aggablinky

Hello, i`m writing in on behalf of a lady friend of mine who works as a flight attendant for Virgin Blue. She has an embarrassing problem with her feet, she claims. She says that after being on them all day, walking up and down the cabins, they become very smelly, and she is really worried one day somebody else will notice, as she says sometimes when she sits down for landing, etc, she can smell her shoes while they are still on. She says the hose she wears sometimes makes them even worse. and she wanted to try and find out discreetly, therefore through me, if any other ladies have had this problem, and if so, what was their remedy? Thankyou in advance

Flirt Attendant

Tell your friend not to fear....lots of DJ staff have this problem even ground crew!!

I have tried insoles, different brands of stockings, foot spray etc. Now I just buy new shoes as soon as they start to smell. It can be costly as DJ only give 1 shoe allowance per year, but it solves the stink.

Iguanahead

Have to agree with Flirt Attendant there, you need to update your shoes regularly in this job.

Aside from clean feet, fresh hosiery every day and medicated foot talc, peppermint foot lotions (Body Shop etc) are also good for smelly and tired feet. Without sounding too gross fungus buildup is what usually causes smelly feet and some feet grow this faster than others making them extra smelly. Like my sisters ( sorry Sis but you know it's true ).

Anyway hope your friend sorts it out poor thing, things that pong are not nice in the cabin for anybody.

k-lo

You get a similar problem working in retail. One solution (not sure how viable this is for everyone) is to have two pairs of work shoes (different styles) and alternate them every day. That way each pair gets at least a day to breathe and dry out, and also better for your feet!

jb_flyer

I work on my feet all day, and have found a shoe tree to work wonders for my shoes.

I dont know if they produce such a thing for womens shoes, but I have been using them in all kinds of my shoes, both formal and sports, and by morning all the moisture is soaked up out of the shoe.

I dont know about flying, but I have found leather shoes to be much better for breathability then synthetics, and leather soles, although not waterproof as such, to aid the breatheabity also. Again, I dont know if this is avaliable in womens shoes

This is an example of a Shoe Tree

JB

Paul Wilson

k-lo is absolutly spot on, having worked in retail for more years than I care to remember, shoe changing is the only option. You can use as many lotions sprays, or creams as you like and it makes very little differance.

I would go furthur than just having two pairs of shoes though, I know it sounds extravagant, but 4 would be the ideal (I know I know how many times in the world has it been said by a man to woman - "buy more shoes" ?) Wear one pair to work, change to the second pair 1/2 way through the day, and swop to 3rd and 4th pair for the next day. The thing is you can end up working very long days, 8 hours on your feet is really the MAX for a pair of shoes. As jb_flyer says definatly leather, leather soles may wear out where rubber won't as quickly, but they can be replaced for a few pounds at a shoe repair place.

On the plus side, your shoes will last almost for ever, persistantly damp shoes (from sweat) wear out much more quickly (one of my retail jobs was as a shoe fitter). Use a small amount of good polish on all the shoes once a week, it takes moments, if you leave it for a long time, to do a proper job takes ages. I used to wear out a pair of shoes in 6 months or so, by having 2 pairs (my working pattern meant one pair was used only every 3 days) they lasted for a couple of years - i.e. it was much cheaper in the long run! They were only replaced because they got battered from cages, fixtures, etc not because they were really "worn out"

On the foot spray side Boots had an excellant Peppermint foot spray, they also do a peppermint cream, use the cream at night and the spray during the day, it really refreshes the feet.

smile

Tell your friend to make sure that she wears fresh hose every day. And when getting dressed put them on right at the end and pop her shoes straight on. This will prevent her from transfering dirt into her shoes which carries the 'smelly' bacteria.

Also tell her to make sure that she isn't taking her shoes off and walking in the galley bare foot -- another way to transfer those nasty bacteria into her shoes. And if she does find that her innersoles are getting dirty just pop to the chemist/shoe shop and buy another pair. Alot cheaper than having to repalce the whole shoe.


By the way we are now getting our new re-issue of shoes every 9 months. I am suprised your friend isn't aware of this, it was announced almost a year ago.

MrHorgy

Tell her to have a look at the soles of her feet, if she looks like she has a kind of "pitting" then tell her to goto the doctors, it's a fungal infection. Nothing to worry about, but they will give her some antibiotics for it. Else if it's just shoes, try alternating like the others said

Horgy

sixmilehighclub

Replacing shoes helps, but I find its the hosiery that does it.

A few months back I started pumicing my feet twice a week, cleaning toenails weekly and seeing a chiropodist once a month. This has really worked.

Also, if you buy new shoes, go a half size bigger, immediately put insoles in and replace them when they start to whiff. Same shoes, just cheaper to renovate.

fourplay

Some very good advice here.

The smell is caused by bacteria that needs to be treated.

This line of products will help, Take a look at the link to Grans.
Have heard it's very good?


www.grans-remedies.co.nz

typo edited

qfmike737

Four play you are right....

Some foot odour can be alot stronger then normal ie...your shoes start to smell alot sooner then another person shoes when you both purchase and use them for the same amount of time!

There are treatments

Re-Heat

Talcalm Powder - dries out the feet and eliminates the moisture that causes odour.

aggablinky

Thankyou verymuch everybody on behalf of my lady friend with the troubled feet, she appreciates everybody`s help, although she still thinks she`s a freak for having hot sweaty feet at the end of the day in the sky

3141castro

I think I am having some sort of breakdown here.... I hardly EVER post - and I have driven to it by this post.... an all time low point in my life ....

PLEASE DON'T THINK I AM A MENTALOID.....

But I was ground staff in the UK many moons ago... and I had the cheeeeezzzzzziest feet in the Terminal....

UNTIL I discovered the magic that is...

Wait for it girls....

CAT LITTER !!!!!!

Fill a thin sock with the gritty-kitty-litter....
(scented or not.... thats up to you...)
(although maybe the fresh scent of mountain pine is an improvement on Cheddar....)
And place in the offending footwear every night....

The cat-litter will magically "drink" the offending "juices"...

Leaving you free to get on with the rest of your lives....
Being towed "roller-bootied" by large dogs....
Skipping through flower filled meadows...
Playing on swings and roundabouts in soft focus....

All things you "ladies" love to do whilst feeling "FRESH AND CONFIDENT".......

Seriously - It really does work ......
Would work even better I am sure if you follow some or all of the advice posted above too !

LOVE AND LITTER

CASTRO

I can not believe I have just posted that !

k-lo

How on earth did you discover that???

Doesn't it hurt, walking on little rocks all day?

aggablinky

A big thankyou on behalf of my friend to you all for your tips

Sir HC

Haha, That is hilarious. I believe you take the kitty litter out before you put your shoes back on!! ROFL. Thanks for brightening up my day. Fantastic!