How to stop sweaty feet from ruining your shoes? (8 tricks)

I leave sweat marks when I walk barefoot. My socks get drenched. I ruin all my shoes.

I’ve got sweaty feet in the winter, summer, fall or spring. Doesn’t matter.

Dealing with sweaty feet is not easy, but over time I found a few tricks that now help me deal with it. Today I’d like to share them with you.

Let’s be honest: these tips won’t stop your feet from sweating but at least they will help you feel more comfortable, and make the day-to-day a bit easier.

And that’s already progress, right?!

The health risks of sweaty feet

Having wet feet constantly could:

• lead to fungus infections (more details in this Healthline article)
• make your skin peel away as if you spent too much time in a bathtub (that was in my case)

Because my feet were soaked in socks all day every day the skin under my feet was peeling off. It became painful at times, was ugly, and above all, just opened the door to infections.

Having sweaty feet is annoying enough, you want to make sure you prevent any infection with the below tips.

8 Tricks: How to Stop Sweaty Feet

Trick 1: Try shoe inserts

Because I have hyperhidrosis (excessive sweat), my feet sweat a LOT, so I ruin all my shoes.

It gets worse when I can’t wear socks in my shoes because then my sweaty feet are directly in contact with the leather. It ruins the leather and it’s so uncomfortable!

So, using shoe inserts helps absorb some of the sweat. You will be more comfortable, and you will be able to keep your shoes a little longer. I mean, it gets expensive and annoying to renew shoes all the time because you ruin them with your sweat!

Make sure you get washable shoe inserts though.

Forget about leather inserts or plastic inserts: they’ll make you sweat.

Just pick simple and cheap inserts that are mainly made of fabric (of cotton, ideally).

Inserts that you can throw in the washing machine when they get too dirty. And that you can replace for a small price they get too disgusting.

I got mine on Amazon for about $15:

Trick 2: Wear different shoes every day

Give your shoes time to recover from all that water dripping off your feet. I know it can be hard, but just avoid wearing the same pair of shoes 2 days in a row. Give them time to rest!

Try to wait a few days before wearing the same pair again, and try to buy a machine-washable pair of shoes as much as possible. Every now and then I throw my sneakers and ballerinas in the washing machine to start fresh!

Trick 3: Avoid socks and shoes when you are home

I hate being barefoot. My swollen wet feet leave water marks on the floor. And I slip. I’m just super uncomfortable. So I want to wear socks all the time.

But your feet some time to breathe. When you are home is the best time to remove these socks because no one will see your sweaty marks on the floor!

• If you have carpets on the floor: just walk barefoot because you can’t slip and it will dry out eventually.
• If you have wood floor or floor tile: these floors are slippery, so you need to wear some sort of shoes. But shoes that are open of course!

I can only see 3 options when you have excessive sweating issue but you want to wear open shoes at home:

• Flip flops: if you go with flip flops, just make sure they are anti-grip. You’ll slip in Havaianas-like plastic flip flops (I know, because that’s what I have right now, and I need to step up my game because I keep slipping in them.. :/)
• Sandals: even if they are in plastic (which is NOT ideal by the way), they will still hold your feet in the shoes. So that should prevent you from slipping in them. That can be quality sandals like the classic Birkenstocks (but make sure whatever shoes you get that you get them in black and with black sole so that they don’t show sweat marks!).
• Hotel sleepers: when I go to hotels who give them, I keep the hotel sleepers. But I realized you can find them online as well! They are half open, don’t slip, and you get that ‘home and cozy’ feel. I can usually wash them once or twice before I have to throw them away. So not the most economical or eco-friendly option, but it’s an option.

Trick 4: When you wear socks, pick them right

If you’re like me, you love wearing socks. Socks are awesome because they:

• absorb some of our sweat
• hide the fact our feet are wet, red, and swollen
• prevent us from slipping in our shoes

So I get it! But we need to pick them right! We curated a list of the best socks for sweaty feet

• Pick them in moisture-wicking materials or cotton: cotton absorbs sweat and is breathable but also holds the sweat while moisture-wicking socks pass the sweat to evaporate faster and are more suitable for sports.
• Pick them in black OR white: other colors will show sweat marks.

You can easily find cotton, black socks on Amazon:

Trick 5: Carry extra pairs of socks with you

No matter what you do, you feet may still be super wet in the middle of the day. So when your socks are too wet and uncomfortable, you need to be able to change them.

Because you know it’s gonna happen, you can plan ahead:

• Leave an extra pair of socks + an extra pair of shoes in a drawer at the office.
• Keep an extra pair of socks in your bag.

Trick 6: Stop wearing socks at night

You know that annoying feeling of having the sheets stuck on your sweaty feet? And you are trying to move the sheets with your feet, but the sheets get stuck to you? Arf. I hate it.

So I used to wear socks to sleep every single night…

The issue though, is that I was ALWAYS wearing socks. All day. All night.

The skin of my feet was peeling off from being constantly wet in shoes or socks… so, I finally decided I HAD TO stop wearing socks at night, and I just had to deal with it, even if it was uncomfortable…

Now I sleep barefoot. It’s uncomfortable sometimes, but I often just keep my feet outside of the blanket so they can breathe.

I’ll be honest with you, I sometimes lose patience and still put socks on. But if it’s once a week instead of every single night that’s still progress!

Since I stopped wearing socks in bed, my feet skin stopped peeling away. I’m very happy about it!

Tricks 7: Pick the right fabric, color, and size for your shoes

It’s important to pick the right shoes too. If you suffer from feet excessive sweating, then make sure you follow these rules when you buy shoes:

• color: pick black or white – other colors show sweat marks too much
• size: not too tight – because when our feet sweat they become swollen too, it’s uncomfortable and the tightness makes us sweat even more
• fabric: avoid suede (it shows sweat sooo much!) and go for leather OR fabric (so you can throw the shoes in the washing machine)

Personally, I mainly buy black or white shoes: white sneakers, black ballerinas, black sandals, etc. It does not sound very exciting but it does the trick and that’s what matters to me.

It’s tough for us to get nice shoes since we seat through them, so for sneakers and ballerinas in particular, I try to buy cheap shoes in washable fabrics, so I can just wash them every few weeks. That way, I’m in clean, bacteria-free shoes as much as I can.

For ballerinas or sneakers, I either get:

• nice black ones that I wear with thin mini low-cut socks or with shoe inserts to protect the leather/sole/fabric
• cheap ones that I can throw in the washing machine every other week. And when they smell too bad after a year, I just get new ones.

For cheap ballerinas, I usually get these ones (but they get tight if my feet become too swollen):

For cheap sneakers, I recently got this pair of Nike. It’s in fabric so I can put it in the washing machine to wash it. And it feels like wearing slippers so I’m super happy with them. I washed them twice so far, and they are holding up but it made them tighter, so make sure you wash your shoes in cold or low-temperature wash.

Trick 8: Try medical treatments

If inserts, socks, washable shoes, etc. don’t cut it anymore, you will want to speak to your doctor about it.

Excessive sweating can be caused by a bunch of different conditions (in my case, by hyperhidrosis) so you want to make sure you find the root of the problem.

If it turns out to be hyperhidrosis like me, try all differrent treatment steps, little by little, until one works for you. Maybe Botox, anticholinergic wipes, or iontophoresis machines could work for you.

Conclusion

Having sweaty feet is uncomfortable, embarrassing, and even painful at times.

But we saw there are tangible tips you can try to make things more manageable.

If these tips for sweaty feet listed above did not help you, then please make sure you consult a doctor or dermatologist. They will be able to help you look for treatment options that can address deeper issues.