Foot odor often results from wearing shoes and/or socks for many hours, as they provide warm, moist conditions for bacteria and/or fungi to thrive.
Usually people grow up believing foot odor is unpleasant, making people embarrassed about how their feet smell. Kids often grow up making fun of the fact that their feet smell ("Trick or Treat, smell my feet..."), etc. For this reason, in Western countries, where shoes are worn for most of the day, some people avoid removing their shoes around others, or they are asked to keep them on or put them back on. This is paradoxical, since being shoeless as much as possible is one of the best ways to prevent the feet from becoming smelly in the first place. Note that there is no "foot odor" stigma in countries where shoes are removed upon entering the home(for a more detailed discussion of this topic, see Shoes).
The smell of feet is usually a warm, sweet scent, even floral, but can sometimes be more musty (girls' feet are usually sweeter, while boys' are more pungent). Brevibacteria are considered a major cause of foot odor, as they ingest dead skin on the feet, especially on the soles and between the toes, converting in the process the amino acid methionine to methane thiol, which has a sulfuric aroma. Brevibacteria also give cheeses such as Limburger, Bel Paese, Port du Salut, and Muenster their characteristic pungency.[1]
Among the earliest foot deodorants were aromatic herbs such as allspice, which nineteenth-century Russian soldiers would put in their boots. [2] Some types of powders and activated charcoal insoles, such as Odor Eaters, have been developed to combat foot odor, but they are not as effective as thoroughly washing feet, choosing shoes with proper ventilation, changing socks regularly, and only wearing shoes when necessary.
Since many martial arts are practiced barefoot, odor can pose a problem(in countries with a high incidence of foot odor).
Although most people believe the scent of feet unpleasant (usually more often than not because of a societal bias more than actual experience), some people find smelling feet sexually arousing. This can be part of a foot fetish. Some people also have fetishes for the sock or shoe scent that usually accompanies warm feet (for example as part of a shoe fetish), or enjoy foot worship. Girls' feet often smell sweet and fruity, almost like honey. Many people find this scent attractive. (See also: mysophilia).