Teva sandals get put through it. River hikes, festival mud, pool days, sweaty commutes, that questionable pond you crossed on the trail because it was faster than going around. The webbing straps and the footbed soak up sunscreen, sand, and sweat, and after enough of that, they smell. Bad.

Most cleaning advice online stops at "use mild soap," and that doesn't touch the real problem. The polyester webbing and the EVA foam footbed both absorb moisture, and bacteria feeding on that moisture is what makes your Tevas funky. This guide covers the everyday clean, a proper deep clean for the webbing straps, how to kill the stink for good, how to handle leather Teva variants, and what not to do so a favorite pair doesn't get ruined.

Here's the quick version, six steps.

1. Rinse off loose sand and dirt with cool water.

2. Hand wash the webbing straps with mild soap and a soft brush.

3. Wipe down the footbed and outsole.

4. For odor or set-in grime, soak in warm water with SneakERASERS SOAK for 30 minutes.

5. Rinse cool.

6. Air-dry flat in the shade.

What Teva Sandals Are Made Of (And Why Cleaning Method Matters)

Most modern Tevas, including the Hurricane, Original Universal, and Terra Fi, are three materials stitched together. Recycled polyester webbing straps sit on an EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) foam footbed and a rubber outsole. The leather-strap variants, like the Original Universal Leather and the older Katavi, clean differently.

Each material behaves its own way. Webbing is porous. It absorbs sweat, sunscreen, salt, and body oils and holds onto odor even after a surface wipe. EVA foam is non-porous on the surface, but the foam beneath acts like a sponge and traps moisture, which is where the persistent smell lives. The rubber outsole is the easy one. Basically anything wipes it clean.

Heat is the enemy across all three materials. EVA can warp when exposed to sustained heat, and a hot dryer, a hot car dashboard, or hours in direct summer sun can all get there fast. Heat degrades the polyester fibers and softens the adhesive holding the straps to the sole. Stick to warm water and shade drying.

What You'll Need to Clean Teva Sandals

You don't need much.

• Mild dish soap or SneakERASERS SOAK for the webbing deep clean

• A soft-bristled brush or an old toothbrush

• A microfiber cloth

• A SneakERASERS sponge for scuffs on the EVA footbed sidewalls and rubber outsole

• Warm (not hot) water

• A towel for blotting

• Baking soda for maintenance odor control

• Skip these.

• Bleach, which breaks down polyester fibers and yellows white straps

• A washing machine, which heats and agitates the straps until they delaminate from the sole

• Wire brushes, which fray the webbing on the first pass

• Hot water, which softens the adhesive and warps the foam

• For touch-ups after a hike or festival day when you're nowhere near a sink, SneakERASERS pre-moistened singles handle the sole and footbed sidewalls in one swipe.

How to Clean Teva Sandals Step by Step

This is the everyday clean, meant for dusty, sandy, lightly grimy Tevas from normal wear. If yours are holding odor or have been soaked in something questionable, skip ahead to the deep clean below.

Step 1: Rinse Off Loose Dirt and Sand

Rinse the sandals under cool tap water to flush sand out of the webbing seams and the footbed grooves. Sand is the biggest ongoing threat to a pair of Tevas. It works into the stitching and the footbed texture and grinds like sandpaper every step you take.

Use a soft brush to push stubborn grit out of the stitching where the straps meet the sole. That's the first spot where sand makes the straps look old.

Step 2: Hand Wash the Webbing Straps

Fill a bowl or sink with warm (not hot) water and a small amount of mild dish soap or a scoop of SneakERASERS SOAK. Submerge only the straps and gently work the soapy water into the webbing with a soft-bristled brush. Move with the weave of the strap, not against it, so the fibers don't fray.

This is the step that matters most. The webbing is where sweat, sunscreen, and body oils absorb, and it's what makes the whole sandal feel and smell used. Two or three minutes of gentle brushing lifts the buildup out of the fibers where a surface wipe can't reach.

Polyester webbing is a porous fabric, so SneakERASERS SOAK is the right pick here. It's formulated to deep-clean porous materials, not just surface-clean the way a sponge does.

Step 3: Wipe Down the Footbed and Sole

Wipe the footbed and outsole with a damp microfiber cloth and a drop of soap. The footbed has raised texture designed to grip your foot, and that same texture grips dirt and dead skin. Brush lightly to lift it out.

For stubborn scuffs on the EVA foam sidewalls or the rubber outsole (both non-porous surfaces), a lightly damp SneakERASERS sponge is the fastest fix. Swipe gently across the mark and it lifts off in seconds. With more than 6 million shoes cleaned to date, scuffs on a non-porous surface are routine work for it.

Swipe, don't press hard. Light pressure keeps the sponge working longer, because it disintegrates like a pencil eraser as it does its job.

Step 4: Rinse and Air Dry

Rinse all soap out of the straps and footbed with cool water. Residue left behind attracts dirt and can irritate your skin the next time you slip them on.

Dry the sandals flat, in a well-ventilated room, out of direct sunlight, for 4 to 8 hours or overnight. Sun fades the webbing color and heat warps the EVA foam. A fan pointed at them speeds things up without any heat risk.

How to Deep Clean Really Dirty or Stinky Teva Sandals

Escalate to a deep clean when your Tevas have been to a lake, pool, festival, or a multi-day hike and they're holding odor, discoloration, or set-in grime that a regular wash won't touch.

Fill a bowl or sink with warm (not hot) water, add SOAK per the label directions, and fully submerge the sandals for 30 minutes. SOAK is formulated to lift set-in grime and odor from porous materials, which is exactly what the polyester webbing needs. The straps release absorbed sweat, sunscreen, and bacteria into the wash water while they sit.

After soaking, work a soft brush along the webbing to loosen anything remaining, rinse thoroughly with cool water, and blot dry with a towel. Air dry flat as described above. Do not wring the sandals, because that stresses the stitching where the straps meet the sole.

How to Get Rid of the Smell in Your Teva Sandals

Tevas get funky because the polyester webbing and EVA foam both absorb sweat, and bacteria feed on that trapped moisture along with the skin cells that come with it. According to Cleveland Clinic, when skin bacteria break down the components of foot sweat, the byproducts create the sharp, sour smell most people know as foot odor. Wet sandals worn without a full dry between uses are the ideal environment for that reaction, which is why Tevas smell more than a leather sandal ever would.

Two methods work for maintenance odor control between deep cleans.

• Sprinkle baking soda across the footbed, leave it overnight, and tap it out in the morning. Baking soda absorbs odor without adding moisture.

• Try an antibacterial mouthwash soak. Mix 1 cup of mouthwash with 2 cups of water, submerge the straps for 15 minutes, brush, and rinse. It kills odor-causing bacteria directly and works well as a mid-cycle refresh when a full SOAK isn't practical.

A full SneakERASERS SOAK cycle is still the most effective reset for stubborn smell, because it cleans the fibers themselves and not just the surface. And prevention beats treatment. A rinse and full dry after every wet-weather use keeps the funk from ever setting in.

How to Clean Leather Teva Sandals

Teva makes leather-strap sandals too, including the Original Universal Leather and the older Katavi. Leather cleans differently from polyester webbing, and it doesn't tolerate soaking, hard brushing, or heat drying.

Wipe leather straps with a barely damp microfiber cloth and a drop of mild soap. Do not submerge leather Tevas the way you would a webbing pair. After wiping, condition the leather with a light leather conditioner or saddle soap to keep it from drying out and cracking over time. The footbed and rubber sole of a leather Teva clean the same way as the webbing version.

How to Clean Tevas Mid-Trip Without a Sink

Multi-day festivals, thru-hikes, road trips, campgrounds. The moments your Tevas need a wash most are usually the moments you're farthest from a sink. Dried sunscreen on the sidewall, red clay from a river bank ground into the strap-sole junction, sand coating the sole so thick it turns slick. A proper hand wash has to wait. A quick reset doesn't.

Start by banging the sandals sole-to-sole to knock loose sand and grit out of the stitching. Then wipe the sole and the footbed sidewalls with SneakERASERS pre-moistened singles. Each one comes individually wrapped, so it stays wet in a backpack or a glovebox for months, and a single wipe covers the sole and sidewalls of both sandals in a couple of swipes. Fold the used side in and stash it in a trash bag until you find a bin.

Skip the webbing straps for now. Wetting fabric and letting it dry with dirt still in it just sets the grime deeper. Save the webbing for a proper hand wash back home.

Toss two singles into your dry bag or your center console before a river or a beach day. It's the difference between rolling into dinner in stained-looking Tevas and rolling in looking like you didn't just spend eight hours in a canyon.

What NOT to Do When Cleaning Teva Sandals

Here are six mistakes that shorten the life of a pair, plus what to do instead.

1. Never put Teva sandals in a washing machine. Heat and agitation delaminate the straps from the sole and warp the EVA foam. Hand wash them instead.

2. Never use bleach. It breaks down the polyester webbing and yellows white straps. Mild dish soap or SOAK does the job safely.

3. Never use hot water or a hairdryer. Heat softens the adhesive holding the straps down and warps the foam. Stick to warm water and air drying.

4. Never drag a wire brush across the weave. It frays the webbing on the first pass. Move with the weave using a soft-bristled brush.

5. Never dry them in direct sunlight. UV fades the webbing color and softens the foam. Ventilated shade with a fan is faster and safer.

6. Never store Tevas damp. A wet pair sitting in a gym bag or a hot trunk turns stinky in hours. Fully dry them every time.

How Often to Wash Your Teva Sandals

Here's the cadence that keeps a pair going for years.

• Cool rinse after every wet-weather use, whether that's a pool, river, beach, or sweaty hike.

• Full hand wash every 2 to 4 weeks depending on wear.

• SOAK deep clean once a season, or right after a heavy-use trip.

• This matches Teva's own recommendation of a wash every 2 to 4 weeks. The more consistent you are with the quick rinse, the less often the deep clean is needed. Light maintenance stops the sweat and sunscreen buildup that turns the straps stiff and smelly in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you put Teva sandals in the washing machine?

No. The machine's heat, agitation, and spin cycle stress the stitching between the straps and the sole, delaminate the adhesive, and warp the EVA foam footbed. Hand washing takes about the same time as a wash cycle and is what Teva itself recommends.

Is it okay to get Teva sandals wet?

Yes, and that's the whole point of the design. Tevas were built for river guides on the Colorado River, so they're made to be worn wet. What matters is drying them fully between wears so absorbed moisture doesn't turn into odor.

How do you keep Teva sandals from stinking?

Rinse them with cool water after every wet or sweaty use, let them air-dry fully before storing (not in a bag or a hot car), and run a SOAK deep clean once a season. For between-wear odor, sprinkle baking soda on the footbed overnight and tap it out in the morning.

What is a simple trick to clean sandal footbeds?

Wipe the footbed with a damp microfiber cloth and a drop of mild soap, then use a soft-bristled brush to lift dirt out of the raised texture. For scuffs on the EVA sidewall or the outsole, a lightly damp SneakERASERS sponge lifts them off in one swipe.

Keep Your Tevas Fresh with SneakERASERS

Teva sandals were built to get wet and get dirty, and keeping them fresh doesn't require an expensive service or a complicated kit. A hand wash covers the everyday clean, SneakERASERS SOAK handles the deep clean and the smell when the webbing needs a real reset, and a SneakERASERS sponge takes care of scuffs on the non-porous footbed sidewalls and outsole. That's the same swipe-and-go approach that earned SneakERASERS a spot on Shark Tank and a place in more than 30,000 stores.

Keep a bottle of SneakERASERS SOAK on the shelf for the day your Tevas need a real reset. One 30-minute soak and they come out looking and smelling like a fresh pair. Explore SneakERASERS and SOAK at erasers.com.