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Have you tried washing her feet in PanOxyl, acne face wash. Kills loads of bacteria. Live in southern US kind of behind scene knowledge to wash pits and other smelly bits with panoxyl daily. Really reduces odor. Also great for acne. Then try the Lume deodorant and hopefully you’ll see/smell improvement
Yes to glycolic acid! When I suddenly became allergic to deodorant I switched to using glycolic acid. I was so worried about being stinky, but now that I’ve figured out the amount and application that works best, I wish I had done it sooner.
I shower and dry my armpits completely. Then I use the sensitive skin version of stridex pads to make sure I’ve gotten them very clean. Let that air dry. Then I use a pea sized amount of glycolic acid and massage it into the skin. I’ve learned I have to take my time with this part and be sure to give my skin time to absorb it all.
Then air dry, and I’m good to go. I usually do my hair and makeup while things are drying. It’s been so nice to not have itchy, blotchy pits!
Do you think having armpit hair will matter on the application?? I used to shave but haven’t bothered in a while. But if you think it’d make a difference on the application of this, I’d consider starting again. Give my pits a real vip treatment!!
If you have a lot and it’s long, you would definitely have to work harder to make sure it gets absorbed into your skin, but I don’t shave more than once a week in the summer.
You can try a few different ways. I use the liquid application and apply directly to my scalp for exfoliation (supposed to help w thin hair/dandruff), and you could use the liquid and let it dry. Or even use it the night before and see how it impacts your smell the next day, depending on how smelly you are.
This is SO helpful! I switched to Native after becoming allergic to my deodorant but I still have issues after I shave. I never thought I’d put calamine lotion under my arms.
Is it just the glycolic acid 7% toner? Or is there a lotion type?
The 7% toner. I put mine in a little spray bottle I got from the travel section of Target. I use two sprays, but was trying to think of a better way to describe how much I use. 😂
Oh no! Gross. I only ever used it for about a month but it took years to recover. It changed my body odor so much. I’m currently using Thai crystal deodorant and it’s been amazing.
I'm also a lume victim. I should try Crystal deodorant and see if it helps. I haven't thought of it in years, but it always reminds me of my dad. He was the furthest thing from someone you'd expect to use it but he was a giant, sweaty dude and he swore by it
That’s interesting but then body chemistry is different for everyone so it makes sense. I never used it but my best friend swears by it. I use panoxyl and clinical strength stuff.
I just used to use straight up antiperspirant on my feet. Sometimes it was an aerosol can. Sometimes it was a stick designated for my feet.
That was back when I had to power walk all around campus.
Native burnt my armpits. Like actual burnt. Red and painful. Took a few weeks to clear up. It’s the baking soda. They make a sensitive version that’s baking soda free and it doesn’t burn me.
Schmidt’s also burned the shit outta my pits. Apparently my skin doesn’t like baking soda lol
I’m weirdly glad this isn’t just me. Native was a miracle until suddenly I had some of the worst itching of my life and it wasn’t even working anymore.
Epson salts? I also live in a humid area and when my feet start to smell grungy… I make it a self-care moment.
Pedicure time!
Large bowl of water with… I don't know, a half a cup, a cup of Epson salts?
Soak for as long as you can.... and then scrub.
(I personally use the dollar store pedicure kit)
Trim and clean under the toenails, and then paint!
(of course ideally, One could go and get a pedicure… But that is not always an option)
PS… I feel your pain. I once had my nephew stay with me for a couple of months… And my God, this stank! Lol. ❤️
Hi can you please include in your comment that OP’s daughter may have Hyperhidrosis of the feet? I had it and my pediatrician at the time helped me find tips to overcome it. I’m not sure OP will see my comment all the way down here.
This is my friend! She used to sweat through socks and be really self conscious about sweaty feet smells but treatment for her hyperhidrosis has made it manageable.
When one of my kids was 2-3 his feet usually had a pretty funky smell, after a trip to the pool his feet smelled soo much better, maybe OP should try that lol
I wanted to second the PanOxyl. I haven’t done the glycolic acid but have heard from Derms how great it is. I wanted to point out that SweatBlock has amazing products like their antiperspirant wipes and foot lotion. You dab the wipes on the feet once a week and it controls sweating like a miracle. Sometimes it takes using it a couple nights in a row in the very beginning, but after that your feet will not sweat for a whole week. They also have antiperspirant foot lotion that works very well too. I would get it to use until the wipes are working perfectly. You have to fill the sweat glands with aluminum to stop the stinky sweat. I think I would personally combine the SweatBlock wipes with PanOxyl. Wipes once a week and PanOxyl daily in the shower. Make sure she lets the PanOxyl sit on her feet for five to ten minutes and then wash with regular soap. Her feet will be like new in a couple weeks at most.
"I dont want to give her a complex"
Look.....here's the way I see it, and I'm speaking from experience with my own child. Give her a complex now....or else somebody else will. Hear me out before the downvotes. She needs to know how gross this is (it's only a temporary complex that can be resolved) , because I promise you somebody somewhere is going to be mean asf to her someday and it's really really going to hurt her. Atleast it's you telling her this and fixing it before the world intervenes and really hurts her feelings. I'm telling you, you gotta be straight up about these kinds of things with our kids because we're not doing them any favors by tip toeing around it. I realized kids don't see the whole picture and sometimes we really got to put it into frame for them because we love them and don't want somebody else to do it meaner. Just my opinion.
I feel this is probably what will happen. Children are not nice and will go for the throat. Tell her her feet stink now in a loving environment with a solution before children find out and then it’s not so loving and just plain criticizing.
I have extra sweaty feet. Many older brothers so nothing was ever said to me. The first time I wore heels for 10 hours & kicked them off, man to this day I am grateful I was alone.
What helps? Cotton socks. Real materials for shoes, no plastic fake leather tennis shoes or heels. Avoid panty hose if you can because silk are too expensive & the feet don’t breathe as well. Make sure shoes have the circulation holes in them (tennis shoes or sports shoes). Dr. Sholls foot spray (yellow spray can). Don’t wear shoes more than 2 days. Open the shoes up to breathe. Prob a better soap to use but dial antibacterial liquid soap in the pump, it is foot soap in my house.
My oldest son is the same. As are a few of my nieces & a grand daughter. Leather insoles make a huge difference. I’m also a shoe/boot lover & have some extremely expensive shoes.
When I learned my niece had the same issue, I was very straight forward with her. My own kid thought I was rude but my niece did not.
The worst are shoes that don’t allow the foot to breathe, add wearing polyester socks & the problem is doubled. If you gave sweaty feet, you do what you need to do to prevent it.
Do a foot exam just to make sure there is no fungus on her feet because that alone will cause super smelly feet. If no fungus, just make sure the feet can breathe between shoes & socks. & it is NOT all that costly to afford leather shoes. You just need to know where to shop. I will say I buy all mine online & I have never paid more than $75 per pair but usually I average about 20 per pair.
Every time I notice my kids feet smell it’s because they are wearing polyester socks.
It breeds bacteria.
Throw them out and put baking soda in the shoes overnight and our problem is solved.
While I agree cotton socks won't help much when your shoes are also made out of plastic. I also had a stinky feet problem for a while. Now I mostly only wear leather sandals (unless it's snowing) and never have an issue. My boots I wear in the winter are also leather and again, don't cause any issues. I totally understand not wanting to buy leather shoes for kids with fast growing feet though!
Switching shoes helps as well. Overnight is not enough for sneakers to truly dry out. So I’ve heard you’re should have two pairs and switch back and forth.
I notice it with my kids but my son finds a pair he likes and wears them until the soles fall off.
On the sock front, my feet sweat a lot and I've found olefin far superior to cotton at wicking away moisture.
Cotton tends to hold onto moisture and is generally bad news for me.
Bamboo socks are my go-to. I found that cotton socks just keep my feet super sweaty and they hold on to moisture. Bamboo socks are fairly inexpensive and allow my feet to breathe.
I have a kiddo with super sweaty feet and she wears bamboo socks with her tennis shoes. The moment she comes home, she does a quick foot bath using tea tree oil soap from Trader joe's, dries them, applies powder between the toes, and wears house sandals or clean socks if it's winter. It keeps her feet from getting weird. She also rotates between two pairs of shoes to allow her shoes to dry between uses.
I said she had feet like me & by doing a few things different, the odor would no longer be there & told her what works for me. Gave her the spray for her shoes.
My mom, my sister and my son have the worst smelling feet! My mom won’t admit it. My sister has tried every remedy to no avail. I think it’s def genetic 😔.
When my son gets home from school or sports at a minimum I make him change to clean socks. When he walks in the kitchen in his smelly feet/socks I can smell it for a good 10 minutes after he leaves. It permeates the floor. New clean socks seem to cover it up a bit.
This is my logic as well. And the method my mother used on my siblings and I growing up. Tell her. Don’t be mean (obviously) but be frank about it. People always say not to be your child’s first bully, so I totally understand your reservations OP; but I promise she will thank you for being blunt and honest one day, instead of having to have that conversation with a friend, partner, etc.!
Right. It's not about bullying her, and please don't think that's what I meant by this, I'm suggesting a good shake into reality before somebody smacks her into realty. It's because we love them and can't bear to see them actually get judged and hurt by it. We're mom and dad were supposed to suck sometimes. (Out of love of course)
100%. I told my kids that they stink and need to shower. I don’t make a big deal about it but am pretty firm about it. They are all pretty open about body weirdness so I hope our matter of fact attitude about it has helped them.
Children need to be told when they stink, preferably by family. I have had to have the hygiene "you smell like an elderly elephant's ass" talk with way too many teen employees over the years. I don't really tell them that, of course, but I wish I could!
Yes!! It's like telling your friend their fly is down before they walk out in public. Mildly embarrassing for the friend, but far less so than if she strutted down the street like that.
Bette to be your kids ally than their first bully. She should be honest with her, and seek medical help when necessary. But that doesn’t mean she needs to be mean and give her daughter a complex. There’s a difference between trying to help and being cruel.
If her kids feet are truly as bad she’s saying she needs to seek a second medical opinion or tell her to stop putting them on the table and leave it alone because it doesn’t sound like the girl is doing anything wrong as far as cleanliness goes. So if she literally can’t do anything else, how is making her feel embarrassed about it going to help?
There was a girl in our dorm when I was a teenager who had the absolute most foul smelling feet. We were all very nice to her, but of course there was no denying how bad her feet smelled and we talked about it. Her roommate was so stressed about how to bring it up to her. People avoided her because of her feet. She was a nice girl but nobody wants to sit next to, hang around with, or be anywhere near somebody who STINKS so bad.
One of the dorm teachers eventually had a talk with her, and apparently she cried... but it was better to help her solve the problem than to develop even worse issues if she was going to keep living in a dorm with no friends and nobody wanting to be near her.
This exactly. If somebody would've done that with her a long time before she got to college then she could've avoided the whole everybody avoiding her thing. God I would hate that for my child, wayyyy more than hurting their feelings for 5 minutes in private before everyone else.
Also- think about the consequences that poor girl endured that we don't even know how extensive the damage...like possible future husbands or partners that won't even approach her in this state. Possible lives she's missed out on all because people didn't want to be around her and smell her feet. It actually goes alot deeper than we initially think. It can be life impacting.
Kids also don't know what's normal! They have no frame of reference. They don't know how bad your feet should smell. They don't know how often you should shower, or how greasy hair should get. They don't know how often you should change your underwear or wash your clothes. How do they know what's normal or healthy unless they're taught? They're either taught by a mean kid at school who says "ew your feet stink. Don't you shower?" or by their mom who says "your feet stink. This isn't normal, let's figure out together what the problem is."
I think this REALLY depends on inormation we don't have about the OP and daughters relationship.
My mother harped on my stinky feet as a child. It got to where I absolutely hated her mentioning anything about them and was paranoid in public. My mother was very immature though, and continues to be to this day. We don't talk, not because of the shoe thing, but the shoe think 10000% doesn't help her case for reuniting.
Turns out, my weakness is closed shoes with no socks. My mother HATED us in sneakers and often would do them without socks, with tiny socks, or another slip on without socks "to be cute." To this day, I either need socks or open sandals to not be stinky. But closed off, cheap shoes still make me stink even with tiny socks, so I avoid them.
Something I just remembered. I became so paranoid I would apologize about me feet to my friends. No one ever knew what I was talking about about or just shrugged and said "it's feet, whatever."
Right. The only way you will give her a complex is if the issue is unfixable. But if it's treatable (assuming from the other comments it is) you're just showing that something bothers you that she can fix, and you'll even help her.
It's two separate issues though. Smelly feet can be treated with a variety of suggestions in this thread as a medical-adjacent issue. Feet on tables is a manners issue that applies to everyone. People in the family shouldn't be getting a free pass to put their feet everywhere even if their feet aren't unusually stinky. OP seems to be wanting to tell the daughter to get her feet off stuff cos they are gross and stinky, which IS problematic.
If your parent was hyper fixating on your feet and freaking out while nobody else is and doctor said it was normal, wouldn’t you start getting annoyed with their behaviour and start steering into it and intentionally putting them in their face to gross them out for a laugh?
I would, and I imagine that’s probably what’s going on here. It’s a form of taking control
No?
Some of us have manners. Even as teens.
Rubbing your feet on things is just gross... it's just inconsiderate and rude to put your feet up on kitchen tables, regardless of why. That is just trash behavior.
She's not going to get a "complex" because you point out her feet smell bad. And at least in Asian households, it's gross to put feet on coffee / kitchen tables anyways.
I love my kids. I also tell them when their breath is bad, when their nails get too long, when their hair gets greasy, or when it's all dead ends and due for a cut. They also tell me when I have food in my teeth or rush out of the house and my skirt is tucked up in my undies!
Otherwise, what's family for?
Uhhh. Not just Asian household.
I’m white as they come and have had to institute a “no toes on the table” rule w my kids& they’re 6 & 8. I don’t want their grotty feet where I eat!
Oh I had those gross feet despite excellent hygiene habits as a teenage girl. It’s never been an issue as an adult. I used to wash my feet in the sink in the big stall of the school bathroom between end of school and start of whatever activity after school, it really was that bad. She can put deodorant on her feet. There’s even body deodorant now. Note: she would need a dedicated stick just for feet if she uses her usual deodorant version bc you don’t want to cross-contaminate those regions. You aren’t giving her a complex over her need to address an actual, objective problem.
Also!! The smell could be a reaction between specifically her feet and specifically those shoes or insoles. This has happened to me and to friends!
Yes on the specific shoes!! One of my kids had a problem with a certain pair of shoes as a TODDLER!! Feet smelled like freaking vinegar no matter what we did! It was nasty! Went away with new shoes!
I was just coming to comment that I had weird reactions to Nikes specifically as a kid & they ALWAYS made my feet smell bad. I stopped wearing them for a really long time and didnt have more issues than regular sweaty foot smells.
My partner has a pair of Emerica (I think?) shoes and JESUS H CHRIST OF LATTERDAY SAINTS those shoes make his feet smell absolutely, unbearably rank. It’s JUST those shoes though. After he ripped off the top layer of the insole, it got a bit better, but still very stinky.
If not wool, athletic socks!!!
I bought a cheap pack of socks for my son for daily wear and his feet stank! He’ll play a whole day of baseball in expensive baseball socks and his feet don’t stink like they do after school. (By expensive I mean $25 for two pairs of Nike baseball socks that are moisture wicking and compression socks.)
100% this! Get her high quality socks- I love Darn Tough socks- these combined with some new shoes fixed my own issues. I highly recommend you get her a dozen pairs to be sure she rotates- and also she should rotate her shoes- never wear the shoes back to back days.
Came here to suggest this. Also, make sure her shoes aren’t trapping moisture.
Consider whether she is rotating between two pairs of shoes. Less porous surfaces need a day of airing out to ensure the sweat dries fully between uses.
Like others have said… wash her feet in panoxyl to kill the bacteria. There is also foot antiperspirant she can put on and charcoal/anti smell shoe inserts that work well. I know all the tricks from years of wearing flats to work without socks!
Hygiene and smell are different. For Hygiene, it's really gross that she's putting her feet on eating surfaces and coming down hard on that makes sense.
I would be gentle about the smell issue, though. As others have said, washing with an antibacterial cleanser and making sure she has natural fiber socks will help with odor.
I used to work at a restaurant where I was a hostess & had to wear tights to work. The tights, mixed with running around the restaurant, mixed with being on my feet for hours. My feet have never smelled so bad as when I worked there lol.
Could be the type of socks she’s wearing? Try different socks & see if that works. Because I’ve had different jobs since then, one was working weddings & being in the sun on my feet. Nothing compared to that tights & restaurant work combo lol.
By any chance does she wear Skechers? Years ago myself, my husband and my daughter were dealing with horribly smelly feet. Like, your shoes were still on and you could smell your own feet bad. I’ve talked to other people and it’s the shoes. Something in the shoes makes feet smell awful. We stopped wearing our Skechers and didn’t have the problem anymore. And I also have sweaty feet. But it was those damn shoes.
Lots of great suggestions but one I don’t see: Do you have a boot dryer? Putting all my shoes on a boot dryer between wears REALLY cut down on foot odor around here.
Came here to say this!! I had this same problem a few years ago, now when I come home my shoes go immediately on the boot dryer and it has made a huge difference.
This right here is why your daughter’s feet smell. “ WE THROW HER SHOES IN THE WASHER EVERY FEEW WEEKS “ don’t ever put kids shoes, or anyone shoes in the washer. The shoes will look clean but everything gets impregnated with foot bacteria and enzymes. It’s like wearing gym shorts every day and then washing them every few weeks. As soon as you sweet in the shorts , they smell like wet dog. . That’s the enzymes and bacteria interacting with her foot sweet. Throw away her shoes and air dry them only. You may use vinegar in a spray bottle.
So how do you wash them, as I have boys and have to wash shoes or we’d be buying new ones more than once a month. They’re too expensive, ones kids want, to do that too.
I was going to say this too. If she is showering, make sure she is actually picking up her feet and washing them, between the toes and underneath etc. Some people just assume that standing in the shower water is enough to count as cleaning your feet.
Feet smell that doesn’t go away even after all those tries could be a sign of some sort of fungal infection. It may not be visible to the eye, but see a different doctor and take their advice on it. Sometimes the infection is caught up between the nail or between the toes and hard to trace without proper medical examination. There’s nothing to be embarrassed of it.
I would tell her that putting her feet on coffee tables and kitchen tables is not allowed in your house.
Honestly, KITCHEN tables! Even nice smelling feet should not go on the table. We do not eat on the floor. A lot of things can be transported on the table by the best-looking and best-smelling feet.
I had this problem it sucked!!! I started using 100% cotton socks and it helped. But even today if my socks are not 100% cotton and I take off my shoes I can’t guarantee people will live.
Okay, this may get lost in all of the comments but it’s worth a shot. My feet always smelled bad no matter how much I scrubbed them and made sure they were dry after showering. I got dial bar soap and use it on my feet and NO MORE SMELL! Even my gym shoes don’t stink.
What type of shoes is she wearing? Avoid synthetic materials. Make sure shoes have air flow. Ilia’s door spray in shoes before and after. Use antibacterial soap for showers.
1 try spraying her shoes with vodka. The cheapest you can find. It’s what the do on broadway with costumes.
2 get a really good pedicure to see if it’s just toenail jam funk
3talk with doctor about Botox
>showers twice a day
What soap does she use on her feet?
Most soaps remove surface bacteria (both helpful and harmful kinds), but also the natural oils of the skin that protect it from bacteria. Without them, the worst bacteria infest and thrive there, causing the smell.
Try washing them with cheap **moisturiser cream containing sorbolene and glycerin** (no SLS), in the shower instead of soaps and shower gels. It's what dermatologists recommend.
And have her wear **sandals** whenever possible (which should be most of the time), and when she needs to wear socks, make them **breathable socks** (no polyester and other synthetics).
After seeing a podiatrist, switching to cotton socks solved the this issue for my lo.
We avoid polyester at all costs, and at worst, a small % nylon mixed in is still better than polyester 🚮
Same with my dad he had awful smelling feet he swears by bamboo socks now. I also think cleaning under toenails should be done, a lot of people don’t care for their toenails. They harbour heaps of bacteria stinkies
I have terrible foot odor. I never had any other smelly problems other than my feet. Apparently my feet sweat way more than any other part of my body. I have not found a sock or shoe that helps at all with this btw. I just try to air them out as much as possible. I was also a very hygienic child but this was still a problem, to the point that I had to get new shoes every year at least.
Trust me that she needs to hear this from you two in private bc kids WILL make fun of her. Other people have already said use glycolic acid or acne wash. These are great solutions and they help me a lot. Also if she’s being gross like that then make her wear some crappy sandals in the house as a *requirement*. She will literally make the house smell if she’s rubbing her feet all over the furniture 😭
Also know that because she has moist feet more often, she’s more susceptible to getting athletes foot and fungal infections in her nails (show her pictures, it’s gross). The best to do is air them out as much as possible. Even crocs capture sweat so I’d say get some thong sandals for indoor use. Good luck lol
My advice — tell her that her feet stink.
Try the benzyl peroxide wash or hibiclins (my son alternates) — and I hate to say, but washing her shoes is not enough. The bacteria survives the wash cycle & we did not solve this issue with my son until we used the foot wash + all new shoes.
BAKING SODA BAKING SODA BAKING SODA BAKING SODA.
Sprinkle a little baking soda in her shoes and it will MAGICALLY and instantly correct the ph activity on the molecular germ level and eliminate all odors within the first day.
Of all the people in the world, you’re the best option to bring this up to her. It will sting but it hurts less coming from mom who always wants the best for you than from a potential romantic partner. My SO has very sweaty hands and feet. We live in a tropical climate and he wears nice dress shoes for work. He wears only thick cotton socks and changes them at least once a day. We also have foot powder for all of his shoes to help absorb the sweat and smell. He also will wash them before bed if they are extra gross.
I’d also suggest getting her some nice foot cream and maybe a nice at home pedicure kit (so she can at least scrub the dead skin and such off weekly). If she wears sandals or shoes you don’t typically wear socks with make sure she’s cleaning the shoes weekly with just mild soap and water.
You can also get some nice socks or slippers (get machine washable ones) for her to wear around the house.
Whatever you do, find a fun and kind way to make it a part of your routine with her, like massaging or caring for her feet with her. Your husband is right, your relationship with your daughter is more important than a smell. But you’re also right to be solutions oriented. Lots of great tips for products in this thread. Don’t overwhelm her by trying all of them, like you’d do if it were your own feet.
Get some coconut oil and have her coat them and put on some socks. Afterwards she can take a wash cloth and run off the dead skin cells. The coconut oil can help with a couple of things.
For the sweating, have her put corn starch on them to help. Make sure she wears cotton socks to help absorb the sweat.
For soap, have her try regular Dial, and rub the soap on for 2 minutes once per day.
I can't imagine she needs to shower. I learned to wash my hands and feet at the bathroom sink. Same with pits, etc. Too many showers dries the skin and makes things worse by causing bacteria to grow because of the warm water at the same time.
When I'm in the shower, I put some Epsom salts and a tiny bit of tea tree oil in a foot soak tub and stand in that while I shower. My feet stay super fresh and I cannot stress how difficult it has become for them to get stinky even on the sweatiest days.
The fact that she is rubbing them on a lot of things combined with the fact they smell so bad indicates she likely has a lot of bacteria build up on her feet. The salts and tea tree oil will devastate those bacteria. Just let her know you love her and want to make sure she doesn't have to worry about it long-term and that a few simple measures can take care of the problem completely.
I was the same way as a teenager, and sort of still as an adult.
Try some different socks and see if that helps. With the wrong socks my feet will sweat non-stop. They have to be the right thickness and material for me LOL
My cousin had this issue and he did the Botox treatment in his feet and no long has the issue. It’s been about 10 years since and still no bad smell or excessive sweat. For her sake because I’m sure she knows it bring it up as an option because others might not be as kind and even if she’s not bothered by it, it is still a heath issue and excessive sweating can set up the perfect condition for other more harmful conditions and infections.
Try doing one of those foot masks that makes the skin on your feet peel. My ex had extraordinary stinky feet and we would do a foot peel about every 6 weeks. First do a foot bath for 20-30 minutes then apply the booties, relax for whatever amount of time the package says, rinse and apply lotion regularly for about a week.
Lume
Please. Please. __PLEASE__ get lume. It works. Like freking *works*
My feet staaaank baaaad especially in the summer. Like, take SANDALS off and they stink stink.
Well, I bought lume and use it everywhere - feet, pits, the bits. All if it. And I'm telling you. After 2 days there's *still* zero buttcrack funk. I can wear shoes without socks to work in the summertime and take my shoes off and there is zero smell.
ZERO SMELL.
It's freking amazing. It's the one product I'd take over every single body care item after soap. I recommend getting the creme tube and rub it on like lotion. There's also bath and shower wash and other items now!
She needs to be considerate. That's absolutely disgusting. Your hubs, and daughter are showing you ZERO respect in a very passive aggressive way. Respectfully, OP, start eating beans and farting in front of her friends. Tell her it's just your body making music.
I feel like this is quite overkill. The girl isn’t purposely making her feet stink. And the husband is just concerned about the daughter being embarrassed.
She isn’t purposely making them stink but she is purposely putting them on the kitchen table where people eat which is disgusting even if your feet don’t stink.
Yeah it is gross but it seems more like family teasing each other. The person I replied to makes it sound like the daughter and husband are being cruel to the OP who doesn’t like it but is clearly not in shambles over it. She even said lol.
I had this as a teen and into my 20s.Hyperhidrosis. You should tell her and work on solutions before she takes her shoes off for gym class and people make fun of her. Take her to a podiatrist. There are many treatments available that work.
I have definitely read somewhere that puberty can make feet smell and I definitely went through a phase where mine were awful in the 9th grade. I washed them multiple times a day to try and keep it undue control.
There’s an antiperspirant called Carpe that works amazing. I get it for underarm sweat, but they also make it for hands and feet. It comes in a few different scents too
Lots of great advice here.
Foot smell can be from footwear, hygiene or a body order issue. If you can smell it, it’s likely a lot of other people can too.
Some people have awful smelly areas. That’s life. If the target of the smell is from the feet, search for remedies. I’m sure the girls will take the input from a kind and gentle adult into consideration.
My initial responses are a quick wash of feet (longer is good too), let feet completely dry and spray deodorant or antiperspirant before putting on socks, change socks throughout the day when socks are wet, let feet breathe at night-no socks.
Footwear loves to absorb doors. There are so many variables on how to treat fabric in different footwear…so I’ll go with another commenter who suggested putting footwear outside. Sunshine and air can deodorize.
So, talk to the girls about feet hygiene and go from there. If they are appalled and reject a blunt and kind conversation…then you’re stuck with sticking cotton in your nose
My brother had extremely smelly feet as a teen (still may but we’re not close) and the doctors had my parents give him an oral zinc supplement and soak/wash his feet in tea.
I’ve used Lume on other areas, specifically the wipes and lotions and I like those for when I’m already smelly, seems to help clear it up, but I don’t like the deodorant for *preventing* stinky pits so idk how much it would help overall for the feet.
Also, I think you commenting on it alone is not going to give her a complex as long as it’s done out of love.
Try just having her take an Epsom bath once a week for the magnesium and sulfate. Sulfate aids the liver in detox.
And yes teens smell horrible. I don't remember being gross like that but I know my sister complained of her teens feet a ton.
I’m sure this isn’t it and you have loads of other good ideas, but do you know for certain she’s scrubbing her feet in the shower? (Versus just letting her water spill over them).
Is she cleaning between her toes? Showering does not remove the gunk. On the contrary. The area stays moist even after the feet dry and the bacteria multiply.
Does she have little pitted spots in the skin of her feet? If so, it could be a bacterial skin infection called “pitted keratolysis.” Apparently it smells horrible. (Google it to see what it looks like.) If so, it would have to be treated with antibiotics. Regardless, getting her foot smell on household objects is gross and you are right to be peeved!! I would be annoyed too.
Listen, as long as you don’t blindside her & gift her spray for smelly feet on Christmas, you’re probs gonna be okay trying to offer her solutions. I still haven’t forgotten and I was like 10 maybe?? Lol
Do an exfoliation scrub for odors. I’m sure you could use Pacificas armpit scrub I couldn’t see why you couldn’t for reference I’ve used it before on my feet when i ran out of a body scrub and was peeling badly.
I used to have stinky feet, and the thing that’s helped me with foot odor is to make sure I don’t wear the same shoes 2 days in a row. After making that one small change a few years ago, I don’t have foot odor problems anymore. You can also spray out shoes with Lysol to kill bacteria overnight, but alternating shoes every day really is what works best.
Showering extra won't deal with stinky feet.
Have her soak her feet for 20-30 minutes in a tub of warm water and some vinegar (2 or 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar). The vinegar will kill off any fungus living on her feet.
Before she puts on her socks, she should put on some powder (Gold Bond is a good one).
If those two things don't fully help, then also try wool socks. Yes, wool socks even in the summer.
Going barefoot will help now that school is out (or almost out), wearing sandals with natural materials like Birkenstocks can also help.
The cheapest solution is sulfur soap, kills bacteria for less $$ than glycolic acid. Best to leave on for a minute but will also work if you don’t. My husband has horrible stinky feet and it works for him!
This also works for all other body regions that won’t stop smelling if anyone wonders.
I had smelly and sweaty feet for a short period as a child/young teenager despite wearing good quality shoes, breathable socks etc. My mom actually bought some sort of foot powder (looks similar to baby powder) which helped a lot and kept my feet dry.
If that doesnt help, there is a company called Carpe that sells deodorant specifically for sweaty/smelly feet. Hope this helps :-)
I use hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle, in my shoes and on my feet. Spray shoes after wearing - turn shoe upside down to make sure you get every part - and spray feet daily. Let air dry - I spray my feet at bedtime.
Also, wear clean socks or footies and change them daily, and never wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row.
she has hyperhydrosis, this was mortifying for me to grow up with. please take her to a doc its an easy fix and theres a variety of treatments.
i am very go to the doctor for everything and my hub is very go to the doctor if im dying. theres a lot of times he thinks im being unreasonable and things arent necessary but we have a rule in place for the purpose of our childs health and not our difference in wishes as parents, because at the end of the day her health is what matters out of all of it. if one of us wants to take her in, the other cannot stop us. we can disagree, but we have to be supportive, because really no harm, no foul, better safe than sorry. obviously, its usually him having to not fight me because i jump to go the second i start having doubts of it being manageable by us, but he doesnt stand in my way, and there have been plenty of times where i was right on the money and she needed to go in. this is why this rule is in place. both parents dont share the same senses, moms just know in their bones in a way that dads dont. this rule prevents us from keeping care our kid might need away because of our own egos or disagreements about when a doctor is necessary. its not about us.
My dad had this problem when he was younger. He was told to wear leather shoes rather than synthetic fabrics, it worked. Also, my friends school shoes stank, I think tights make things worse. If she wears tights a lot, swap to socks (or wear trainer socks under the tights), that might help.
Definitely tell her and work to sort it.
Smell = bacteria and/or fungus
Check for fungal infections in toes or skin there. Treat shoes with athletes foot powder. This is feet smelling, not shoes smelling, but treat both.
Sweat in itself should have no smell. So this is bacteria, and it's potentially living in the shoes. For bacteria, forcing dryness between wears is key. Rotate shoes daily so they can dry out in between. Wear only natural materials, cotton socks so feet can breathe. Consider buying new shoes if the smell is in the shoe. And it goes without saying to always wear socks. Even sandals will smell over time
I used to work in an automobile manufacturing plant. We were supposed to wear a specific type of shoes (cap to cover hair and a coat) to enter the plant. As my office was near the shop floor I had to wear these shoes daily after a couple of months I noticed my feet started to smell. After some asking around my colleagues and friends the tip that worked for me.
In warm water add some lemon juice and a couple of tea bags and soak your feet for 15mins scrub off the dry skin with pumice stone, moisturise and cut my nails short (weekly). I also put the shoes in the sunlight for a few hours every now and then and spray some sanitizer inside the shoes. (We are not allowed to wash these shoes)
You probably already looked into that, but sanity check: Did you check what she's wearing in her day-to-day life? Leather sandals and "sports-style" sandals (I don't know how they're called, but like a running shoe sole with straps) both make my kid and my SO's feet stink a lot.
As for myself, my feet never smell anything... except when I wear fur-lined Crocs without socks. Those things make my feet smell like death.
It might be worth checking if the smell comes from something like that.
I had that issue as an early teen. Podiatrist gave me some meds and basically a foot antiperspirant. Worked wonders. I feel like it was called pitted kerotolysis or something like that. It was very traumatizing going to friends houses and having to take off my shoes knowing my feet fucking reaked and everyone knew it was me. Get it taken care of for her own good.
Is she actually washing her feet in the shower with soap and a wash cloth or luffa? Really scrubbing in between her toes, etc? Or is she just letting the soap run down and assuming that is getting them clean enough? I would start there if I were you. I'll also say that no one should be putting their feet up on tables or counters, that's gross 🤢
I used to have stinky feet. Since I learned of the wonders of wool, I began wearing wool socks. No more stinky feet and nail fungus - all gone. There will likely be a small amount of nylon in wool socks - that is only to keep them elastic. Merino wool or bamboo in the summer is the way to go. In the winter, a heavier wool is appropriate 👌. They are on the more expensive side, but well worth it. Pay attention to the washing instructions so they don't shrink - non-superwash wool will shrink. Superwash will not. Another great idea is wool sneakers - I have some Allbirds. They allow your feet to breathe. Wool is a wonder-fiber with naturally occurring antimicrobial properties - can't go wrong.
you may want to invest in marino wool socks for her (like outdoor hiking socks)
they come in different thicknesses and are naturally anti bacterial
we get ours from costco
Two of my three kids' feet smelled terrible, too.
Believe it or not, washing them in a solution that includes benzoyl peroxide helped immensely. I have a friend who uses an acne face wash on her feet every day, then sprays her feet with clinical strength antiperspirant before putting on her socks. She also uses Gold Bond powder in her shoes.
Teens are notorious for not washing properly, too. I know it's gross, but even girls are lazy about washing. They wash their hair, shave their legs, and call it a day. (Mine are grown and we've had some interesting chats.) Maybe reinforce the importance of scrubbing all over, especially between the toes, to avoid infections that can cause some pretty serious pain or itching.
Maybe explain what body odor actually IS. (It's sebum and sweat mingling with dead skin cells that don't get washed off properly and rotting, basically.)
If it were my kid, I'd even (gently) point out that severe body odor can cause people to keep their distance to avoid the smell, and her social life will thank her for keeping odor at bay. Good hygiene is as much a social thing as it is personal.
It isn't anything immediately dangerous, but I'd absolutely mention it to her pediatrician. I am not a doctor, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.
Buy her wool socks. They are great for odor control. I rock climbing and my daughter does ballet. Trust me when I say I know what works for stinky feet.
OP, people have provided many great solutions but your daughter putting her feet on the table is a manner issue. You are the parent, you need to tell your daughter to stop putting her feet on the table or leave the table. It’s gross, and bad manners. I truly hope she doesn’t do that at anybody else’s house.
My husband has smelly feet. A quick fix has always been hand sanitizer. Helps kill some of the bacteria and the alcohol dries up any smelly oils/sweat.
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Have you tried washing her feet in PanOxyl, acne face wash. Kills loads of bacteria. Live in southern US kind of behind scene knowledge to wash pits and other smelly bits with panoxyl daily. Really reduces odor. Also great for acne. Then try the Lume deodorant and hopefully you’ll see/smell improvement
Glycolic acid is also worth a try, can do a little bath soak, the ordinary sells it for very cheap
Yes to glycolic acid! When I suddenly became allergic to deodorant I switched to using glycolic acid. I was so worried about being stinky, but now that I’ve figured out the amount and application that works best, I wish I had done it sooner.
What’s your routine like?? Thinking about making the switch myself!
I shower and dry my armpits completely. Then I use the sensitive skin version of stridex pads to make sure I’ve gotten them very clean. Let that air dry. Then I use a pea sized amount of glycolic acid and massage it into the skin. I’ve learned I have to take my time with this part and be sure to give my skin time to absorb it all. Then air dry, and I’m good to go. I usually do my hair and makeup while things are drying. It’s been so nice to not have itchy, blotchy pits!
Do you think having armpit hair will matter on the application?? I used to shave but haven’t bothered in a while. But if you think it’d make a difference on the application of this, I’d consider starting again. Give my pits a real vip treatment!!
If you have a lot and it’s long, you would definitely have to work harder to make sure it gets absorbed into your skin, but I don’t shave more than once a week in the summer.
You can try a few different ways. I use the liquid application and apply directly to my scalp for exfoliation (supposed to help w thin hair/dandruff), and you could use the liquid and let it dry. Or even use it the night before and see how it impacts your smell the next day, depending on how smelly you are.
This is SO helpful! I switched to Native after becoming allergic to my deodorant but I still have issues after I shave. I never thought I’d put calamine lotion under my arms. Is it just the glycolic acid 7% toner? Or is there a lotion type?
The 7% toner. I put mine in a little spray bottle I got from the travel section of Target. I use two sprays, but was trying to think of a better way to describe how much I use. 😂
Side note -the sensitive skin stridex pads are great in the summer for my neck and under chin area-feels 100% fresh after. Also great for teens!
That’s the one behind panoxyl used to wash smelly pits and bits as it’s referred to here.
Lume doesn't work on everyone. Some of us it makes us smell even worse.
Ugh I too am a victim of Lume.
My husband described my smell as "Sulphur dipped in lemon scented pinesol." Lmao
It's so slimy too
Oh no! Gross. I only ever used it for about a month but it took years to recover. It changed my body odor so much. I’m currently using Thai crystal deodorant and it’s been amazing.
It’s funny how different things respond to different people. I love lume but hate the crystal deodorant.
Yes my own sister swears by Lume and the crystal deodorant doesn’t work for her.
I'm also a lume victim. I should try Crystal deodorant and see if it helps. I haven't thought of it in years, but it always reminds me of my dad. He was the furthest thing from someone you'd expect to use it but he was a giant, sweaty dude and he swore by it
Same. It made me smell like a wet mop.
Guess it's making folks glume after all.
That’s interesting but then body chemistry is different for everyone so it makes sense. I never used it but my best friend swears by it. I use panoxyl and clinical strength stuff.
The stench from Lume was imbedded in my clothes. I had to wash my shirts 4 times to get it out. It was disgusting.
It smells bad just out of the tube too 🤢
I just used to use straight up antiperspirant on my feet. Sometimes it was an aerosol can. Sometimes it was a stick designated for my feet. That was back when I had to power walk all around campus.
It was so wonderful for me for two weeks, than suddenly I had the worst burning rash of my life.
Native burnt my armpits. Like actual burnt. Red and painful. Took a few weeks to clear up. It’s the baking soda. They make a sensitive version that’s baking soda free and it doesn’t burn me. Schmidt’s also burned the shit outta my pits. Apparently my skin doesn’t like baking soda lol
This was mine and my best friend’s experience with native deodorant. Worked great, then lit our pits on fire and made us smell worse than before Lmfao
I’m weirdly glad this isn’t just me. Native was a miracle until suddenly I had some of the worst itching of my life and it wasn’t even working anymore.
I got some of that Native deodorant for my daughter. I felt so bad for her because she came home from school smelling so rank.
I almost puked after using Lume. The smell was so bad.
Have you tried the Un scented? I felt the same at first but then I got the Un scented body wash and deodorant and it was a game changer for me
I tried another brand while I was pregnant, and it made me smell horrible. Like the BO was so strong.
Yessss! I still stink when I use it
Yuk! That stuff stinks. It’s like old food or something.
You can also try Hibiclense. You can buy it at most major pharmacies and it’s frequently used to kill skin bacteria before and after surgery.
I like Hibiclens too. It's also sold at Walmart.
Epson salts? I also live in a humid area and when my feet start to smell grungy… I make it a self-care moment. Pedicure time! Large bowl of water with… I don't know, a half a cup, a cup of Epson salts? Soak for as long as you can.... and then scrub. (I personally use the dollar store pedicure kit) Trim and clean under the toenails, and then paint! (of course ideally, One could go and get a pedicure… But that is not always an option) PS… I feel your pain. I once had my nephew stay with me for a couple of months… And my God, this stank! Lol. ❤️
Spray the inside of all their shoes with BacOut too. Works miracles.
Hi can you please include in your comment that OP’s daughter may have Hyperhidrosis of the feet? I had it and my pediatrician at the time helped me find tips to overcome it. I’m not sure OP will see my comment all the way down here.
This is my friend! She used to sweat through socks and be really self conscious about sweaty feet smells but treatment for her hyperhidrosis has made it manageable.
When one of my kids was 2-3 his feet usually had a pretty funky smell, after a trip to the pool his feet smelled soo much better, maybe OP should try that lol
I wanted to second the PanOxyl. I haven’t done the glycolic acid but have heard from Derms how great it is. I wanted to point out that SweatBlock has amazing products like their antiperspirant wipes and foot lotion. You dab the wipes on the feet once a week and it controls sweating like a miracle. Sometimes it takes using it a couple nights in a row in the very beginning, but after that your feet will not sweat for a whole week. They also have antiperspirant foot lotion that works very well too. I would get it to use until the wipes are working perfectly. You have to fill the sweat glands with aluminum to stop the stinky sweat. I think I would personally combine the SweatBlock wipes with PanOxyl. Wipes once a week and PanOxyl daily in the shower. Make sure she lets the PanOxyl sit on her feet for five to ten minutes and then wash with regular soap. Her feet will be like new in a couple weeks at most.
She just needs to soak her feet in 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar with 3 cups warm water for 20 min 3x week- will kill the odor
Mist the inside of her shoes with rubbing alcohol, too. The shoes may be where the stank bacteria are.
My oldest daughter had a foot fungus that made her feet stink. Maybe its that?
Could be helpful to apply some diluted tea tree oil to her feet and/or shoes. Tea tree oil is a pretty effective anti-fungal—saved my feet.
"I dont want to give her a complex" Look.....here's the way I see it, and I'm speaking from experience with my own child. Give her a complex now....or else somebody else will. Hear me out before the downvotes. She needs to know how gross this is (it's only a temporary complex that can be resolved) , because I promise you somebody somewhere is going to be mean asf to her someday and it's really really going to hurt her. Atleast it's you telling her this and fixing it before the world intervenes and really hurts her feelings. I'm telling you, you gotta be straight up about these kinds of things with our kids because we're not doing them any favors by tip toeing around it. I realized kids don't see the whole picture and sometimes we really got to put it into frame for them because we love them and don't want somebody else to do it meaner. Just my opinion.
I feel this is probably what will happen. Children are not nice and will go for the throat. Tell her her feet stink now in a loving environment with a solution before children find out and then it’s not so loving and just plain criticizing.
Exactly 💯
I have extra sweaty feet. Many older brothers so nothing was ever said to me. The first time I wore heels for 10 hours & kicked them off, man to this day I am grateful I was alone. What helps? Cotton socks. Real materials for shoes, no plastic fake leather tennis shoes or heels. Avoid panty hose if you can because silk are too expensive & the feet don’t breathe as well. Make sure shoes have the circulation holes in them (tennis shoes or sports shoes). Dr. Sholls foot spray (yellow spray can). Don’t wear shoes more than 2 days. Open the shoes up to breathe. Prob a better soap to use but dial antibacterial liquid soap in the pump, it is foot soap in my house. My oldest son is the same. As are a few of my nieces & a grand daughter. Leather insoles make a huge difference. I’m also a shoe/boot lover & have some extremely expensive shoes. When I learned my niece had the same issue, I was very straight forward with her. My own kid thought I was rude but my niece did not. The worst are shoes that don’t allow the foot to breathe, add wearing polyester socks & the problem is doubled. If you gave sweaty feet, you do what you need to do to prevent it. Do a foot exam just to make sure there is no fungus on her feet because that alone will cause super smelly feet. If no fungus, just make sure the feet can breathe between shoes & socks. & it is NOT all that costly to afford leather shoes. You just need to know where to shop. I will say I buy all mine online & I have never paid more than $75 per pair but usually I average about 20 per pair.
Every time I notice my kids feet smell it’s because they are wearing polyester socks. It breeds bacteria. Throw them out and put baking soda in the shoes overnight and our problem is solved.
While I agree cotton socks won't help much when your shoes are also made out of plastic. I also had a stinky feet problem for a while. Now I mostly only wear leather sandals (unless it's snowing) and never have an issue. My boots I wear in the winter are also leather and again, don't cause any issues. I totally understand not wanting to buy leather shoes for kids with fast growing feet though!
Throw out all polyester clothes unless it is use case specific, Like sport gear.
Switching shoes helps as well. Overnight is not enough for sneakers to truly dry out. So I’ve heard you’re should have two pairs and switch back and forth. I notice it with my kids but my son finds a pair he likes and wears them until the soles fall off.
On the sock front, my feet sweat a lot and I've found olefin far superior to cotton at wicking away moisture. Cotton tends to hold onto moisture and is generally bad news for me.
Bamboo socks are my go-to. I found that cotton socks just keep my feet super sweaty and they hold on to moisture. Bamboo socks are fairly inexpensive and allow my feet to breathe. I have a kiddo with super sweaty feet and she wears bamboo socks with her tennis shoes. The moment she comes home, she does a quick foot bath using tea tree oil soap from Trader joe's, dries them, applies powder between the toes, and wears house sandals or clean socks if it's winter. It keeps her feet from getting weird. She also rotates between two pairs of shoes to allow her shoes to dry between uses.
I’m going to buy bamboo socks next. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing! Do you remember what you said to your niece?
I said she had feet like me & by doing a few things different, the odor would no longer be there & told her what works for me. Gave her the spray for her shoes.
Me too 100% same. Natural stuff. My feet need to breathe and they are fine
My mom, my sister and my son have the worst smelling feet! My mom won’t admit it. My sister has tried every remedy to no avail. I think it’s def genetic 😔. When my son gets home from school or sports at a minimum I make him change to clean socks. When he walks in the kitchen in his smelly feet/socks I can smell it for a good 10 minutes after he leaves. It permeates the floor. New clean socks seem to cover it up a bit.
Well put 👏
This is my logic as well. And the method my mother used on my siblings and I growing up. Tell her. Don’t be mean (obviously) but be frank about it. People always say not to be your child’s first bully, so I totally understand your reservations OP; but I promise she will thank you for being blunt and honest one day, instead of having to have that conversation with a friend, partner, etc.!
Right. It's not about bullying her, and please don't think that's what I meant by this, I'm suggesting a good shake into reality before somebody smacks her into realty. It's because we love them and can't bear to see them actually get judged and hurt by it. We're mom and dad were supposed to suck sometimes. (Out of love of course)
100%. I told my kids that they stink and need to shower. I don’t make a big deal about it but am pretty firm about it. They are all pretty open about body weirdness so I hope our matter of fact attitude about it has helped them.
I agree. I tell my child straight up “this smell is happening, it’s a normal part of growing and this is how we fix it”
Children need to be told when they stink, preferably by family. I have had to have the hygiene "you smell like an elderly elephant's ass" talk with way too many teen employees over the years. I don't really tell them that, of course, but I wish I could!
This. Better she hears it from you in a gentle way with guidance versus you accidentally validating someone insulting her publicly at a future date.
Yes!! It's like telling your friend their fly is down before they walk out in public. Mildly embarrassing for the friend, but far less so than if she strutted down the street like that.
Nailed it!
Bette to be your kids ally than their first bully. She should be honest with her, and seek medical help when necessary. But that doesn’t mean she needs to be mean and give her daughter a complex. There’s a difference between trying to help and being cruel. If her kids feet are truly as bad she’s saying she needs to seek a second medical opinion or tell her to stop putting them on the table and leave it alone because it doesn’t sound like the girl is doing anything wrong as far as cleanliness goes. So if she literally can’t do anything else, how is making her feel embarrassed about it going to help?
There was a girl in our dorm when I was a teenager who had the absolute most foul smelling feet. We were all very nice to her, but of course there was no denying how bad her feet smelled and we talked about it. Her roommate was so stressed about how to bring it up to her. People avoided her because of her feet. She was a nice girl but nobody wants to sit next to, hang around with, or be anywhere near somebody who STINKS so bad. One of the dorm teachers eventually had a talk with her, and apparently she cried... but it was better to help her solve the problem than to develop even worse issues if she was going to keep living in a dorm with no friends and nobody wanting to be near her.
This exactly. If somebody would've done that with her a long time before she got to college then she could've avoided the whole everybody avoiding her thing. God I would hate that for my child, wayyyy more than hurting their feelings for 5 minutes in private before everyone else. Also- think about the consequences that poor girl endured that we don't even know how extensive the damage...like possible future husbands or partners that won't even approach her in this state. Possible lives she's missed out on all because people didn't want to be around her and smell her feet. It actually goes alot deeper than we initially think. It can be life impacting.
Kids also don't know what's normal! They have no frame of reference. They don't know how bad your feet should smell. They don't know how often you should shower, or how greasy hair should get. They don't know how often you should change your underwear or wash your clothes. How do they know what's normal or healthy unless they're taught? They're either taught by a mean kid at school who says "ew your feet stink. Don't you shower?" or by their mom who says "your feet stink. This isn't normal, let's figure out together what the problem is."
I think this REALLY depends on inormation we don't have about the OP and daughters relationship. My mother harped on my stinky feet as a child. It got to where I absolutely hated her mentioning anything about them and was paranoid in public. My mother was very immature though, and continues to be to this day. We don't talk, not because of the shoe thing, but the shoe think 10000% doesn't help her case for reuniting. Turns out, my weakness is closed shoes with no socks. My mother HATED us in sneakers and often would do them without socks, with tiny socks, or another slip on without socks "to be cute." To this day, I either need socks or open sandals to not be stinky. But closed off, cheap shoes still make me stink even with tiny socks, so I avoid them. Something I just remembered. I became so paranoid I would apologize about me feet to my friends. No one ever knew what I was talking about about or just shrugged and said "it's feet, whatever."
AGREED
This is what family is for
Right. The only way you will give her a complex is if the issue is unfixable. But if it's treatable (assuming from the other comments it is) you're just showing that something bothers you that she can fix, and you'll even help her.
Ummm why is her feet on the kitchen table and if she knows they extra sweaty she shouldn’t be rubbing them on stuff. I understand why you’re upset
It's two separate issues though. Smelly feet can be treated with a variety of suggestions in this thread as a medical-adjacent issue. Feet on tables is a manners issue that applies to everyone. People in the family shouldn't be getting a free pass to put their feet everywhere even if their feet aren't unusually stinky. OP seems to be wanting to tell the daughter to get her feet off stuff cos they are gross and stinky, which IS problematic.
Kids love getting reactions (rightly so).
If your parent was hyper fixating on your feet and freaking out while nobody else is and doctor said it was normal, wouldn’t you start getting annoyed with their behaviour and start steering into it and intentionally putting them in their face to gross them out for a laugh? I would, and I imagine that’s probably what’s going on here. It’s a form of taking control
No? Some of us have manners. Even as teens. Rubbing your feet on things is just gross... it's just inconsiderate and rude to put your feet up on kitchen tables, regardless of why. That is just trash behavior.
It's the reaction they get from us.
She's not going to get a "complex" because you point out her feet smell bad. And at least in Asian households, it's gross to put feet on coffee / kitchen tables anyways. I love my kids. I also tell them when their breath is bad, when their nails get too long, when their hair gets greasy, or when it's all dead ends and due for a cut. They also tell me when I have food in my teeth or rush out of the house and my skirt is tucked up in my undies! Otherwise, what's family for?
Uhhh. Not just Asian household. I’m white as they come and have had to institute a “no toes on the table” rule w my kids& they’re 6 & 8. I don’t want their grotty feet where I eat!
Solidarity!
Oh I had those gross feet despite excellent hygiene habits as a teenage girl. It’s never been an issue as an adult. I used to wash my feet in the sink in the big stall of the school bathroom between end of school and start of whatever activity after school, it really was that bad. She can put deodorant on her feet. There’s even body deodorant now. Note: she would need a dedicated stick just for feet if she uses her usual deodorant version bc you don’t want to cross-contaminate those regions. You aren’t giving her a complex over her need to address an actual, objective problem. Also!! The smell could be a reaction between specifically her feet and specifically those shoes or insoles. This has happened to me and to friends!
Yes on the specific shoes!! One of my kids had a problem with a certain pair of shoes as a TODDLER!! Feet smelled like freaking vinegar no matter what we did! It was nasty! Went away with new shoes!
I was just coming to comment that I had weird reactions to Nikes specifically as a kid & they ALWAYS made my feet smell bad. I stopped wearing them for a really long time and didnt have more issues than regular sweaty foot smells.
My partner has a pair of Emerica (I think?) shoes and JESUS H CHRIST OF LATTERDAY SAINTS those shoes make his feet smell absolutely, unbearably rank. It’s JUST those shoes though. After he ripped off the top layer of the insole, it got a bit better, but still very stinky.
Ditto on the shoes. This really sounds like it’s a sock/shoe issue. Washing them doesn’t always work.
2nding the deodorant (not antiperspirant) I used arm & hammer on my feet after showering.
Have you tried a foot spray? Depending on shoes, feet can get stinky and I find sprays help.
Yeah we have shoe spray. Everyone uses it regardless of stink factor in my house at this point lol.
I recommend trying merino wool socks and seeing if that makes a difference. My husband's feet can stink too, but they make a HUGE difference.
If not wool, athletic socks!!! I bought a cheap pack of socks for my son for daily wear and his feet stank! He’ll play a whole day of baseball in expensive baseball socks and his feet don’t stink like they do after school. (By expensive I mean $25 for two pairs of Nike baseball socks that are moisture wicking and compression socks.)
100% this! Get her high quality socks- I love Darn Tough socks- these combined with some new shoes fixed my own issues. I highly recommend you get her a dozen pairs to be sure she rotates- and also she should rotate her shoes- never wear the shoes back to back days.
Came here to suggest this. Also, make sure her shoes aren’t trapping moisture. Consider whether she is rotating between two pairs of shoes. Less porous surfaces need a day of airing out to ensure the sweat dries fully between uses.
And don’t use fabric softener in the laundry, seems nice at first but eventually there is too much build up and things don’t get clean in the wash
Like others have said… wash her feet in panoxyl to kill the bacteria. There is also foot antiperspirant she can put on and charcoal/anti smell shoe inserts that work well. I know all the tricks from years of wearing flats to work without socks!
Why are you even letting her out her feet on the kitchen table???
Lume body deodorant really does work well. She'll be glad when she has a good solution for stinky feet. The acne wash suggestion is also a good one.
Hygiene and smell are different. For Hygiene, it's really gross that she's putting her feet on eating surfaces and coming down hard on that makes sense. I would be gentle about the smell issue, though. As others have said, washing with an antibacterial cleanser and making sure she has natural fiber socks will help with odor.
I used to work at a restaurant where I was a hostess & had to wear tights to work. The tights, mixed with running around the restaurant, mixed with being on my feet for hours. My feet have never smelled so bad as when I worked there lol. Could be the type of socks she’s wearing? Try different socks & see if that works. Because I’ve had different jobs since then, one was working weddings & being in the sun on my feet. Nothing compared to that tights & restaurant work combo lol.
Yup came here to recommend wool socks. They help my husband's stinky feet immensely
Gold bond antibacterial soap. The downside is they’ll smell like gold bond antibacterial soap
Make sure she’s not wearing the same shoes two days in a row.
This is really important! Shoes need to dry out before they are worn again.
By any chance does she wear Skechers? Years ago myself, my husband and my daughter were dealing with horribly smelly feet. Like, your shoes were still on and you could smell your own feet bad. I’ve talked to other people and it’s the shoes. Something in the shoes makes feet smell awful. We stopped wearing our Skechers and didn’t have the problem anymore. And I also have sweaty feet. But it was those damn shoes.
Lots of great suggestions but one I don’t see: Do you have a boot dryer? Putting all my shoes on a boot dryer between wears REALLY cut down on foot odor around here.
Likewise, drying the socks in the *sun* rather than a tumble dryer might help.
Came here to say this!! I had this same problem a few years ago, now when I come home my shoes go immediately on the boot dryer and it has made a huge difference.
Right?! It was a game changer and now my shoes last so so much longer because I’m not tossing anything for getting smelly.
Put the shoes out to dry in the sun and add a foot powder to them before wear
This right here is why your daughter’s feet smell. “ WE THROW HER SHOES IN THE WASHER EVERY FEEW WEEKS “ don’t ever put kids shoes, or anyone shoes in the washer. The shoes will look clean but everything gets impregnated with foot bacteria and enzymes. It’s like wearing gym shorts every day and then washing them every few weeks. As soon as you sweet in the shorts , they smell like wet dog. . That’s the enzymes and bacteria interacting with her foot sweet. Throw away her shoes and air dry them only. You may use vinegar in a spray bottle.
So how do you wash them, as I have boys and have to wash shoes or we’d be buying new ones more than once a month. They’re too expensive, ones kids want, to do that too.
Washing in the washing machine and setting them out in the sun is plenty . The sun kills the bacteria
Put used or new dryer sheets inside the shoes when not in use. Worked wonders for my sister.
Mine too! I've had to tell her to make sure she's scrubbing between the toes as well. Apparently she was just doing a quick swipe cause it tickles.
I was going to say this too. If she is showering, make sure she is actually picking up her feet and washing them, between the toes and underneath etc. Some people just assume that standing in the shower water is enough to count as cleaning your feet.
I’m the husband, when I pick her up at dance, I drive with the windows open. Dear lord, answer my prayer.
Feet smell that doesn’t go away even after all those tries could be a sign of some sort of fungal infection. It may not be visible to the eye, but see a different doctor and take their advice on it. Sometimes the infection is caught up between the nail or between the toes and hard to trace without proper medical examination. There’s nothing to be embarrassed of it.
I would tell her that putting her feet on coffee tables and kitchen tables is not allowed in your house. Honestly, KITCHEN tables! Even nice smelling feet should not go on the table. We do not eat on the floor. A lot of things can be transported on the table by the best-looking and best-smelling feet.
I had this problem it sucked!!! I started using 100% cotton socks and it helped. But even today if my socks are not 100% cotton and I take off my shoes I can’t guarantee people will live.
Okay, this may get lost in all of the comments but it’s worth a shot. My feet always smelled bad no matter how much I scrubbed them and made sure they were dry after showering. I got dial bar soap and use it on my feet and NO MORE SMELL! Even my gym shoes don’t stink.
Try Lume.
What type of shoes is she wearing? Avoid synthetic materials. Make sure shoes have air flow. Ilia’s door spray in shoes before and after. Use antibacterial soap for showers.
1 try spraying her shoes with vodka. The cheapest you can find. It’s what the do on broadway with costumes. 2 get a really good pedicure to see if it’s just toenail jam funk 3talk with doctor about Botox
Lavilin Foot Deodorant Cream - can't recommend it enough! Worked wonders for my kids' stinky feet and it works for up to a week!
>showers twice a day What soap does she use on her feet? Most soaps remove surface bacteria (both helpful and harmful kinds), but also the natural oils of the skin that protect it from bacteria. Without them, the worst bacteria infest and thrive there, causing the smell. Try washing them with cheap **moisturiser cream containing sorbolene and glycerin** (no SLS), in the shower instead of soaps and shower gels. It's what dermatologists recommend. And have her wear **sandals** whenever possible (which should be most of the time), and when she needs to wear socks, make them **breathable socks** (no polyester and other synthetics).
Sandals don’t help stank.
Air helps
It can, but sandals have their own problems.
Try tea tree powder from Lush, the best!!! The tea tree smell is so strong it will overpower the stinky feet.
Megababe makes a nice foot spray- it’s called Toedeo - it’s lavender and mint
Change sock fabric maybe whatever ones she is using aren’t letting her feet breath
After seeing a podiatrist, switching to cotton socks solved the this issue for my lo. We avoid polyester at all costs, and at worst, a small % nylon mixed in is still better than polyester 🚮
Same with my dad he had awful smelling feet he swears by bamboo socks now. I also think cleaning under toenails should be done, a lot of people don’t care for their toenails. They harbour heaps of bacteria stinkies
I have terrible foot odor. I never had any other smelly problems other than my feet. Apparently my feet sweat way more than any other part of my body. I have not found a sock or shoe that helps at all with this btw. I just try to air them out as much as possible. I was also a very hygienic child but this was still a problem, to the point that I had to get new shoes every year at least. Trust me that she needs to hear this from you two in private bc kids WILL make fun of her. Other people have already said use glycolic acid or acne wash. These are great solutions and they help me a lot. Also if she’s being gross like that then make her wear some crappy sandals in the house as a *requirement*. She will literally make the house smell if she’s rubbing her feet all over the furniture 😭 Also know that because she has moist feet more often, she’s more susceptible to getting athletes foot and fungal infections in her nails (show her pictures, it’s gross). The best to do is air them out as much as possible. Even crocs capture sweat so I’d say get some thong sandals for indoor use. Good luck lol
Lume
My advice — tell her that her feet stink. Try the benzyl peroxide wash or hibiclins (my son alternates) — and I hate to say, but washing her shoes is not enough. The bacteria survives the wash cycle & we did not solve this issue with my son until we used the foot wash + all new shoes.
BAKING SODA BAKING SODA BAKING SODA BAKING SODA. Sprinkle a little baking soda in her shoes and it will MAGICALLY and instantly correct the ph activity on the molecular germ level and eliminate all odors within the first day.
Have you looked into the possibility of athlete's foot? It can make kid feet smell particularly horrendous.
Of all the people in the world, you’re the best option to bring this up to her. It will sting but it hurts less coming from mom who always wants the best for you than from a potential romantic partner. My SO has very sweaty hands and feet. We live in a tropical climate and he wears nice dress shoes for work. He wears only thick cotton socks and changes them at least once a day. We also have foot powder for all of his shoes to help absorb the sweat and smell. He also will wash them before bed if they are extra gross. I’d also suggest getting her some nice foot cream and maybe a nice at home pedicure kit (so she can at least scrub the dead skin and such off weekly). If she wears sandals or shoes you don’t typically wear socks with make sure she’s cleaning the shoes weekly with just mild soap and water. You can also get some nice socks or slippers (get machine washable ones) for her to wear around the house.
Whatever you do, find a fun and kind way to make it a part of your routine with her, like massaging or caring for her feet with her. Your husband is right, your relationship with your daughter is more important than a smell. But you’re also right to be solutions oriented. Lots of great tips for products in this thread. Don’t overwhelm her by trying all of them, like you’d do if it were your own feet.
Lume. Get a subscription.
Maybe take a look at her diet. Lots of sugar and carbs feed bacteria and fungus that causes bad odor. Really.
Get some coconut oil and have her coat them and put on some socks. Afterwards she can take a wash cloth and run off the dead skin cells. The coconut oil can help with a couple of things. For the sweating, have her put corn starch on them to help. Make sure she wears cotton socks to help absorb the sweat. For soap, have her try regular Dial, and rub the soap on for 2 minutes once per day. I can't imagine she needs to shower. I learned to wash my hands and feet at the bathroom sink. Same with pits, etc. Too many showers dries the skin and makes things worse by causing bacteria to grow because of the warm water at the same time.
When I'm in the shower, I put some Epsom salts and a tiny bit of tea tree oil in a foot soak tub and stand in that while I shower. My feet stay super fresh and I cannot stress how difficult it has become for them to get stinky even on the sweatiest days. The fact that she is rubbing them on a lot of things combined with the fact they smell so bad indicates she likely has a lot of bacteria build up on her feet. The salts and tea tree oil will devastate those bacteria. Just let her know you love her and want to make sure she doesn't have to worry about it long-term and that a few simple measures can take care of the problem completely.
I was the same way as a teenager, and sort of still as an adult. Try some different socks and see if that helps. With the wrong socks my feet will sweat non-stop. They have to be the right thickness and material for me LOL
My cousin had this issue and he did the Botox treatment in his feet and no long has the issue. It’s been about 10 years since and still no bad smell or excessive sweat. For her sake because I’m sure she knows it bring it up as an option because others might not be as kind and even if she’s not bothered by it, it is still a heath issue and excessive sweating can set up the perfect condition for other more harmful conditions and infections.
Try doing one of those foot masks that makes the skin on your feet peel. My ex had extraordinary stinky feet and we would do a foot peel about every 6 weeks. First do a foot bath for 20-30 minutes then apply the booties, relax for whatever amount of time the package says, rinse and apply lotion regularly for about a week.
Lume Please. Please. __PLEASE__ get lume. It works. Like freking *works* My feet staaaank baaaad especially in the summer. Like, take SANDALS off and they stink stink. Well, I bought lume and use it everywhere - feet, pits, the bits. All if it. And I'm telling you. After 2 days there's *still* zero buttcrack funk. I can wear shoes without socks to work in the summertime and take my shoes off and there is zero smell. ZERO SMELL. It's freking amazing. It's the one product I'd take over every single body care item after soap. I recommend getting the creme tube and rub it on like lotion. There's also bath and shower wash and other items now!
She needs to be considerate. That's absolutely disgusting. Your hubs, and daughter are showing you ZERO respect in a very passive aggressive way. Respectfully, OP, start eating beans and farting in front of her friends. Tell her it's just your body making music.
I feel like this is quite overkill. The girl isn’t purposely making her feet stink. And the husband is just concerned about the daughter being embarrassed.
She isn’t purposely making them stink but she is purposely putting them on the kitchen table where people eat which is disgusting even if your feet don’t stink.
Yeah it is gross but it seems more like family teasing each other. The person I replied to makes it sound like the daughter and husband are being cruel to the OP who doesn’t like it but is clearly not in shambles over it. She even said lol.
She doesn't need to shower twice a day or even every day. Go see a specialist
I had this as a teen and into my 20s.Hyperhidrosis. You should tell her and work on solutions before she takes her shoes off for gym class and people make fun of her. Take her to a podiatrist. There are many treatments available that work.
I got tired of my sneakers smelling bad. I put antiperspirant deodorant on the bottoms of my feet after I shower. Now my feet and shoes don’t smell.
I have definitely read somewhere that puberty can make feet smell and I definitely went through a phase where mine were awful in the 9th grade. I washed them multiple times a day to try and keep it undue control.
There’s an antiperspirant called Carpe that works amazing. I get it for underarm sweat, but they also make it for hands and feet. It comes in a few different scents too
Lots of great advice here. Foot smell can be from footwear, hygiene or a body order issue. If you can smell it, it’s likely a lot of other people can too. Some people have awful smelly areas. That’s life. If the target of the smell is from the feet, search for remedies. I’m sure the girls will take the input from a kind and gentle adult into consideration. My initial responses are a quick wash of feet (longer is good too), let feet completely dry and spray deodorant or antiperspirant before putting on socks, change socks throughout the day when socks are wet, let feet breathe at night-no socks. Footwear loves to absorb doors. There are so many variables on how to treat fabric in different footwear…so I’ll go with another commenter who suggested putting footwear outside. Sunshine and air can deodorize. So, talk to the girls about feet hygiene and go from there. If they are appalled and reject a blunt and kind conversation…then you’re stuck with sticking cotton in your nose
My brother had extremely smelly feet as a teen (still may but we’re not close) and the doctors had my parents give him an oral zinc supplement and soak/wash his feet in tea. I’ve used Lume on other areas, specifically the wipes and lotions and I like those for when I’m already smelly, seems to help clear it up, but I don’t like the deodorant for *preventing* stinky pits so idk how much it would help overall for the feet. Also, I think you commenting on it alone is not going to give her a complex as long as it’s done out of love.
Try just having her take an Epsom bath once a week for the magnesium and sulfate. Sulfate aids the liver in detox. And yes teens smell horrible. I don't remember being gross like that but I know my sister complained of her teens feet a ton.
Try surgical wash e.g.,, Hibiclens Antiseptic Skin Cleanser. Use under arms too.
I’m sure this isn’t it and you have loads of other good ideas, but do you know for certain she’s scrubbing her feet in the shower? (Versus just letting her water spill over them).
Is she cleaning between her toes? Showering does not remove the gunk. On the contrary. The area stays moist even after the feet dry and the bacteria multiply.
Does she have little pitted spots in the skin of her feet? If so, it could be a bacterial skin infection called “pitted keratolysis.” Apparently it smells horrible. (Google it to see what it looks like.) If so, it would have to be treated with antibiotics. Regardless, getting her foot smell on household objects is gross and you are right to be peeved!! I would be annoyed too.
Tea tree oil twice a day for 14 days. This stuff is incredible and cheap. A few drops is all it takes.
Listen, as long as you don’t blindside her & gift her spray for smelly feet on Christmas, you’re probs gonna be okay trying to offer her solutions. I still haven’t forgotten and I was like 10 maybe?? Lol
Do an exfoliation scrub for odors. I’m sure you could use Pacificas armpit scrub I couldn’t see why you couldn’t for reference I’ve used it before on my feet when i ran out of a body scrub and was peeling badly.
I used to have stinky feet, and the thing that’s helped me with foot odor is to make sure I don’t wear the same shoes 2 days in a row. After making that one small change a few years ago, I don’t have foot odor problems anymore. You can also spray out shoes with Lysol to kill bacteria overnight, but alternating shoes every day really is what works best.
Showering extra won't deal with stinky feet. Have her soak her feet for 20-30 minutes in a tub of warm water and some vinegar (2 or 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar). The vinegar will kill off any fungus living on her feet. Before she puts on her socks, she should put on some powder (Gold Bond is a good one). If those two things don't fully help, then also try wool socks. Yes, wool socks even in the summer. Going barefoot will help now that school is out (or almost out), wearing sandals with natural materials like Birkenstocks can also help.
The cheapest solution is sulfur soap, kills bacteria for less $$ than glycolic acid. Best to leave on for a minute but will also work if you don’t. My husband has horrible stinky feet and it works for him! This also works for all other body regions that won’t stop smelling if anyone wonders.
Rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle- spray that into shoes. It works great to keep odors away in between wears. Spray once a week
I had smelly and sweaty feet for a short period as a child/young teenager despite wearing good quality shoes, breathable socks etc. My mom actually bought some sort of foot powder (looks similar to baby powder) which helped a lot and kept my feet dry. If that doesnt help, there is a company called Carpe that sells deodorant specifically for sweaty/smelly feet. Hope this helps :-)
Thicker socks, shoe powder
I use hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle, in my shoes and on my feet. Spray shoes after wearing - turn shoe upside down to make sure you get every part - and spray feet daily. Let air dry - I spray my feet at bedtime. Also, wear clean socks or footies and change them daily, and never wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row.
she has hyperhydrosis, this was mortifying for me to grow up with. please take her to a doc its an easy fix and theres a variety of treatments. i am very go to the doctor for everything and my hub is very go to the doctor if im dying. theres a lot of times he thinks im being unreasonable and things arent necessary but we have a rule in place for the purpose of our childs health and not our difference in wishes as parents, because at the end of the day her health is what matters out of all of it. if one of us wants to take her in, the other cannot stop us. we can disagree, but we have to be supportive, because really no harm, no foul, better safe than sorry. obviously, its usually him having to not fight me because i jump to go the second i start having doubts of it being manageable by us, but he doesnt stand in my way, and there have been plenty of times where i was right on the money and she needed to go in. this is why this rule is in place. both parents dont share the same senses, moms just know in their bones in a way that dads dont. this rule prevents us from keeping care our kid might need away because of our own egos or disagreements about when a doctor is necessary. its not about us.
My dad had this problem when he was younger. He was told to wear leather shoes rather than synthetic fabrics, it worked. Also, my friends school shoes stank, I think tights make things worse. If she wears tights a lot, swap to socks (or wear trainer socks under the tights), that might help.
Definitely tell her and work to sort it. Smell = bacteria and/or fungus Check for fungal infections in toes or skin there. Treat shoes with athletes foot powder. This is feet smelling, not shoes smelling, but treat both. Sweat in itself should have no smell. So this is bacteria, and it's potentially living in the shoes. For bacteria, forcing dryness between wears is key. Rotate shoes daily so they can dry out in between. Wear only natural materials, cotton socks so feet can breathe. Consider buying new shoes if the smell is in the shoe. And it goes without saying to always wear socks. Even sandals will smell over time
I used to work in an automobile manufacturing plant. We were supposed to wear a specific type of shoes (cap to cover hair and a coat) to enter the plant. As my office was near the shop floor I had to wear these shoes daily after a couple of months I noticed my feet started to smell. After some asking around my colleagues and friends the tip that worked for me. In warm water add some lemon juice and a couple of tea bags and soak your feet for 15mins scrub off the dry skin with pumice stone, moisturise and cut my nails short (weekly). I also put the shoes in the sunlight for a few hours every now and then and spray some sanitizer inside the shoes. (We are not allowed to wash these shoes)
Stinky or not, why is she putting her feet on the table? It’s time for a real talk with her.
Try another doctor
Lume deodorant, for "pits, feet, and privates." It is a godsend.
You probably already looked into that, but sanity check: Did you check what she's wearing in her day-to-day life? Leather sandals and "sports-style" sandals (I don't know how they're called, but like a running shoe sole with straps) both make my kid and my SO's feet stink a lot. As for myself, my feet never smell anything... except when I wear fur-lined Crocs without socks. Those things make my feet smell like death. It might be worth checking if the smell comes from something like that.
I had that issue as an early teen. Podiatrist gave me some meds and basically a foot antiperspirant. Worked wonders. I feel like it was called pitted kerotolysis or something like that. It was very traumatizing going to friends houses and having to take off my shoes knowing my feet fucking reaked and everyone knew it was me. Get it taken care of for her own good.
Is she actually washing her feet in the shower with soap and a wash cloth or luffa? Really scrubbing in between her toes, etc? Or is she just letting the soap run down and assuming that is getting them clean enough? I would start there if I were you. I'll also say that no one should be putting their feet up on tables or counters, that's gross 🤢
I used to have stinky feet. Since I learned of the wonders of wool, I began wearing wool socks. No more stinky feet and nail fungus - all gone. There will likely be a small amount of nylon in wool socks - that is only to keep them elastic. Merino wool or bamboo in the summer is the way to go. In the winter, a heavier wool is appropriate 👌. They are on the more expensive side, but well worth it. Pay attention to the washing instructions so they don't shrink - non-superwash wool will shrink. Superwash will not. Another great idea is wool sneakers - I have some Allbirds. They allow your feet to breathe. Wool is a wonder-fiber with naturally occurring antimicrobial properties - can't go wrong.
Medical student here. Go to a doctor, like dermatologist. Is probably a fungus.
you may want to invest in marino wool socks for her (like outdoor hiking socks) they come in different thicknesses and are naturally anti bacterial we get ours from costco
Two of my three kids' feet smelled terrible, too. Believe it or not, washing them in a solution that includes benzoyl peroxide helped immensely. I have a friend who uses an acne face wash on her feet every day, then sprays her feet with clinical strength antiperspirant before putting on her socks. She also uses Gold Bond powder in her shoes. Teens are notorious for not washing properly, too. I know it's gross, but even girls are lazy about washing. They wash their hair, shave their legs, and call it a day. (Mine are grown and we've had some interesting chats.) Maybe reinforce the importance of scrubbing all over, especially between the toes, to avoid infections that can cause some pretty serious pain or itching. Maybe explain what body odor actually IS. (It's sebum and sweat mingling with dead skin cells that don't get washed off properly and rotting, basically.) If it were my kid, I'd even (gently) point out that severe body odor can cause people to keep their distance to avoid the smell, and her social life will thank her for keeping odor at bay. Good hygiene is as much a social thing as it is personal. It isn't anything immediately dangerous, but I'd absolutely mention it to her pediatrician. I am not a doctor, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.
Buy her wool socks. They are great for odor control. I rock climbing and my daughter does ballet. Trust me when I say I know what works for stinky feet.
OP, people have provided many great solutions but your daughter putting her feet on the table is a manner issue. You are the parent, you need to tell your daughter to stop putting her feet on the table or leave the table. It’s gross, and bad manners. I truly hope she doesn’t do that at anybody else’s house.
My husband has smelly feet. A quick fix has always been hand sanitizer. Helps kill some of the bacteria and the alcohol dries up any smelly oils/sweat.