Everyone used to get a pair of leather shoes that hurt their feet caused by wrong size. As a result, after 20 minutes, 30 minutes or 1 hour, your feet will be on fire and may start bleeding because they are forced inside a small space. As a consequence, knowing how to stretch leather shoes wider can help you effectively fix any unfitted shoes in your closet. In particular, you can choose the most suitable method for yourself among the following tips.
How to stretch leather shoes wider
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Wear your small shoes around the house
The first remedy for how to stretch leather shoes wider is considered as a simple one since everyone can do this. You just need to wear your leather shoes every night when you get home from work. This will make the leather gradually expand after a few weeks. Also, in order to be more effective, you can wear one or two pairs of socks while walking on your shoes. There is only one drawback for this method since you need to spend much time to make your shoes bigger.
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Heat and thick soft method
With the second method, you need to prepare 2 things including a pair of thick socks and a hair dryer. Many people regard this as the best solution for leather shoes. Firstly, you need to take a pair of thick socks on your feet, and then slip your feet into your tight leather shoes. After that, you can heat the area that is tight in 20 or 30 seconds by using a hair dryer.
Make sure you do not heat your shoes with too high level for long time since it can result in cracking, color fading as well as decrease on the life span. That’s why I mention 20 to 30 second intervals since you can repeat this process for several times. Besides, you need to use leather condition afterwards as it can provide more moisture restoration.
When using the hair dryer, make sure to concentrate on the tightest area. During that time, you should also flex your toes and bend your feet for maximum stretch. Let your shoes cool down when they are looser and you are also satisfied with them.
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Freeze shoes with a bag of water
About freezing water method, it is kind of weird but really practical. What you need to do is taking 2 Ziploc bags filled with water. Make sure to fill the bags halfway and seal it afterwards. You are recommended to check your bags carefully so they won’t leak all over the way and make your shoes soaked. Also, you may put more or less water depending on the size of your shoes.
After preparing the bags, you can put them into your shoes. Then, place your shoes into the freezer overnight since the water needs to be fully frozen. On the next morning, take your shoes out of the freezer but remember to let them thaw for 20 to 30 minutes before removing the bags. After all, give it a try and imagine how surprised you are once your leather shoes are really stretched. This treatment should be used for real leather shoes, but not plastic or fur leather, even anything fabric.
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Stuff shoes with peeled potatoes
Now I would like to show you how to stretch leather shoes wider by using just a peeled potato. It is exactly a miracle item since you can find it at any grocery store. You can pick up the potato that works best for your shoes based on the size you want to make it. When touching the peeled potato by your bare hands, you will have a little bit sticky and moist feel. As a result, make sure to peel the potato and its skin will dry and then get fibers to your shoes, which lead to the expansion.
Therefore, after peeling the potato, you should put it into your shoes and let it dry overnight. One day passes, you can take out the potato and your leather shoes will really be looser as expected. However, there is another amazing benefit you should identify when putting a potato inside the shoes. It is able to reduce the odor, so that you can use it to prevent shoes from smelling.
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Shoes stretchers and spray
Among the methods of how to stretch leather shoes wider, shoes stretchers are considered as the most common one. They are kind of solid and rigid frame, moreover, you need to use them along with saturation spray to have the best result. You are recommended to spray the stretch liquid inside your shoes first so as to soften the leather. By doing this, you can decrease the stretch time as well as allow the stretcher to work better. After spraying, you need to insert the stretcher into tour shoes and then twist the knob. You can feel that this tool starts to spread out in order to maximize your shoes’ expansion.
Another thing you need to do is when the stretcher gets opened up, you need to flex the leather. You need to take a clean rag and use it to cover your shoes. Then, use a rubber mallet to bang on the shoes, which helps the leather flex and make the stretch happen. You cannot bang straight on the shoes since it will get marks and crack immediately. Nevertheless, if you have a light cover on the shoes, this action will help soften many areas on the shoes and then stretch them out. As always, you ought to leave the stretcher there overnight and then check the result tomorrow.
I hope that all of my sharing can contribute to your query about how to stretch leather shoes wider. There may be some confusion as well as difficulty when you perform these processes, but do not feel free to ask for help. Moreover, in case you discover any new ideas about this topic, I suggest that you should share with more people so that no one will consider tight shoes as a challenge anymore.
