How to stretch shoes at home: effective ways and recommendations

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Many are faced with such a problem as tight shoes. When fashion and preferences dictate their own rules, sometimes the appearance of shoes overshadows the feeling of discomfort. The euphoria passes at the moment when, on the way from the store to the house, the legs turn to stone, and only a trace of joy remains.

Is it possible to stretch new shoes

Fortunately, there are many ways to stretch your shoes without leaving your home. The main thing is to correctly determine the material from which the shoes, boots or sneakers are made. If you don’t want to risk expensive “clothing” for your legs, then you can resort to proven professional methods.

In any case, there are a lot of options for how to stretch shoes. The main thing is to study all the nuances before starting the process.

How to stretch shoes at home

There are enough ways to stretch boots and shoes. Below is a list of the most popular ones.

• Breaking in shoes inwet thick sock.
• Sizing up by dipping boots in hot water.
• Chemical ways to stretch shoes.
• Some people put shoes, boots in the freezer, immersing a bag of liquid inside the product.
• There is a mechanical method in which folded socks or newspapers are tightly packed into the shoe, leaving the shoes in this form overnight.

The main thing is to decide on the material before stretching the shoes. For different types of boots, only some options for giving the desired shape can be used. You need to start the process with care so as not to spoil anything.

How to stretch suede shoes

Genuine suede shoes and boots should be handled with extreme care. Before stretching suede shoes, you need to study the ways that are acceptable for this material. Under no circumstances should such boots be exposed to chemical influences. There are two valid methods for stretching natural suede shoes.

The first way is special sprays for such material. The store where the shoes are purchased probably has such funds. In order to complete the mission, you need to generously spray the inside of the shoes or boots with a spray, and then insert something solid inside. For example, tightly folded socks

The second way to stretch shoes at home is to tamp compressed pieces of newspaper sheets tightly inside the shoe at night. Due to the fact that the paper will gradually unfold, there are few shoeswill expand

Such methods of stretching suede shoes are the most optimal and safe.

Rubber shoe stretching

It happens that the sale sells rubber boots that are great in color, height and other parameters. As soon as they try on, they buy shoes. Then, after some time, when it is raining outside and I had to walk in boots for a long time, the owner of the rubber “clothes” for the legs realizes that the boots are tight and give more unpleasant sensations than good emotions. But there is a way out, rubber shoes can also be stretched at home. There is one most common way to complete the mission:

We need to boil a couple of liters of water. Put the boots in a basin and pour boiling water inside the galoshes. Boots should stand like this for several minutes. Then you need to put on a terry soft sock or even a few on your foot and put on shoes. After the boots have been on the leg for a couple of minutes, you need to stand with them on your feet in a basin of cold water. This procedure will allow you to become the owner of shoes that fit perfectly on the foot

How to stretch patent leather shoes

You can stretch shoes at home, regardless of what material they are made of. Shoes or boots with a patent coating are the most difficult to fit to the size of the foot. However, it is possible. If you choose the wrong method for stretching patent leather shoes, you can not only not get the result, but also permanently ruin the coating. Therefore, when trying to increase the size of lacquer shoes, you need to be extremely careful and useextremely gentle and harmless methods. These are:

Breaking in shoes with a thick sock worn on the foot. You can put on several pairs of terry or woolen socks and walk around the apartment for several hours a day. Patent shoes will not stretch much, but it will be easy to expand them in volume for comfortable wearing. When using this method, it must be borne in mind that the varnished surface should never be heated either with a hairdryer or in other ways. Doing so may cause surface cracking and loss of gloss

Another method is to soften the inside of the boot. This can be done by lubricating shoes or boots with a greasy cream or special foam for stretching patent leather shoes in those places where it rubs. After spraying or smearing the inner surface of the boots or shoes, insert a special shoe inside the shoe, which helps to naturally expand the critical areas in the “clothes” for the feet

Before you stretch the shoes in width or length, you need to choose the safest and most gentle way. This will preserve the integrity of the material and result in not only comfortable, but still beautiful shoes.

Leather shoe stretching

It is especially a pity when expensive "clothing" for legs, left on the shelves of the store in a single size, rubs the leg and presses. But you really don’t want to return a pair of shoes or boots that you liked so much. Before stretching leather shoes, you need to make surethat the material is really natural. After all, genuine leather is better able to withstand the effects of various aggressive factors and is less likely to deform.

• One way to expand boots or shoes made of genuine leather is to pour boiling water inside the product. After a couple of seconds, you need to pour out the water, put on shoes on your foot in a soft sock and walk around the apartment in these shoes until they are completely dry. If you don't feel like getting your new shoes wet from the inside, you can put plastic bags inside and pour the liquid into them without touching the inside of the boot.
• Another way to stretch leather shoes at home is to use ice. Inside boots or shoes put on a plastic bag. Then one fourth is filled with water and the shoes are immersed in this form in the freezer. Due to the fact that the water freezes and increases in volume, the shoes will stretch. Boots or shoes should be removed from the freezer, wait until the water inside the bag has melted, and then pull out the bags.

You can expand natural leather with alcohol solutions. For this mission, you can use vodka, alcohol-based cologne, and even a window cleaner. It is necessary to generously lubricate the outer and inner part of the boots or shoes with a solution, paying special attention to the heel zone, in which the leg is most often rubbed. After treatment, you need to put on a thick sock and walk around the apartment in shoes for several hours

Knowing how to stretch leather shoes, you can expand boots or shoes to the desiredsize without damaging the overall structure and quality of the material. The main thing is to be extremely careful not to ruin the boots when trying to stretch them.

Secrets of getting the right size for sneakers

Sometimes fashionable and stylish sports shoes do not give the desired comfort. In this case, you can use the folk method proven over the years and stretch the material a little. The most common way is as follows:

Medium-sized potatoes need to be peeled. Put the peeled vegetable inside the boot, where the fingers are. Leave sneakers or sneakers for a couple of hours. The moisture that comes out of the potato tuber will stretch the material a little and make it elastic. A person who accidentally bought the wrong size sneakers will feel comfortable and free when they put on such shoes

How to stretch imitation leather shoes or boots

Today, on the shelves of fashion shoe stores there are many beautiful and stylish models of shoes and boots made of artificial leather. If, after the skill of the manufacturers was appreciated and the shoes were purchased, a person began to feel discomfort due to a size mismatch, certain methods can be resorted to. Skin substitute is difficult to stretch, but it can be done in several ways.

• Put a thick sock on your foot or a few thin ones and wear shoes like this for several days. After a short period of time, the boots will stretch and take the shape of the foot.
• Moreone option is to treat the inside of the shoe with a cream or pharmacy vaseline. It is necessary to carefully rub the product into those places where the shoes are tight. Then you should wait until the cream or petroleum jelly is absorbed into the surface. After that, put on boots or shoes and walk around the apartment in them for about 30 minutes. It is important to walk, not sit, so that the critical zones of the shoe are stretched in the right places.
• Another of the "old-fashioned" methods of stretching boots made of leather substitute is to tightly lay newspapers soaked in water inside the shoes. When the mission is completed, you must leave the boots or shoes to dry. In no case should you use a hair dryer or heater to dry your shoes when there are newspapers inside. Such actions may cause deformation of the material.
• Another popular way is to stretch artificial leather shoes with grain or cereals. To adjust the size with this method, you need to put plastic bags inside the shoes and pour small cereals into them. The grains should completely fill the inside of the boot or shoes. Pour water inside the bag and leave the “clothes” for the legs for a day. The grains, which will swell under the influence of water, will stretch the shoes in eight to ten hours.

An effective method to widen shoes where they rub is to lubricate critical areas with candle wax. Then you need to put on shoes on the toe and walk like that. The effect should become noticeable after a few days after this method.stretching

All the methods mentioned above will prove to be useful in the question of how to stretch the shoe a size larger and soften the places in the boot that rub. The main thing is to act thoughtfully and carefully, using various methods to fit the size of the leg.

Professional shoe stretching

Folk and "granny" ways to increase the size of shoes are cheap and proven options. But do not forget that there are more gentle and safe methods to increase the size of shoes. There are professional formulations and blends to complete the mission.

• Expansion of shoes with a special spray. Such materials are sold in shoe stores and are designed for different materials. It is best to test the purchased composition on old shoes that you do not mind, only after that apply the spray on new shoes.
• Another way is to stretch shoes in the workshop. Experts customize its width by placing inside the shoe that matches the size of the foot. This method is quite effective, but no one guarantees that the process of increasing the “clothes” for the legs will pass without side effects. During stretching, the boot can crack, both on the sole and on the upper. Even compensation for the mission not completed by the master will not cover the costs.

Professional methods are not a 100% guarantee that the shoes will remain intact and reach the desired width. However, like the "grandfather" methods, such options can be effective and give the desired feeling of comfort.

Usefulrecommendations and warnings

In the question of whether it is possible to stretch shoes at home, you need to be extremely reasonable and attentive. Follow these guidelines:

• Be sure to check what material the shoes are made of. This will help you clearly define how they can be stretched.
• It is better to test all methods first on old shoes made of the same material. Thus, you can find out how effective the method is and whether it will cause deformation of new shoes or boots.

Each method must be approached carefully, without aggressive actions and sloppy movements. It should be understood that even the most expensive and high-quality shoes can deteriorate due to careless handling

If you couldn't stretch your shoes the first time, you don't need to persistently apply the same method. Indeed, from constant interference in the structure, the material can irrevocably deteriorate, and then neither the guarantee will help, nor the receipt saved upon purchase. If you can’t expand the shoes, then it’s better to take them back to the store and pick up a similar model of shoes, but already in size.