Have you bought a new pair of leather shoes, but the size is not fit to you? In today’s blog, we are going to tell you several ways to stretch your shoes that make it looser. Before going to core topic, we have to know how to tell if your show is tight.
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How to tell if the shoe is tight
Buying new shoes is always a joy unless the pair that you just bought is biting and snagging your heels or toes, and you can’t walk in them properly.
There are a couple of signs that the pair you have right now isn’t the right fit, and your feet will be screaming for help if you keep using them.
The first sign is that the toe box or the space for your toes is made too narrow. This will squeeze your toes too much, leading to some loss of circulation. No, it’s not true that pain is normal when you want to look beautiful. You have to make sure that the shoes are the right fit.
The next possible sign is that the shoe looks and feels too short. If your shoes are too short, the shoes are going to pull back and compress from both sides, and your feet are going to arch just trying to maintain its form.
That is not good for your feet, and it may even cause some semi-permanent foot deformity if you keep wearing your hose that way.
And finally, the heels of your shoes are putting pressure on your toes. This probably means that your feet are getting pulled back when you dig your heels into the ground. The tightness is going to cause you to walk with pain, and with a gait, to boot.
Ways to make the leather shoe looser
There are several ways to make your shoes feel looser. This is important because we are avoiding injury as much as possible, and this isn’t just about looks and comfort, either.
Bring your shoes in for repair
This is your best option if your new pair is killing your feet. Cobblers are capable of stretching shoes to make them fit tired feet more appropriately. They can also train shoes effectively, so the shoes can maintain their form even with additional stretching and spacing.
Just tell the cobbler what’s happening with your feet, and they will be able to tell you what kinds of remedy they can apply to the shoe, so it stops biting your heels and toes. Feel free to bring in your older shoes so they can be cleaned and refreshed by the cobbler or shoe repair shop.
Shoe sprays
There are shoe spray products that are designed to loosen the materials used for making shoes. These products usually work on a variety of materials, from fabric to leather to PU. You need to spray the areas that are giving you grief and then wear your shoes so they can be widened as the chemicals work on the shoe material.
You can also use shoe sprays if you already have shoe stretchers at home. This is a common problem for people who have bigger feet than the average – especially the folks who have wide feet. Hang in there – don’t give up on your new pair of heels just yet.
Give it a good spray first and see what happens when you walk in them. It might take a couple of tries, but the shoe’s materials will eventually yield to the dimensions of your feet if you spray regularly enough. Also – don’t forget to follow the manufacturer’s instructions when using such a product.
Shoe trees
Shoe trees are a heaven send to people who suffer from heel burns and compressed toes when wearing their favorite shoes.
Shoe trees are essential adjustable stretchers that force the shoes to change dimensions over time. The low-cost version of shoe trees is made of plastic, but if you want something classier, we recommend getting one that is made of chic cedarwood.
Be sure to turn the adjustment knob of the shoe tree every few hours, so after eight to twelve hours, the shoes would have already expanded to the length and width that you need them to be. Remember: you can use a shoe spray in conjunction with a shoe tree to hasten the stretching process.
Peeled potato skin
Peel a potato but don’t cut the skin and keep it. Stuff the long peeling inside your shoe. The moisture in the potato skin will help expand the shoe a little. Your toes will not feel as problematic the next morning when you go to work.
This might be a good option if you do not have the patience (yet) to use sprays and shoe trees, and you need your shoes to behave the next morning. There is nothing wrong with trying – it will provide some stretch to your shoes.
The ice bag method
Fill a sealable plastic bag with water and stuff it inside your shoes. Be sure to push the bag into the areas that need the most stretch. If you need to use a smaller bag or another bag, do so, especially if the heel area also needs to stretch.
When the shoes are stuffed to the right dimensions, place your shoes in the freezer. We know, it sounds a little off to put shoes where we put our food, so feel free to bag your shoes first before freezing them overnight. When the water in the plastic bags freeze, the water bags are going to expand, and you will get a custom stretch for at least 12 hours.
Your shoes are going to be as loose as you want them to be when you wake up the Stretch Leather Shoes next morning. Of course, this works best when you give the water enough time to freeze solid. Water is not going to stretch your shoes that much. Also, this is only effective for non-leather shoes. Leather shoes might end up pulling and then cracking due to ice crystals forming in the leather itself. That’s not a good thing.
Wear them at home
New shoes tend to bite because they haven’t adjusted yet to the shape and dimensions of your feet. You can try wearing them at home for a few hours each night to “train” them naturally. This usually results in a perfect fit with no more snags or bites.
