Every sporty family knows the struggle. You come home after training, kick off your shoes, and within minutes the whole hallway smells. If you have kids who play sports, multiply that by the number of pairs — and days per week.
That's exactly what happened to Anton, the founder of Shoefresh.
A House Full of Sporty Shoes
Anton's daughter played hockey four times a week. His son is a dedicated runner. And Anton and his wife both play padel and golf every week. The result? A house full of wet, smelly sports shoes — every single day.
"It wasn't nice for anyone to put on sports shoes that were still wet from the previous training," Anton recalls.
Everything He Tried (and Why It Failed)
Like most people, Anton tried every trick in the book:
- 📰 Newspapers in the shoes — barely absorbs anything
- 🔥 Putting them on the radiator — damages the material
- 🧴 Spraying deodorant into the shoes — masks the smell for an hour, tops
- ❄️ Putting shoes in the freezer — yes, really. It doesn't work either
None of these methods actually solved the problem. And most of them were bad for the shoes too.
The Real Cause: Bacteria
Frustrated, Anton did what any problem-solver would do — he researched it. And what he found was simple but powerful: bacteria inside the shoes are the real cause of the smell. Simply masking the odour is never enough.
The Solution: The First Shoefresh Shoe Dryer
Armed with this knowledge, Anton developed the first Shoefresh shoe dryer in 2014. The concept is straightforward:
- Powerful fan + warm air removes sweat and moisture from inside the shoes
- Active Oxygen tackles the odour-causing bacteria at the source
No sprays. No chemicals. No damage to your shoes.
From One Family to 200,000 Athletes
What started as a solution for one sporty family quickly became a hit. First with hockey players, then footballers, runners, cyclists, and all sorts of other sports.
Today, more than 200,000 athletes start every training session and match with fresh, dry shoes — thanks to Shoefresh.
Ready for a Fresh Start?
Try the Shoefresh Opod at home for 90 days. If it doesn't change the way your family deals with sports shoes, you get your money back.