Flight attendant foot problem

[zinkabella]

Hello, was just after some advice regarding something thats, um, a little embarrassing.
I`m a cabin crew member with Virign Blue, and i love my job, but i have a problem with my feet, after a day of marching up and down the aisles, my feet get very sweaty and stinky in my stockings and shoes, and i`m a little worried other girls will notice. I have tried footsprays, but they dont last very long, and sometimes they make it worse. Its driving me nuts, does anyone else have this problem? Any help greatly appreciated, girls, thankyou :)

[cabin secure]

My understanding is that foot odour is generally bacteria related.
I am an ex nurse so have been germ phobic and a compulsive hand washer for years!
Some helpful hints for you.
When you travel take a pair of clean thongs or some slide slippers. To be used ONLY on clean feet. When you have showered don't walk around bare foot until you are ready to get dressed for work. Dry your feet thoroughly after you shower and slip on your slides or thongs straight away, so you don't pick up bacteria from the other millions of people who walk through hotel rooms.
Do the same at home. ( Let's be reasonable, who has time to wash their floor every day! And we track dirt in on our shoes from outside regularly.)
Try using a tea tree soap on your feet. It's a great anti bacterial. And wipe the inside of your shoes out when you finish work with an anti bacterial wet wipe and allow them to dry overnight.
You can also rub tea tree oil over your feet after a shower.
I have always done this and have never experienced foot odour.
Wash your stockings in a lingerie bag in the machine and use canasten rinse in your final cycle.
Obsessive/compulsive? A little!
Hope it helps.
Cheers.

[seektofly]

Zinkabella,

I also work for DJ as Cabin Crew - and my feet absolutely STINK REALLY BAD!!!

My mum has the same problem and she put me onto this zinc based powder that you can buy from any good chemist store - and it really really helped me. It costs a bit ($15) but it is really good stuff!!! It is called GRANS REMEDY. It comes in a yellow cyclindrical tube with navy writing and a navy cap. It is worth a try. It fixed my problem right up, after I had tried everything on the market

STF:ok:

[flyblue]

You might want to read last_year's_thread (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=165895&highlight=feet) on this passionnating topic :E

[eidah]

I think you will find that all cabin crew suffer from this so i wouldnt worry

[FLYING_HOSTIE]

My feet Honk!, I just laugh it off, or mention it before they do! lol

Just be glad you dont have Crew Rest, I used to get a right ribbing for my stinky feet in the bunks! :rolleyes:

[flyblue]

I think you will find that all cabin crew suffer from this so i wouldnt worry

Hey! Speak for yourself!!! :* :}

[zinkabella]

Thanks, girls, glad i`m not on my own with my stinky feet:)

[star84]

I have just come home from a 9 hour shift and as Im writing this, my feet smell terrible!! I have tried everything to make it stop, and I am going to go out tomorrow and try to get some of this 'Grans Remedy' thanks seektofly!!
I find that the smell is something I can disguise, but its the wetness that i cant stand. It makes me uncomfortable all day, and I would love it if this product works to help this.

[zinkabella]

Lets hope we both have success, Star84, i`m glad my enquiry has helped you too :)

[vodkaholic]

the bag that i keep my cabin shoes in absolutely stinks!!! ha ha everytime i open it to take out my shoes or put em in, it's vile! but yeh, i just laugh it off! not a lot that can be done about it, and smelly feet is a sign of hard work if you ask me!

[LOOPYGIRL]

Hi all .

Dont know if this is an old wifes tale ?

But my elder sister swore by it , she always was the butt of jokes because her feet kicked up so much, they were evil.

Someone told her to clean her feet soak them in egg cup full of vinigar in a bowl of water with half lemon juice for 0.5 hour 2/3 times a week , she did it worked for her ,
must rince feet after put no creams ect on, clean cotton socks so you dont pick up any dirt on your feet.try also to have alternative shoes to wear so you can clean the others and allow them to dry , clean the shoes with the remaining lemon juice.

its worth a try it worked for her .

good luck , let me know how you get on

[zinkabella]

Thanks girls, i`m glad i`m not the only one who suffers from stinky feet, seems like its quite common, i`ll try some of these remedies :)

[zinkabella]

STAR84, did you have any luck with the Grans Remedy?
Please let me know how you went :)

[star84]

hey zinkabella

I wasnt able to find the 'grans remedy' so I am going to look for it at a few more chemists when I have my next day off. I looked at their website www.gransremedy.co.nz and I am thinking of getting it delivered if I cant find it in the shops. I am willing to pay a bit to get rid of this problem!!

[Tarq57]

Non cc here,
I've noticed that normally non-smelly feet tend to take on a total olfactory nightmare party life when wearing synthetics for any length of time. Especially combined with a dry aircon a/c cabin miles above the earth. There is a type of natural crystal deodourant stick intended primarily for armpits; works well on feet and footwear. (Particularly effective on Teva's, should the dress code ever happen to include 'em)
The ingredient is a natural aluminium something or other crystal.

[MNBluestater]

Non cc here,
I've noticed that normally non-smelly feet tend to take on a total olfactory nightmare party life when wearing synthetics for any length of time. Especially combined with a dry aircon a/c cabin miles above the earth. There is a type of natural crystal deodourant stick intended primarily for armpits; works well on feet and footwear. (Particularly effective on Teva's, should the dress code ever happen to include 'em)
The ingredient is a natural aluminium something or other crystal.

Also,

1. Use more than one pair of shoes for work ! You may decide to bring more than one pair on the same trip and switch out during a shift. It is not good for shoes to be worn day after day -- the leather needs to dry out. Get a pair of cedar shoe trees for ladies shoes and USE THEM when the shoes aren't being used for work.

2. Make sure that you are scrubbing the feet with a washcloth and brush, and/or pumice stone when showering and bathing. Just taking a shower without using a brush or washcloth leaves your feet with all the bacteria that just ran down your body to the feet ! And good idea about not walking around the hotel in bare feet, those carpets are nasty.

3. Days off, I would try a vinegar soak of the feet and the same for the hose also. Then wash hose in very hot water.

4. Finally, use baby powder, foot powder, or the zinc-based powder recommended previously in the shoes.

GOOD LUCK.

[zinkabella]

I bought 2 more pairs of shoes over the weekend, that might help a little

[zinkabella]

My new shoes are great, i swap every second day now, and this seems to help things a little :) I now have 4 pairs, expensive option, but its working so far

[zinkabella]

I have also started putting anti fungal cream on my feet, that seems to be getting rid of the aroma :)

[MNBluestater]

My new shoes are great, i swap every second day now, and this seems to help things a little :) I now have 4 pairs, expensive option, but its working so far

Shoes can sit in the sun too, on days off, fungus, even microscopic , cannot grow in sunlight...

[tanneddarling]

i´m not cabin crew (yet)

but i do have to wear court shoes - an my feet suffer too

i go to the body shop and buy tea tree soap to wash my feet in every few days and every so often before going to bed - i wash and dry my feet thoroughly before applying vaseline to keep them soft

hope that helps you

[zinkabella]

Thankyou Tanneddarling, yes, good soaps go a long way toward helping this problem :)

[zinkabella]

Still suffering a bit from stinky feet :) blush blush, so please, girls, if you could help me? Summer is here now, and its worse :( Those hose we wear are like furnaces strapped to our feet!

[skyboy1919]

Hi guys


I am lucky and do not suffer with this issue however I do run a lot and know of remedy I have been telling people about for years after hearing about it from other runners who have feet that do.

Crush or slice some garlic and put it in your socks before putting them on, there is something in the garlic that is known to help get rid of this kind of bactria. You may want to do this when not flying but personally I think almost anything including garlic smells better than feet!!!

Cannot promise it will work but anything is worth ago, on top of that you should follow the advice of the preious post about keeping your feet clean and dry etc.

Good luck and let me know if it works
;)

[sebby]

Cant believe it took 2 and a half years to get the above post!!!!

:D :E

[charliegolf]

Lots of advice, some good, others might not work for individuals.

As well as never wearing shoes two days running......

My Doc told me that those anti bacterial/ athlete's foot aerosol sprays are useless on the whole, but..... they are good for spraying your shoes when they are on their day off.

CG

[ozangel]

Something I noticed, virgin supply you with shoes every 9 months. On average, my shoes lasted a maximum of 6months at other airlines where I was required to buy them (they were a tax deduction).

Within 6months keeping in mind, they were the victim of countless carts savaging the exterior toe, various surfaces from the wet winter tarmac in sydney to the hot extremes of the Broome tarmac in summer. They copped a beating.

Have 2 pairs per 6 months, and alternate. Don't wear your crew shoes out (yes, people actually do!?). All the other suggestions are valid. My best suggestion - visit a podiatrist. Have them scrape your feet, and look at getting your 'foot health' in order. If you have private health cover, its a very cheap exercise.

With some good shoes, some good orthodics, and a regular inspection and treatment of your feet, you will feel much better at the end of 12hours on your feet.

As for worrying about the smell, to be honest, i never found anyones feet smelt bad - perhaps overpowered by the constant diet of tuna, soy sauce, and the fact that our only chill out area was behind two toilets... Unless you are taking your shoes off, I think its unlikely anyone will notice.

Don't feel embarrased, keep in mind the number of pax in your cabin who are farting, burping, have not washed since 1983, who over-indulged in the egg/omlette on their inbound long haul flight, bought sushi in the terminal, change their nappy on their tray table, throw up, crap their pants, have yet to wash their only pair of socks they took on their year long backpacker tour, have a fungal rash in their pants, and whom are yet to discover the miracle of soap, are sitting in your cabin.

Plenty of other smells on a 737-800!!!!

[Ten West]

Deodorant Stone UK (http://www.deodorant-stone.co.uk/)

Sells deodorants made from this stuff:

Deodorant Stone UK (http://www.deodorant-stone.co.uk/potassium.html)

Sorted. Next question? ;)

Not kidding. This stuff is excellent. I once had an expensive silk shirt ruined by Right Guard after just 1 wearing.
This 'stone' (Actually Alum crystal) doesn't stop you sweating (by blocking your pores) but it does leave a layer of naturally occurring chemical on your skin which kills the bacteria (Which is what you can smell.)

You can get it from the store listed above or there are loads of sellers on Fleabay or Amazon. It's all the same stuff.

One of the large 'Rocks' lasts me about a year as an everyday deodorant. You could use the spray version on your feet no problem. :ok:

[racer09]

I used to have a similar issue when working in a hotel doing long shifts before becoming crew - I went to a chiropodist who diagnosed some sort of bacteria, had to soak my feet in a mix of potassium permangonate [sp?!] and water every day for 5 mins [available from the chemist] and leave shoes in a bin bag with a cloth soaked in vinegar to kill any bacteria on those and it worked.

[SovDriv]

Hi,

if stinky: follow the bacteria advice

if sweaty: if you can't get rid of the problem, ask your doctor about botox, beside some occurences with spasmic muscles, this is one of the main reasons for this stuff.

Kind regards,
Pete

[TurningFinals]

I just use a 'dry' deoderant. Quick squirt in the morning and job done.

[dazdaz]

There is a product in the UK called 'Odour Eaters' it's an insole you cut to size and place in your shoes. Most chemists and supermarkets sell them. It also has a nice cushion effect when walking all day.