them!

In our next blog, we’ll offer suggestions and tips for those cracked heels so many of us suffer in Summer!

Until then, look after your feet!

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You can contact Nicole Wright - Outreach Podiatry (Dubbo) on 02 6815 9900 or email outreachpodiatry@yahoo.com.au

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Fitting tips for older feet

As an independent footwear retailer, Easy Living Footwear caters for quite a selection of different aged feet!

We often see younger feet donning fashion-oriented heels; to our working-middle-agers who are on their feet all day and need lots of support. Through to our older (and we say, wiser!) ladies who come in for comfort and stability in slippers and better fitting every day shoes.


Our General Manager, Jenny, was a guest speaker at a NSW health programme in Gilgandra Hospital recently. A specialised range of events for the over 65ers who were “at risk, or who have had a fall”, Jenny spoke about the importance of well-fitted, safe and comfortable footwear.

In our stores, our staff are trained to help fit your feet and offer advice on the best types of shoes that will suit your needs. Whilst it’s a little harder for us to do this for our online customers, our regulars will tell you that having this staff knowledge at your fingertips can make all the difference for a customer with problematical feet!

What many of us don’t realise is that there are many factors in fitting footwear for elderly feet, not just making sure they fit! Below are some of our top tips for choosing footwear for safety and support for those over 65ers that need a little extra looking after!


• Firm arch supports help offer additional support and comfort

• A shoe that has good foot coverage to minimise stepping out of the shoe

• A lace up or velcro fastening for stability

• A lightweight shoe. It can be very tiring to wear a heavy shoe with a thick rubber sole for a long period of time

• Soft cushioning under the foot bed. In-store, we can add or substitute innersoles or memory foam to add more cushioning. Especially in the front area of the shoes, which helps cater for feet that have lost the padding beneath the bones, making it painful to walk

• A well-fitting shoe will give enough room for the toes to be comfortable and not rubbing at the ends, or curling

• A snug heel that has a firm but comfortable grip at the heel counter, so they are not going to step out the shoe and trip, or curl the toes like a claw to hold onto a shoe

• Low heels for stability – if a heel is too high, there’s an added chance of tripping and falling. A broad heel is far more stable to walk on

• Non-slip and textured sole for safety

• So many women wear slippers for a long period of time each day while at home, so choosing a supportive, correctly fitted, well soled slipper is just as important for safety as choosing a shoe.


It’s essential that elderly feet are looked after properly to prevent falls, but also offer superior comfort for fragile bones, and offer continued mobility for our seniors. Sometimes what suits may not always be the “prettiest” shoe, but is the most practical and safer option, and that’s often more important!

Some of our preferred brands for older feet include DB Footwear, Waldlaufer, Arcopedico, Propet and Klouds - which are often wider fitting, adjustable, accommodate orthotics, include velcro and elastics for easy on-off fitting, and textured comfort soles for stability and safety.

We have just released a new Comfort Plus brochure featuring a number of our favourite recommended products this Summer. Click the images below to see them larger.   If you'd like a hard copy, just contact us!

Look after your feet!!
~ The Easy Living Team