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How to make your dancer’s dance bag less of a horror story. By Katie Behrens



What could be scarier than Halloween in the month of October? Well quite possibly the smell of your dancers dance bag. Have you ever wondered to yourself, “how could such pretty little feet make that smell ?”......

Here are some tried and true tricks to keep your dancers dance bag smelling fresh in between classes.

  1. Should be obvious, but take out dirty leotards and tights and wash them.
  2. Smelly shoes the problem? You can make shoe dehumidifiers by using old worn out tights. Simply cut off the feet of the tights, fill with dry rice, you can also add a few drops of peppermint oil to the rice. The rice will absorb moisture and the peppermint will leave a pleasant smell.
  3. Place dance shoes in a Ziploc bag and freeze them overnight. Freezing the shoes will kill the bacteria therefore, destroy the odor.
  4. Once a month take everything out of the dance bag and wash it in the washing machine.
  5. Canvas ballet shoes and canvas lyrical shoes can be washed in the washing machine on cold. Then allow them to air dry. Of course, I would suggest trying this with an old pair of shoes. Just because I have had success doesn’t mean you will 😉.
  6. Make sure your dancers toenails are trimmed. Long toenails are a breeding round for smelly bacteria.
  7. Place odor absorbing potpourri sachets in your dancers dance bag.
  8. Make sure leftover food does not get trapped in your dancers dance bag. I once was helping a dancer look for a shoe and found a moldy sandwich in her bag.
Hopefully these tricks will end up being treats for you and your dancer. You are now armed with the power to stop smelly dance bags forever.

Comments

  1. In case of tears, runs, stains, or excessive sweating, you want to have a backup pair of tights and clean leotard. And as temperatures in studios and theaters are unpredictable and can vary widely, it is important to have warm-up clothes you can layer on top and remove easily
    smellproofguide.com

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