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Tell me about shoe stretching

I've had some shoes stretched at the cobbler, but I'm wondering about doing it myself. Maya - there was a reference in a thread to you stretching shoes yourself. Does anyone else do this? What do you do?

The latest reply was from medusa . You can follow further contributions to the conversation through the RSS 2.0 feed.


8 Replies

Posted 1 month ago

If they are just a little tight in general, you can wear them around the house to stretch them. I often do this. I have never used any of the stretching products.

Posted 1 month ago

Bumping for Maya...

Posted 1 month ago

After reading about shoe stretching here I recently successfully stretched a pair of ballet flats that were comfy in the store and cut into my foot at one spot on front side at home. I didn't have a shoe stretcher, so tried shoving a metal 1/2 cup measuring cup into the toe and leaving it for a day. Ordinarily I'd have returned them, but they are on sale and I loved the way they matched my skin tone and made me look barefooted. Real shoe stretching equipment would have been even better. Is there a spray that softens leather?

Posted 1 month ago

I usually get this done locally as it's so cheap, but you can also purchase shoe forms, leather softening lotion (or alcohol+water or just plain water), and stretch them yourself.

An easy way to stretch leather sandals, by the way, is to apply a little water (or water+alcohol) to the tight areas and then walk around in them (e.g. around the house) until they dry.

Posted 1 month ago

Not much to tell! You can do it professionally, or just buy a stretcher and shoe stretch spray (I got both on Amazon). I have had it done both ways.

Posted 1 month ago

Thanks everyone...I didn't realize it was as easy as buying a stretching & spray on amazon. Thanks for spelling it out for me. :-)

Posted 1 month ago

Medusa, I ordered a high-heel stretching kit just this week. If you are a borderline size, I would recommend sizing down because the stretcher stretches quite a bit (duh!). I made the mistake of ordering a size L for a 8.5 shoe size.

Posted 1 month ago

Elpgal, good to know. Thanks.

Posted 1 month ago