Stretching boots - any tips?

[sm]

Anyone got any advice on this, please? Just bought a pair from Faith that need stretching a bit - I can get them on and get the zip up, but considering they're supposed to be a size 9, they're very tight! Should I stuff them with newspaper, or just wear them in gradually? Any suggestions gratefully received. SM

[sm]

Stretching, even. Damn those over-eager fingers!

[shoerepairer]

two options,

• take them to a repairer who may be able to help, by putting them on a stretching machine.
• buy a spray shoe stretcher, this is a liquid that helps loosen the nap of the leather. you then wear them wet & this helps them stretch to your shape. (always read the label!)

["Wellies"]

I brought some western boots this spring which were a little tight for width, my wife had a can of STRETCH made by Collonil, made in Germany. I put the boots on and applied a little where they were a bit tight, now they are a prefect fit. Can't say where she got this stuff from as she doesn't know.

[fastfreddy2]

I brought some western boots this spring which were a little tight for width, my wife had a can of STRETCH made by Collonil, made in Germany. I put the boots on and applied a little where they were a bit tight, now they are a prefect fit. Can't say where she got this stuff from as she doesn't know.

Google is your friend.

https://www.jamesinglis.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CL5505

[shoerepairer]

your Repairer is your friend! Most shoe repairers stock a shoe stretcher in one shape or form, at £4.95 + Postage buying on-line makes it expensive I sell shoe stretcher at £3.60 & 3-4 pound is the typical UK price bracket. I also only charge a couple of pounds to put them on my stretcher, so why not take the worry away completely & drop them into your cobblers for a stretching! Lee

[fastfreddy2]

your Repairer is your friend!

Most shoe repairers stock a shoe stretcher in one shape or form, at £4.95 + Postage buying on-line makes it expensive

I look forward to you opening up a shop local to me. I'd happily use the services of a 'proper' cobbler, but I don't know of one in my area. [Hertfordshire.] There are a couple of shoe re-heelers, but I'n unaware of a cobbler around here.

Sooooo.... Buying a recommended product online, is cheaper than the alternative. [Driving to another town <wherever that might be> to buy an unknown product.]

....

[shoerepairer]

There are a couple of shoe re-heelers, but I'n unaware of a cobbler around here.

Even your average heel bar will stock a leather stretch product, its as common as shoe laces to our trade.

Sooooo.... Buying a recommended product online, is cheaper than the alternative.

Agreed, but you have already told us you googled it, so how can you "recommend" a product you have only seen an image off!

It's easy to spend money, be it in the high street or online, I was simply pointing out that it is cheaper to buy these products locally (if you can ) & you will often get the advice on a product that have been tried & tested by the retailer.....

Lee

[fastfreddy2]

Agreed, but you have already told us you googled it, so how can you "recommend" a product you have only seen an image off!

Lee, I didn't recommend it .....

I put the boots on and applied a little where they were a bit tight, now they are a prefect fit. Can't say where she got this stuff from as she doesn't know.

I Googled the recommended product so anyone interested could find it.

It's easy to spend money, be it in the high street or online, I was simply pointing out that it is cheaper to buy these products locally (if you can ) & you will often get the advice on a product that have been tried & tested by the retailer.....

Lee

Agreed about buying from the High Street.

But I'd sooner buy off a recommendation, even if that meant buying off the internet, rather than buying from a local supplier who might stock a product simply because it provides the best margin?

I never throw money away, [though I did lose a £20 note recently] but I'd sooner spend £3 extra getting a working product, than saving that amount on something that didn't work very well. Hence the interest in the recommendation.

Me personally, I'd prefer to pay someone I trusted to do the job for me. Hence the crack about a cobbler. And my suggestion you open up a shop over this way!

...

[shoerepairer]

I Googled the recommended product so anyone interested could find it.

Just re-read the topic! Missed the previous recommendation! I stand corrected!

rather than buying from a local supplier who might stock a product simply because it provides the best margin?

However I would rather buy a product & keep my money "local" where & when possible & not line the pockets of a carrier at the same time. where not all in it for the money, many small businessmen build reputations & business' on the advice & products they give to their customers! we put our heart & soles (no pun!) into our business, we don't want to rip people off!

why pay twice as much as you need to? buying an aerosol of the net, paying to pack it, paying to post it is an expensive way of buying the product! but its each to their own.

Me personally, I'd prefer to pay someone I trusted to do the job for me. Hence the crack about a cobbler. And my suggestion you open up a shop over this way!

you can't trust me

Lee

[Sue13]

Hi sm I thought I'd give you a bit of advice from the female perspective on Faith boots, I have 6 pairs and Faith actually make their boots & shoes a little on the small size anyway, so you might have been better off buying the next size up. Not much help for this pair I know but its worth knowing for the future in case you buy another pair. S. xx

[Jade]

your Repairer is your friend!

Most shoe repairers stock a shoe stretcher in one shape or form, at £4.95 + Postage buying on-line makes it expensive

I sell shoe stretcher at £3.60 & 3-4 pound is the typical UK price bracket.

I also only charge a couple of pounds to put them on my stretcher, so why not take the worry away completely & drop them into your cobblers for a stretching!

Lee

Hey Lee,

I've just found a lovely pair of vintage boots in a size 2 and a half. They're great once i get them on but too hard to get on and off. I'd like to get them stretched but the cobbler I went to said he couldn't because with out a zip there was no way to get the boots on the stretcher - are all stretchers like this or should I keep looking for a cobbler who can help

[shoerepairer]

No, Not all stretchers are like this, basically there are two types! one does shoes (the cheap version!) & one does both shoes & boots, these are rarer but are out there! its just a matter of finding them. With some boots the upper can be rolled down anyway, so even someone with a shoe stretcher & a bit of skill should be able to stretch them. Go through your local directory & make some calls. Lee

[chicks66]

i have never posted here, so i hope i am doing this right. please tell me if i am not:-? i take it these are leather boots? for myself, i have found the answer for stretching leather. it works like a charm! ok, so in a previous post the stuff called "Stretch" was mentioned. it is great, but expensive. however, here in the US anyway, it is made of 99%isopropyl alcohol. the thing is, it is not isopropyl alcohol as found in the common rubbing alcohol found in the pharmacy section of stores, which generally contains 30% water. so, what you need to do is find 99% isopropyl alcohol. in the US, some pharmacies do carry it next to the regular 70% rubbing alcohol. the other place i have found it (and it was really cheap) was in the automotive section. a certain gas anti-freeze called "Iso-Heet," used in the winter to remove water from gasoline, is made of 99% isopropyl. it does contain some petroleum distillates. but that does not seem to affect its performance in terms of shoe stretching. again, SPOT TEST FIRST, just to be sure. so what you do is...(first SPOT TEST to be sure the alcohol does not affect the color or finish) saturate the foot of the shoe or boot by pouring a generous amount of the alcohol into it and over it. then, wear the shoe until it dries. you may have to do this over, but usually twice is enough, even for heavy boots. you can pour more over the parts you want stretched the most while you are still wearing them, if they are drying and those areas still seem to need it. i usually put a bit of petroleum jelly on my feet first to keep them from drying out. if i want a great deal of stretch, i will also put on a pair of heavy socks. if the shoes or the particular area of the shoe i need to stretch is way too small or tight (like across the ball of the foot or right at the tip) and the rest of the shoe is ok, i soak that area and use something like a small bottle or one of my kid's super balls or any item that i can gently wedge into the spot that needs stretching. be careful of dyed leather and patent leather, you dont want to ruin them. those you probably want to take to a shoe repair place. however, i have found that for most shoes/boots this works just perfectly. you can also use the alcohol with those shoe trees and shoe stretchers you can buy. Good luck! i'd love to know how it turns out.

[shoerepairer]

I don't like the sound of that! I would also avoid using this method on any light coloured items, as it might leave a tide mark as it dries. Not knowing the ingredients of the suggestion I would be cautious of using it, because when a skin is taken from an animal & tanned to make leather many preservatives are added to stop the leather deteriorating once made into footwear. It would be very easy to damage this by putting the wrong product on them. this could result in the shoes "cracking" or deteriorating far quicker than using the correct product, but you wouldn't know this for maybe 6 -12 months. Secondly the majority of footwear is glued together during manufacturing, again without knowing the specific ingredients or testing them on the various glues, using the wrong things on the bonds, could weaken them causing the shoes to fall apart after time, but again you might know this at first. Welcome to the forum chicks66. Lee

[chicks66]

dear Shoerepairer, as you are the professional, i hesitate to push my point. so, for any readers, please note that he IS the professional, not me. Having said that, i will only go so far as to say that i have done this many, many times with no ill effect. of course, i always spot test first, and there have been a couple of pairs of shoes i did not use this technique on, as it was clearly going to mar the finish. i just love the fact that i have found this option for stretching shoes, and the guy at the shoe repair did tell me that what they used to stretch the shoes was isopropyl alcohol. i would definitely recommend using the 99% isopropyl from a pharmacy over the iso-heet, for purity's sake if nothing else (although i have used iso-heet many times with no problems). maybe try it on a not-so-important pair of shoes first to decide how you feel about it. i swear by it, myself. thank you for the welcome! and any thoughts on my question about where to find the post about the modified ballet heels?

[Puffer]

The issue of using iso-propyl alcohol as a stretching fluid has been aired before; see the thread I started at http://www.hhplace.org/discuss/shoe_repair_modifications/8979-more_stretching_needed.html

All I can say is that an IPA/water mixture with a little soap added does soften and stretch leather without any obvious ill-effects or residual marks. The last time I tried it (on the boots in my avatar), I wetted them thoroughly (by pouring a little into the toes, and by rubbing in externally with a sponge) and wore them wet with my socked feet inside polythene bags. The tight spots eased nicely and the boots dried out in normal wear after an hour or so.

As I said before, IPA is difficult to find on retail sale in the UK, but is still listed by Maplin: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=28994 and appears in fact to be the 99% pure product (as one would expect, given its intended use as a cleaner). I see however that both sizes are currently out of stock for mail order but can be found in most branches, which saves postage!

[Guy N. Heels]

I don't like the sound of that!

I would also avoid using this method on any light coloured items, as it might leave a tide mark as it dries.

Not knowing the ingredients of the suggestion I would be cautious of using it, because when a skin is taken from an animal & tanned to make leather many preservatives are added to stop the leather deteriorating once made into footwear.

It would be very easy to damage this by putting the wrong product on them. this could result in the shoes "cracking" or deteriorating far quicker than using the correct product, but you wouldn't know this for maybe 6 -12 months.

Secondly the majority of footwear is glued together during manufacturing, again without knowing the specific ingredients or testing them on the various glues, using the wrong things on the bonds, could weaken them causing the shoes to fall apart after time, but again you might know this at first.

Lee

All of the above points are well taken. However, I would like to add 2 or 3 of my own: A] Fundamentally there are 2 methods of tanning leather; vegetable tanning; and mineral tanning with a small number of people still using oil tanning. The principle method used industrially is mineral tanning which usually employs chromium salts. However, other minerals are also used rather extensively. But the main point is that just dumping anything on your footwear without knowing exactly what the mfgr. used could spell disaster. Worse yet, today many mfgr. use non-leather manmade materials and all manner of glues and adhesives to hold their products together. Once again, without knowing exactly what the mfgr. used or did, you are literally courting disaster by using chemicals and petroleum distilates on your footwear. Some of those things will start to break-down from a very small amount of the wrong chemicals, and you might not even know what's going on for 6 months or more.

B] Having used Iso-Heet (in my car) I can say for a fact that those petroleum distilates stink to high heaven.

C] Whenever shopping for boots, one is always better off to err by buying a larger size. Keep in mind that one can always put on an extra pair of socks or add a little padding to help fill up the space, but trying to stretch too-small boots is a big problem from the start.

BTW, there is a small number of people who still use oil tanning, but because it is almost impossible to glue oil tanned leather, it is highly unlikely you will ever see any oil tanned leather products unless they are specifically stated to be such. Oil tanned or oil treated products are normally used where water is present.

[LadyAlpha]

your Repairer is your friend!

Most shoe repairers stock a shoe stretcher in one shape or form, at £4.95 + Postage buying on-line makes it expensive

I sell shoe stretcher at £3.60 & 3-4 pound is the typical UK price bracket.

I also only charge a couple of pounds to put them on my stretcher, so why not take the worry away completely & drop them into your cobblers for a stretching!

Lee

My feet are wide, but 'thin' (top to bottom) so shoes never fit off the shelf. I use a shoe stretcher bought from my local comfort/orthopaedic shoe shop to just ease out the width, which works wonders.

This just leaves me with the problem of choosing right in the first place: no-one is very keen on having their stock strecthed to see if it will fit me, although a couple of shops in London have done this for me with shoes I was trying on. Worth asking.

[Boots365]

Anyone got any advice on this, please? Just bought a pair from Faith that need stretching a bit - I can get them on and get the zip up, but considering they're supposed to be a size 9, they're very tight!

Should I stuff them with newspaper, or just wear them in gradually?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

SM

Ian at Jean Gaborit suggested I place a deflated soccer ball in the boot and then gently pressurize ball. Obviuosly size and type of boot would have to be taken into consideration. Haven't tried method but it sounds like it would work.

[shoerepairer]

Very logical! I'd try it. Lee

[sm]

Thanks for the tip - sadly, Faith's online range at least only goes up to nine, although I did once buy a pair of size 10 knee boots in there with a decent square heel - still got them in fact. Worn regularly for days when I'm feeling less brave. Thanks to everyone else who replied to this thread, too - I'm happy to say the shoe-stretching spray worked. The left boot is a little tight, but nothing that can't be put up with by your average heel aficionado.

[Puffer]

What spray did you use, sm? Where did you buy it, and at what price, please?