Stinky Bootie Solution

I thought something had died under the seats in our van. The smell was vaguely sweet, slightly meaty and fetid. I looked everywhere, and finally had to resort to cleaning out the vehicle. Starting with the spaces under the front seats I looked for the culprit and found nothing but a few ice cream sticks and a baggie full of last week's baby carrots. (Hey -- I thought my kid was eating her vegetables!)

I moved aside a pile of SUP gear to look under the floor mat and then I found it. The smell was terribly strong. And worse, it was coming from the wetsuit booties! I envisioned the gushy corpse of a mouse that had crawled into the booties and died. I shook the booties over the bushes near where we had parked, but nothing came out. Then, I did what any woman does in this situation, I gave the reeking footwear to the nearest man.

Randall didn't blink or even sniff. His face barely moved except for the slight smile he always gets when I'm grossed out about something like big spiders or dead mice. It was time to up the drama. "R a n d a l l, I think there's something dead in the wetsuit booties," I said.

"Oh, that smell?" He finally said, "Don't worry about it, I've been putting the booties in the board bag on top of the car so you wouldn't notice."

Ok -- Here's how it works for any other guys thinking that a board bag is the solution to stinky booties. I did notice. I just didn't say anything because I figured his feet are far from his head and as long as he stands on his board, I'm not close enough to care.

Then Randall hit me with the big news. "It's OK Honey, I couldn't get the smell out of your booties with wetsuit soap, but I have another idea that I'm sure will work."

My wetsuit booties?? How could that be? My feet don't stink. Really.

Then I looked carefully at the booties and it was true. They were mine. Dang it.

I headed for the bleach but Randall cut me off at the pass. I guess neoprene and bleach aren't a good combo. He did have a solution and it worked, Dawn Dishwashing liquid. He swirled a few drops into the booties full of hot water, rinsed and put the boots in the sun to dry.

What a guy!
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Get your SUP gear from Randall at www.StandUpPaddleBend.com. You'll find Dawn Dishwashing liquid on the soap aisle of most grocery stores.