my room is stinky

[Brit]

Try as I might, I can't seem to get the smell of stinky shoes out of my room. I've tried Febreeze and other things, but the problem is the stinky shoes are left over night every night by the coat hooks. It's school policy to have "indoor shoes". My room is poorly ventilated, and the smell just hangs around.

any solutions out there?

[landreth2007]

Have you tried using foot powder in the shoes each afternoon before you leave? It is supposed to absorb odor. You may need to contact a bowling alley to see what they use on their shoes. Lysol spray may also work. Good luck!

[seastarmath]

How about baking soda?

[Brit]

hmmm...I wonder if either of those things could aggrivate allergies. I'll send a note home asking parents for the OK....I can't believe how stinky 6 year olds can be!

[bella mundi]

I sympathize! I have a very stinky classroom as well! Although my problem is slightly different! I have a kid with a lot of GI issues (he has a feeding tube too) and farts constantly, all day long. And it reeks. REEKS. Poor kid can't help it at all. Seriously, it's so bad that my boss stopped bringing tours to my classroom because of the smell.

It's sad, but my aides and I have just gotten used to it. We use the Febreeze spray too, but it doesn't help much the next time he farts.

The shoe powder and Lysol are good ideas, as is baking soda. Is there a safe place to put a fan there too? Or, I know these are pricey, but some type of air purifier? Just a thought. Good luck with your stinkiness!

[Boxcar]

Activated charcoal (sp?) and/or cat litter work great on smells. You simply pour it into pans by the icky shoes. It will absorb the oders quite well. Activated charcoal never gets used up. You place it in the sun and it is re-activated. From what I know, allergies aren't a problem with the charcoal. I'm not sure about the cat litter.

[gaylynn]

My students...7th and 8th graders...also keep their gym shoes in the classroom and when they get a little ripe, a blast of Odor Eaters in each shoe seems to do the trick.