The Winter Storm Killed My Sneakers, Can You Help Me?

Thanks, Uri.

Winter Storm Uri brought snow, sleet and freezing rain...and lots of it.  He brought temperatures so cold that I chipped my tooth on soup.  It was so cold I heard that several chickens when to Chick-fil-A and asked if they had room in the pressure cooker.

And...oh, the damage.  We found out what a half inch of ice can do to a tree.  The power outages were widespread and long-lasting. The plumbing sections at home improvement stores were more crowded than the bathrooms at a Buc-ee's.

We definitely took a hit at the Merrell household.  We had 3 utility poles go down, lost power for several days, and had to turn our garage into a chicken and duck sanctuary, and let me tell ya, that leaves quite the aroma. But, thankfully, all is back to normal.  We've got new power poles, the garage has been cleared and scrubbed, and we're back down to just a couple blankets on the bed instead of 12.

Well, not everything is back to normal.  I'm having this issue with my sneakers.  They smell.  I wore them at times through the icy muck and then left them out to dry, and now they have this mildew stench and I can't seem to get rid of it.  It's quite embarrassing to be in the KICKS 105 studio and have someone walk in and give you 'that look'.  You know the one, that non-verbal facial expression of 'I can only hold my breath for 20 seconds so I need to get out of here quick.'

We've washed them twice and let them dry in the sun...no help.  We put baking soda inside the shoes for a day, nothing. We've gone to the internet and tried a lot of what 'they' said would work. But, they still stink.  Our next step (oh, hey, that's a pun) is to call an exorcist, but before we get to that, maybe you can help.

First, a few things you should know.  The inside of the shoes do not smell.  It appears that the mildewy stench is coming from the padded tongue of the shoe.  I would just throw them away, but these shoes are my favorites, plus my most expensive. Not to mention, it has now become personal.  When I was in college, I set the record for having the most green mold in a mini-fridge...and I still was able to make it smell decent. So, a pair of shoes that smell like swamp water shouldn't be impossible.

But, I need help.  Any and all suggestions are welcome. I thank you, my family thanks you, and my co-workers thank you.