How to stretch shoes at home: effective ways and recommendations

Many people face such a problem as narrow shoes. When fashion and preferences dictate their rules, sometimes the appearance of the shoe overshadows the feeling of discomfort. The euphoria passes at the moment when the legs become stone on the road from the store to the house, and only a trace remains of joy.

How to stretch patent leather shoes




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 shoes, boots or sneakers are made. If you don’t feel like risking expensive “clothes” for your legs, 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 a sufficient number of ways, resorting to which you can stretch boots, shoes. The following is a list of the most popular ones.

  • Wearing shoes in a wet thick toe.
  • Size increase by immersing shoes in hot water.
  • Chemical methods of stretching shoes.
  • Some put shoes and boots in the freezer, immersing a bag of liquid inside the product.
  • There is a mechanical way in which rolled-up socks or newspapers are tightly placed in the boot, leaving the shoes in this form for the night.

The main thing is to decide on the material before stretching the shoes. For different types of shoes, you can use only some options for giving the desired shape. Care must be taken to begin the process so as not to ruin anything.





How to stretch suede shoes

Shoes and boots made of natural suede should be handled with extreme care. Before stretching suede shoes, you need to learn the methods that are acceptable for this material. Under no circumstances should such shoes be chemically exposed. There are two valid methods for stretching genuine suede shoes.

  • The first way - special sprays for such a material. In the store where the shoes are purchased, there are probably such funds. In order to fulfill the mission, you need to sprinkle the inside of the shoes or boots abundantly with a spray, and then insert something solid inside. For example, tightly folded socks.
What to do if shoes are tight




  • The second way, how to stretch the shoes at home, is to compactly squeeze the squeezed pieces of newspaper sheets inside the shoe at night. Due to the fact that the paper will gradually unfold, the boot will expand slightly.

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

Stretching rubber shoes

It happens that rubber boots are sold at the sale, which are great for color, height and other parameters. Barely trying on shoes buy. Then, after some time, when it rained on the street and boots for a long time, the owner of the rubber “clothes” for the legs realizes that the shoes are tight and give more discomfort than good emotions. But there is a solution, rubber shoes can be stretched at home, too. There is one common way to accomplish a mission:





  • You need to boil a couple of liters of water. Put the shoes in a bowl and pour boiling water into the galoshes inside. Boots should stand for several minutes. Then on the leg you need to put on a terry soft sock or even a few and wear shoes. After the boots stayed on their feet for a couple of minutes, they should stand on their feet in a basin of cold water. This procedure will allow you to become the owner of shoes that fit perfectly on your foot.

How to stretch patent leather shoes

You can stretch shoes at home, regardless of what material it is made of. Shoes or boots with varnished coating to fit the size of the legs is the most difficult. 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 shoes made of varnish, you need to be extremely careful and use exclusively gentle and harmless methods. These are:

  • Wear shoes with a thick toe worn on the foot. You can put on several pairs of terry or wool socks and walk around the apartment for several hours a day. Patent shoes will not stretch too much, but expanding it a little for comfortable wearing is easy. Using this method, it must be borne in mind that in no case should the lacquered surface be heated either with a hairdryer or in other ways. This can cause surface cracking and loss of gloss.
How to stretch leather shoes




  • Another method is to soften the inside of the boot. You can do this by lubricating the shoes or boots with a fat cream or special foam for stretching patent leather shoes in those places where it is rubbed. After spraying or smearing the inner surface of the boots or shoes, a special shoe should be inserted inside the shoe, which helps to naturally expand the critical areas in the “clothes” for the legs.

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

Stretching leather shoes

It is especially unfortunate when the expensive “clothes” for the legs, which remained on the shelves in the store in a single size, rubs his leg and shakes. But you don’t feel like returning a pair of shoes or boots that you liked so much. Before stretching leather shoes, you need to make sure that the material is really natural. After all, genuine leather better tolerates the effects of various aggressive factors and is less likely to deform.

  • One of the ways 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 the shoes on your foot in a soft sock and walk around the apartment in these shoes until they are completely dry. If you do not want to wet new shoes from the inside, you can put plastic bags inside and pour liquid into them without affecting the inside of the shoe.
  • Another way to stretch leather shoes at home is to use ice. Inside the boots or shoes are placed 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 remove the bags.
How to increase shoe size




  • Natural skin can be expanded with alcohol solutions. For this mission, you can use vodka, and cologne for alcohol, and even the means by which windows are washed. It is necessary to grease the outer and inner part of the boots or shoes with plenty of solution, paying special attention to the heel zone, in which most often the foot is rubbed. After treatment, you need to put on a thick sock and walk around the apartment for several hours in shoes.

Knowing how to stretch leather shoes, you can expand the boots or shoes to the desired size without damaging the overall structure and quality of the material. The main thing is to act with extreme caution so as not to spoil the shoes when trying to stretch them.

Secrets to sneakers

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

  • Peel medium-sized potatoes. 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 tubers will stretch the material slightly and make it elastic. A person who accidentally purchased sneakers that are not in size will feel comfortable and free when he wears such shoes.
Can a shoemaker stretch shoes




How to stretch leatherette shoes or boots

Today on the shelves of fashionable shoe stores there are many beautiful and stylish models of shoes and boots sewn from faux leather. If after the craftsmanship of the manufacturers was appreciated and shoes were acquired, a person began to feel discomfort due to size mismatch, you can resort to certain methods. Skin substitute is quite difficult to stretch, but still it is possible using several methods.

  • To put on a thick toe or a few thin ones and wear shoes this way for several days. After a short period of time, the shoes will stretch and take the shape of a foot.
  • Another option is to treat the inside of the shoe with a cream or petroleum jelly. It is necessary to carefully rub the product in 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 for about 30 minutes. It is important to walk, not sit, so that critical areas of the shoe stretch out in the right places.
  • Another of the "old-fashioned" methods of stretching shoes from a skin substitute is the dense placement of newspapers soaked in water inside the shoes. When the mission is completed, it is necessary to leave the boots or shoes to dry. In no case do you need to dry your shoes when the newspapers are inside by the intervention of a hair dryer or heater. Such actions may lead to deformation of the material.
  • Another popular way is to stretch artificial leather shoes with grain or cereal. To adjust the size by this method, you need to put plastic bags inside the shoes and pour small grains into them. The seeds should completely fill the inside of the boot or shoes. Pour water into the bag and leave the “clothes” for the legs for a day. The grains that will swell under the influence of water stretch shoes for eight to ten hours.
How to stretch leather substitute shoes




  • An effective method to expand the shoes in those places where they are rubbed is to lubricate critical places with paraffin wax. Then you need to put the shoes on the toe and walk like that. The effect should become noticeable a few days after this method of stretching.

All the methods mentioned above will be useful in the matter of how to stretch the shoes one size larger and soften the places in the boot that they rub. The main thing is to act thoughtfully and carefully, using various methods to fit the size of the foot.

Professional shoe stretching

Folk and "grandmother" ways to increase shoe size are cheap and proven options. But do not forget that there are more gentle and safer methods to increase the size of shoes. There are professional compounds and mixtures for the mission.

  • Expanding 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, which is not a pity, only after that apply the spray on new shoes.
  • Another way is to stretch the shoes in the workshop. Specialists adjust its width by placing inside the block corresponding to the size of the leg. This method is quite effective, but no one gives a guarantee that the process of increasing “clothes” for the legs will take place without side effects. During stretching, the shoes may crack both on the sole and on the upper part. Even compensation for a mission not fulfilled by a master will not cover expenses.

Professional methods are not a 100% guarantee that the shoes will remain intact, unharmed and reach the desired latitude. Nevertheless, like the "old-fashioned" methods, such options can be effective and give the desired feeling of comfort.

Useful Tips and Warnings

On the question of whether it is possible to stretch shoes at home, you need to be extremely judicious and attentive. The following recommendations should be followed:

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




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

If the first time it was not possible to stretch the shoes, you do not need to persistently apply the same method. Indeed, from constant interference in the structure, the material can irreparably deteriorate, and then neither the guarantee will help, nor the receipt saved when purchasing. If you can’t expand the shoes, then it is better to give them back to the store and pick up a similar shoe model, but already in size.




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