Ig Nobel Prize: UVC light sterilizes shoes, kills odor

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpq51xp4e91o

15•hilux•4mo ago

Comments

jerlam•4mo ago

I heard these were already common in China:

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

exabrial•4mo 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_•4mo 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•4mo 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_•4mo 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•4mo ago

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

exabrial•4mo ago

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

toomuchtodo•4mo ago

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

exabrial•4mo ago

I don't think they do anything to them

ranger_danger•4mo ago

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

hilux•4mo ago

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

ranger_danger•4mo 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...

JumpCrisscross•4mo ago

“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.

cyberax•4mo 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).

xnx•4mo ago

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

Gualdrapo•4mo 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

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Ig Nobel Prize: UVC light sterilizes shoes, kills odor

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