How to Dry Winter Boots

As a recent immigrant, I recently found myself face-to-face with a quandary. My kid did a kid thing and her winter boots were soaked–and because they left for a few days unbeknown to us–they also stank. I had no idea how to dry winter boots. It’s one of those things that didn’t cross my mind until it happened. Sure, I considered maybe getting a little snow inside them, but that would dry out on its own, yes. I hadn’t thought about the consequences of them being soaked to the soles (I guess kiddo hadn’t either.) Since they are of the thick, insulated variety needed to stomp through a good prairie winter, I was a bit shell-shocked. It’s all I need to have her wearing wet boots for hours after all I do to prevent my kid from getting sick, eh?

As a Jamaican-born and raised, my first instinct was to put them out for a nice long day or two in the scorching sun. But alas, while there is plenty of sun during winter in Saskatchewan, temperatures hovering below zero shot my idea right down.

So, now I knew two things: I needed to get rid of the smell and dry my kids’ winter boots quickly. I couldn’t use soap to clean inside them. They would end up smelling worse. I knew that much.

I made sure to buy good, sturdy, waterproof, warm boots. Stressed that the solution to saving them boots lay at the bottom of a trash can, I mentally noted that buying new boots prematurely was a very likely outcome. I was not about to have my kid wearing boots you can smell from a mile away.

Cleaning inside the kid’s winter boots was a bit tricky. Maneuvering my hand inside was a challenge, and given I couldn’t see up to the toes, that was frustrating. But in we went.

How to Dry Winter Boots and Remove Smell

At some point during all of this, I decided that since this is Canada, I doubt this was a novel problem. So, I googled and found that boot dryers are a thing! So, if you find this blog post and you can afford to buy one, that’s a good way to go for Step 3 below for how to dry winter boots.

…boot dryers are a thing!

Step 1: Use a rag to soak up water

I used a dry cloth to soak up the residual water. Getting the dirty water out would determine if the smell had a snowball’s chance in hell of leaving.

Step 2: Dry Wipe Inside the Boots

Once I was sure all the water was out, I made a hot mixture of water, baking soda and Oxy-Clean powder. As hot as I could bear it, I dipped the cloth in, squeezed the excess water out, and used the cloth to scrub the fur-like insides of the boots. I gave each boot three good scrubs and then cleaned the outsides.

After this step, they are still wet and still stink pretty badly.

Step 3: Dry the Boots 75% with Heat

I considered putting the blow dryer in the boots but thought that would be a long and tedious way to do it. We have exposed heat vents so hubby turned up the heat and put the boots up close to them.

About six hours later, they were 3/4 of the way dry, but still stunk.

Step 4: Sprinkle Baking Soda and Baby Powder Inside Boots

I sprinkled a thin layer of baking soda inside the boots and left them for about 24-48 hours. After that, they were mostly dry but still smelled a little. I vacuumed out the first layer and put in a second, thicker layer with a little baby powder mixed in.

I left that mixture in for three to four more days. When I vacuumed it out, ready to do a third round if necessary, they were completely dry and smelled brand spanking new! I was so excited I wouldn’t have to throw them out, and I learned something new—how to dry winter boots. Something tells me this will not be the last time I need to know how to do this (Duh!)

Fresh dry winter boots, who dis?

So the boots are clean and dry now. The little one is off in them again with a stern warning to let us know if the boots (or any shoes, really) get wet. During that week, her spring boots were good alternatives since there wasn’t any snow, and we were in the middle of a big melt. However, I think keeping a second pair of boots handy is a good idea, even with a boot dryer. Far be it for me to stop the little one’s joy of ‘jumping up and down in muddy puddles’ as winter turns to spring.

I hope this post helped you learn how to dry winter boots–wet, smelly winter boots. Let me know in the comments.

XO, Shandean.

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