Ig Nobel Prize: UVC light sterilizes shoes, kills odor

“But push it too far - 10 to 15 minutes - and the odour gave way to ‘strong burnt rubber’”

Would definitely want to know what volatiles are being produced by this process.

exabrial 253 days ago |

I won't believe it until you try it on my belay partner's climbing shoes.

Their shoes should be banned under the Geneva convention.

loa_in_ 253 days ago | |

I use bleach infused cleaning wipes and I stuff few of them inside each shoe for few nights. I take them out whenever I put on the shoes. On a negative note, it caused some cheaper insoles to literally fall apart overnight while doing this.

exabrial 253 days ago | | |

Just curious, do you know the active ingredients on the wipes?

... I wear socks. There's a lot of things holding back my climbing, proper diet, weight training, sticking to a plan, etc... socks are not holding me back pahaha.

loa_in_ 251 days ago | | |

The ingredients are: Anionic active ingredients less than five percent, fragrance, hydrogen peroxide, sodium bicarbonate, acetic acid, preservative - methylchloroisothiazolinone.

I don't see at a glance how it's bleach infused as the packaging claims.

hilux 253 days ago | |

Is your belay partner airing out the shoes (ideally outdoors) between sessions, or storing them in a closed bag?

exabrial 252 days ago | | |

The clip them with a carabiner to their climbing pack they bring to the gym. I think they air out...

toomuchtodo 253 days ago | |

Have you tried spraying them inside and out with 70% isopropyl alcohol?

exabrial 252 days ago | | |

I don't think they do anything to them

xnx 253 days ago |

Vacuum also reduces odor: https://x.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1801263439769182405

cyberax 253 days ago |

I've been using the bleach trick, especially when my shoes get wet on their own.

Add a bit of bleach to a bucket, put the shoes there for 3-4 minutes, and then add a bit of thiosulfate to neutralize the bleach. Rinse under running water, and then dry in a tumble dryer (on a drying pan).

jerlam 253 days ago |

I heard these were already common in China:

https://xcancel.com/NukitToBeSure/status/1972467734656209164...

ranger_danger 253 days ago |

Any time I have tried to use a UVC light on a product, it always comes out smelling worse. Like, burnt somehow.

hilux 253 days ago | |

Going by the article, you might try reducing the exposure time.

ranger_danger 253 days ago | | |

My particular device has a fixed 2 minute timer, but apparently a "burnt hair" smell is an inevitable side-effect of the process.

https://www.uvccleaningsystems.com/cm/dpl/downloads/articles...

Gualdrapo 253 days ago |

Recently heard that about a study saying UV light can disable airbone allergens in a short time. And now this make it seem there's going to be a big demand for UV lights