Beauty, Lifestyle

But how many times do we check the right shoe size before placing an order online?

What if the lovely party shoes you ordered fall short of your foot size and, cause pain while walking. But how to stretch shoes?

Following questions may also come to your mind – how to stretch leather boots, how to stretch shoes for wide feet, shoe stretcher, heel stretch.

If you are a victim of tight shoes, read the quick hacks listed below.

Method 1 – HEAT On Leather Or Suede Shoes

Heat causes things to expand (something we learnt in our science class, remember?). Now apply this same philosophy on how to stretch shoes and how to stretch leather boots. Get the heat from hair dryer on your leather or suede shoes. This will expand the material and loosen up the shoes a bit to get you the right fit.

P.S.: Use the heat treatment on leather or suede shoes only. Other fabrics might not tolerate the heat and might end up destroying your shoes.

Things needed:

  • Hairdryer
  • Pair of socks (thick ones)
  • Tight shoes

Procedure and Steps:

  1. Put on a pair of thick socks. The tighter your shoes, the thicker are to be your socks. But don’t go overboard.
  2. Now put on your tight shoes.
  3. With the help of a hair dryer, heat up your shoes.
  4. Aim the heat of the dryer on the tight sections of your shoes.
  5. Keep blowing the hot air for a couple of seconds. Don’t keep your feet static – keep flexing them.
  6. Switch off the heat and wear the shoes until the leather or suede cools off.
  7. Take off the socks and try the shoes now.
  8. You will find it comfy to get in
  9. Want the shoes to be loosened further? Keep trying the heat treatment.

Method 2 – FREEZING Method

This is yet another hack to break in the tight shoes. You just need to put in a ziplock bag of water in the shoes and freeze it. This will make the water expand as it freezes and stretch your shoes creating and making space for your toes and foot soles. Nice way na when it comes to how to stretch out shoes?

Things needed:

  • 2 large zip lock bags
  • Water
  • Tight shoes

Procedure and Steps:

  1. First of all, fill the zip-lock bags with enough water (quantity-wise) so that it can fill up the toe cap of the shoe
  2. Make two bags for each shoe (if you feel the need to expand the whole shoe)
  3. Seal the bags by squeezing out the air
  4. Now put the water-filled bags inside your shoes
  5. Place the shoes in the freezer for time duration of 4 to 8 hours. The idea is to freeze the water.
  6. Once the water has become ice, remove the bags from the shoes and put in your feet to check the fit.
  7. If you feel the need to repeat this process to get more comfy fit for your feet, do so.

Method 3 – Rubbing Alcohol

Though stretch sprays are widely available online (which can help in stretching the extremely tight shoes) but why spend a little less than a fortune when how to stretch out shoes can be done in a simple and inexpensive way. Yes, I mean the rubbing alcohol. This is one thing which can be used to clean other stuff as well.

Did you know, Rubbing alcohol works best on natural fabrics?

P.S.: Test the rubbing alcohol on a not-so-easily-seen part of your shoe to check out on any discoloration part. And yes, avoid using rubbing alcohol every now and then on leather shoes, as it can eventually dry out the leather.

Things needed:

  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Spray bottle (or cotton balls)
  • A pair of tight shoes

Procedure and Steps:

  1. Pour some rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle (since you don’t need the whole of it). This technique is a good and easy way to spray it on your shoes.
  2. In case you don’t have a spray bottle with you, soak a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol is also a cool option.
  3. Now for the most important step – spray the rubbing alcohol on the tight areas in your shoes (or dab the soaked cotton ball on the tighter places until the fabric gets wet).
  4. Put on these tight (and alcohol-treated) shoes IMMEDIATELY and start to walk around. Since rubbing alcohol dries up fast, you need to be quick in wearing them as it works only when the shoes are wet.
  5. Supposing, your shoes are tight all around. Then soak a pair of socks in rubbing alcohol, and wear them ASAP and put your feet in the tight shoes. Keep walking in these shoes till the alcohol evaporates form the socks completely.
  6. You will feel your shoes stretching out better, thereby making your walking easy and comfortable.

Method 4 – Professional Stretching Tools

If none of the above quick fixes above have worked, don’t lose hope. You can always get yourself a professional stretching spray and a mechanical shoe stretcher. The best part is that a shoe stretcher is available in different variants for flats, high heels, boots and other types of footwear.

Pointers:

  • Make it a point to check if the stretching spray is apt for your shoes by testing it first on a hidden area.
  • If fine, spray the stretching spray on the tighter zones of your shoes.
  • Insert the shoe stretcher, then turn the knob to widen your shoes.
  • Once you are done, put on the shoes.

More Helpful Tips

Here are 10 ways. You will love them and feel surprised they ever existed.

  1. When you are not using your shoes, put “shoe trees” inside them.
  2. Keep wearing tight shoes at home and to the neighbourhood market. The more you walk in them, the more the flexibility for your feet.
  3. Stuff each “sock” deep into the shoe till the shoe gets full. Do it in both the shoes if you find the same problem of tightness creeping in.
  4. Alternatively, you can also stuff the tight shoe with a “wet” newspaper. Once the shoes dry, remove the newspapers.

  1. Fill the tight shoes with a packet containing Oats (which have been swelled in water). This is an old cowboy trick which holds good on how to stretch leather boots.
  2. Place silica gel packs in your shoes when you are not using them. Silica gel does a brilliant job in effectively absorbing moisture from the shoes, thereby preventing shrinking.

  1. Shove in a big-sized potato deep inside your shoe. This will help in how to stretch shoes for wide feet.
  2. For leather shoes, use a shoe stretcher. It has the same shape as that of a foot and is made from wood with screws and adjustments which help in how to stretch out shoes.
  3. If none of the tips shared above have worked for you, take your shoes back to the merchant store where you bought them and ask the store personnel to fix your shoes.
  4. Getting your shoes re-sized by a professional shoe repair shop is a good idea.

So how did you find these tips on how to stretch shoes? Comment and write in your valuable suggestions.

Source: fashionlady.in