UV LED to sanitize shoe odors?

Seeing an advert for "getLadyBugs" dot com which is a device to stick in your shoe. It has a fan, ionizer, and blue LEDs purportedly UV.

Is the wavelength of any available UV LED of the type used for disinfection? You could easily make your own, or just stick your blood tracker light in your shoe for some amount of time.

Commonly, 365nm -395nm UV torch can be used for disinfection since it gets good disfection effect.

The ionizer part of that system definitely works, you don't want to breathe ozone either, for the same reason that it destroys bacteria.
I'd use a ozone shoe zapper, put them in the bathroom with it running, go in later and turn the ozone off, turn on the exhaust fan for a little while, use your nose to know if there's much ozone left... and pay attention to noticing if you get eye, nose, throat, lung irritation.

It's likely no more (Or less) harmful than breathing air where chlorine bleach water is being used, too much is definitely not good, long term exposure not good either.

Tank007torch said:

Commonly, 365nm -395nm UV torch can be used for disinfection since it gets good disfection effect.

Click to expand...

UV-C, generally used for disinfection, is usually about 260nm. Although I think there have been some research into 365nm for disinfection.
Never expose eyes to UVC. I use a 55w UV-C lamp on my pond..

lumen aeternum said:

Is the wavelength of any available UV LED of the type used for disinfection?

Click to expand...

yes led flashlights can work to kill germs, do a shoe test and share what you learn

the UV Lamp (not LED), used for Disinfection is 254nm

UV leds in flashlights include, 365nm, 395nm, 405nm ...

here is some evidence for the effectiveness of 365nm
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-540-36841-0_323#page-1
Conventional method for UV sterilization is using UV lamps. It is used to sterilize workspaces and tools used in biology laboratories and medical facilities. Low pressure mercury-vapor lamps emit 254 nm wavelength of UV which coincides very well with peaks of the germicidal effectivenes
…
In this study, we investigate effects of … The wavelength of UV LED … 365nm, its output is 15mW, and exposure distance between the UV LED and bacteria is 20mm. The result showed that germicidal effects for 100% of E.coli and 100% of Vibrio parahaemolyticus took 30 minutes and 10 minutes, respectively. These results suggest that the UV LED has sterilizing effects.

for discussion about 365nm flashlight choices see this thread

they include The Convoy S2+ UV, also the CU-6, both are 365nm

There is also a very inexpensive UV light called the Nitecore Tube UV.. it is 395nm and not very powerful

it would be cool if someone with a Tube UV could stick it in their shoe overnight and share results

here is a video about 405nm UV as an antibacterial

There actually is a brand new 150mW 265nm LED on the market: http://nict.jp/press/2017/04/04-1.html (you might need Google translate for this one).
Good luck getting one and using it safely, though. 265nm is deep into skin cancer and blindness territory. :duck:

eh4 said:

The ionizer part of that system definitely works, you don't want to breathe ozone either, for the same reason that it destroys bacteria.
I'd use a ozone shoe zapper, put them in the bathroom with it running, go in later and turn the ozone off, turn on the exhaust fan for a little while, use your nose to know if there's much ozone left... and pay attention to noticing if you get eye, nose, throat, lung irritation.

It's likely no more (Or less) harmful than breathing air where chlorine bleach water is being used, too much is definitely not good, long term exposure not good either.

Click to expand...

Why not put the shoes & ozone device in a plastic bag?

"265nm is deep into skin cancer and blindness territory." How terrible!

I've installed uv lights in duct work at gyms. They all seem to work well at killing locker room stench

Seanedc said:

I've installed uv lights in duct work at gyms. They all seem to work well at killing locker room stench

Click to expand...

Im a big fan of UV sterilization, and have no cancer concerns when it is used in ductwork out of the line of sight, and not shining directly on my skin.

What type of UV lights do you install, what is their UV frequency. It has been a number of years since I have installed UV in ductwork myself, but I agree it works very well.

I suspect putting shoes in the duct with UV would also kill the odor, but since this thread was about flashlight UV, Im hoping someone will come back with a practical option to deodorize shoes. For example, the Nitecore Tube is quite inexpensive, and USB rechargeable.. Maybe the treatment time could be limited to a few minutes per day. I hope someone can do a test.

I do not know if the 395UV of the Tube would be effective on shoe odor, because I don't own a Tube, due to PWM objections on my part.

Maybe someone with a UV tube will read this thread and contribute some test results.

i usually put baking soda in shoes if they stink, and keep it there for a week, it does the job about 90%, then i vacuum it out, my father fills a sock with cat litter and puts it in the shoe, for few days. also removes about 90% of smell, as far as bacteria goes, Lysol kills it, if i do Lysol and them soda, it gets almost all smell out. the only way to get rid completely is a to wash it, but not all shoes can be washed, sneakers i throw in washing machine, but leather shoes will be destroyed in one.
if you insist on uv, get short germicidal uv light, florescent one, put it in your shoe, then turn it on. leds of that wavelength and power will cost much much more, 100s of times more than a tube

lumen aeternum said:

Why not put the shoes & ozone device in a plastic bag?

Click to expand...

Ozone can degrade plastics and rubbers pretty quick.

Connor said:

Good luck getting one and using it safely, though. 265nm is deep into skin cancer and blindness territory. :duck:

Click to expand...

That's UV-C, which isn't associated with cancer. The short wavelengths don't penetrate very far, and are blocked by dead skin cells on the surface. However, it may be highly damaging to any live cells it comes into contact with (a wound, or fleshy thin parts of skin).

As for blindness, again, it's not thought to cause permanent blindness, but it will definitely scratch up the surface of your cornea and cause extreme pain for a few days.

All that said, I'd definitely stay away from it, and use extreme caution if you are playing around with UV-C.

UV-A and UV-B are thought to be greater risks for skin cancer, as their longer wavelengths penetrate the skin. Probably not an issue with occasional flashlight use, but tanning beds... maybe.

WalkIntoTheLight said:

That's UV-C, which isn't associated with cancer. .

Click to expand...

you are right it is not, it's associated with destroying DNA.

alpg88 said:

you are right it is not, it's associated with destroying DNA.

Click to expand...

Yes, as long as there are any living cells near the surface, it will kill them. That's why it's so good at killing micro-organisms. A layer of dead skin cells should protect you, though I wouldn't try it. You'll smell something cooking, but that's probably just ozone being created from it splitting up oxygen molecules in the air. And yeah, whatever you do, don't expose any UV-C to your eyes, or you'll feel like someone rubbed sandpaper in them.

Does 265nm generate ozone?

222nm doesn't.

172nm generates huge amounts of ozone.

Our company builds lamps that emit 308nm, 222nm and 172nm of very narrow bandwidth and only the 172nm generates measurable ozone.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015YFRYKE/?tag=cpf0b6-20

something like this should work

I am using "Gran's Remedy" for years to kill shoe odors. It works like charm!

WalkIntoTheLight said:

That's UV-C, which isn't associated with cancer. The short wavelengths don't penetrate very far, and are blocked by dead skin cells on the surface. However, it may be highly damaging to any live cells it comes into contact with (a wound, or fleshy thin parts of skin).

As for blindness, again, it's not thought to cause permanent blindness, but it will definitely scratch up the surface of your cornea and cause extreme pain for a few days.

All that said, I'd definitely stay away from it, and use extreme caution if you are playing around with UV-C.

UV-A and UV-B are thought to be greater risks for skin cancer, as their longer wavelengths penetrate the skin. Probably not an issue with occasional flashlight use, but tanning beds... maybe.

Click to expand...

This is correct. And while the sun puts out lots of UVC radiation, virtually all of it gets blocked by our atmosphere. If it wasn't, I think the planet wouldn't be very inhabitable.

If you're serious about using UV to disinfect though, you really need a UVC lamp. It's safe as long as you take care to prevent direct exposure to eyes or skin.

& avoid breathing the ozone produced, it can really tear your throat, sinuses & lungs up.