How To Stretch Shoes With Alcohol
No, not that kind of alcohol, silly! Using rubbing alcohol aka isopropyl alcohol is definitely a solver of the how to stretch out shoes problem, but is also a great way to break in new shoes. I buy my rubbing alcohol from my nearby pharmacy or Walmart.
And you can stretch your shoes with alcohol at home, so easily! Ive used this trick a few times myself and it works miracles. There are two ways to show you how to stretch shoes with alcohol of the rubbing kind:
This method is best for: Expanding all or parts of the shoe and for footwear that requires a minor stretch. Rubbing alcohol is best used on shoes made of natural materials & fabrics. Avoid repeated use on fancy leather shoes, as rubbing alcohol dries leathers out. And dont worry about rubbing alcohol ruining your shoes.
Shop highly rated shoe stretch sprays, below:
Stuff Things In The Shoes
For this, you can choose to use clean insoles, or use ready-made materials such as cotton, scrolls or even sheets. Whatever your choice, make sure it is soft enough to minimize long-term tension between its toes and the insertion.
You have to be careful with cotton and paper. If you start sneezing on your feet, you feel better, which can be disgusting. So, please remove them frequently or as soon as you start to feel comfortable.
Should Sneakers Be A Size Bigger
Sneakers shouldnt necessarily be one size biggerit depends on what youre using them for. If youre wearing them casually, then no, its best to go with your size. However, if youre using them for sports, such as running, you can go half a size to one size up.
Due to the increased blood flow during exercise, feet tend to swell, which could make your shoe feel uncomfortably tight. Still, measure your feet and follow the manufacturers suggestions.
Watch this video for helpful tips on how to size your feet for running shoes.
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Stuff The Toe Area Or Wear Thicker Socks
The most obvious way of making the shoe area smaller than before is right in your sock drawer. I find this big-shoe remedy low cost and quite effective for that matter. Doubling the number of socks you wear takes up bits of the space that creates the big-shoe nightmare.
Alternatively, a single thick pair of socks could still do the trick. The thick layer of padding created results in a tight fit of sorts, making the shoes small in away. As you might have thought, this hack does not work for open-toe sandals, but only for trainers and boots.
Also, remember not to layer up the number of socks over summer, more so if you sweat a lot. The thick layers are bad for breathability. A better solution is to stuff padded, soft materials in the toe area of the shoes.
Ideal wadded materials that work best are thin rags, toilet paper, tissue paper, or better yet, cotton balls. If your foot slides back and forth during walks, then this solution works perfectly for you. Moreover, you can stuff the shoe anywhere.
Try Out Wet Socks Method
This is yet another working method that you can try at your home. You can wear wet socks and then wear your big sized shoes. After walking in your shoes with wet socks for few days, you will see some size shrinking in your shoes.
Things You Will Need
1. First you will need a pair of reliable thick socks.2. Take hot water in a bowl. Now dip your socks into the water.3. After making your socks wet with hot water, wear them on your feet.4. Now wear your shoes after your socks and walk in them for few minutes.5. Repeat this process for next 2-3 days till you get satisfactory results for yourself.6. You can use blow dryer too for warming up the shoe areas where you need to shrink it down a bit.7. This method is more efficient for leather and sheepskin shoes.
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Shoes Too Big This May Be Your Quick Fix
You know that moment when youve literally found your sole mate? Its the perfect style, the perfect color & its even on sale! But maybe, just maybe youve overlooked that these pretty-as-pie shoes are too big? Or maybe you found that fabulous pair, but somehow managed to stretch them out & now they no longer fit so well?
Shop Sizers:
Thats what happened to me with one of my newer pairs these gold capped beige heels from Ivanka Trump, pictured in this post. After a night of dancing, what I believed to be a perfectly fitting shoe, became too large, with an obvious gaping hollow back-end of my heel. Now, not only are these shoes too big, theyre relatively uncomfortable to walk in & look sloppy. Tragic, I know.
Between insoles, inserts & various shoe accessories, there isnt a lack of choice when it comes to gadgets you can use to make shoes smaller.
But many regular insoles will simply lift your foot, rather than correcting size length. Great at creating an all-over tighter fitting shoe, but some of us dont want that. Some of us ladies just want to resolve the problem of our shoes being too long in length!
Thats why I had to tryShoe Sizersas soon as I spotted them on Twitter! Theyre a fab little foam shoe insert for shoes that are too big.
Use Ball Of Foot Cushions
If you find that adding a full insole to the bottom of your shoes is a bit uncomfortable, or that it makes the shoe too small, then this is the perfect solution for you.
You can use a special cushion thats designed to be placed at the ball of your foot inside the shoe, to make it more comfortable and better fitting. Its made for shoes that are just a tad too big for you when putting a full insole makes them uncomfortable. These types of cushions can come in different colors, shapes, and sizes and are perfect for any ill-fitting flats or high heels.
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How To Tell If Shoes Are Too Big
The easiest way to tell if shoes are too big is to try them on and walk around the store.
Putting shoes on
If youre trying on sneakers or dress shoes, the first tell is in the laces. If your feet are only comfortable when you pull the laces extra tight, the shoes are likely too wide for you.
Another tip when you first put dress shoes on is to try a finger test. If you can fit more than one finger behind your heel with your toes touching the top of the shoe, the shoes are too long for you.
When it comes to heels, you should have less room to spare. If your feet are comfortably pushed into the front of your pumps, you shouldnt have more than 1 cm between your shoes and your skin. If your heels are popping out of the back, they are too long for you.
Walking in potential shoes
Next comes the walking portion of the process. If your feet slide back and forth while you walk, the shoes are too big in length and you may consider going down a half or full size.
However, if your feet are sliding side to side, the shoes are too wide for you. Downsizing in length with wide shoes may cause pain and injury to your toes and isnt always the right solution.
Yet, neither problem is a complete death sentence for the style youre attempting to achieve.
How To Tighten Trainers And Dress Shoes
How to tighten your shoe depends on what material theyre made from. There are several good ways of ensuring most trainers and dress shoes fit more snugly:
- Wear thicker or an additional pair of socks. Thick socks will add extra bulk to your feet and provide a tighter fit inside your shoe. This option works well for boots and walking shoes, too.
- Use a padded heel grip. Padding out the back of your shoe with a small heel cushion or piece of foam can close the gap between the shoe and your foot. This will tighten any looseness and reduce rubbing.
- Use a padded toe cushion. Likewise, sticking a small piece of padded foam in at the toe will close the gap between the point of the shoe and your big toe, helping to reduce any movement.
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Buying Shoes For Narrow Feet
Although there are a number of techniques you can try to make regular shoes fit to narrow feet, the number one best thing you can do is buying shoes specifically for narrow feet. Narrow shoes are designed to properly fit narrow widths to provide support and comfort in all of you daily activities so you can say goodbye to foot pain and discomfort forever.
As a leader in the specialty shoe sizes, VANELi proudly offers a wide range of shoes to accommodate women with narrow width feet, offering styles ranging from sandals to dress shoes, to athleisure, to flats and so much more. Below are some of our favorite narrow shoes for women that provide extreme comfort and style!
Stitch An Elastic Band Inside The Shoe
If you are handy with sewing, then this hack will work for you. Otherwise, you may end up damaging the shoes. The aim of stitching an elastic band inside the shoes is to create a tight fit by pulling together the inside of the heel area of the shoe.
Youll need a thread, needle, and the elastic bands to be stitched on each of the shoes. While any loose part of the shoes will do the trick, the inner portion of the heel area is best suited. After stretching the elastic band in place, keep it tight as you sew it all around.
For those who are not handy with sewing, safety pins are helpful in accomplishing the above step. When done, let go of the elastic bend. As it stretches out, the loose material is pulled together, resulting in a relatively smaller fit than before.
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Adjust The Shoe Laces To Make Your Shoes Fit Better
Now theres actually another thing that I did to get the shoes to hold onto my feet better. Its so easy it might sound really silly I changed the shoelaces! Look at the very first picture in this post. Do you notice that the shoelaces dont go all the way up? They left one hole free on every side, probably so that the golden logo still shows. I simply squeezed the laces through the top holes and that worked surprisingly well! Sure, the logo is going to get all wrinkly and messy after a while which is a shame, but Id rather have wrinkly logos than no Superstars at all!
And heres the finished result! Heel strips in the back and shoelaces that go all the way up. Im glad I decided to try this instead of returning the shoes! Now that Im typing this, I think I am going to buy that extra pair of heel strips after all. They will come in handy, either way!
What is your personal trick to make shoes fit better?
Use Ball Of Foot Cushions To Reduce The Toe Box Area
This is another proven method which you can implement at your home with ease. You just need to buy few ball of foot cushions online for your shoes.Most of the times, it is your toe box which is very large and that causes your shoes to become too big to fit. You can reduce the internal space of your toe box with the help of metatarsal pads or ball of foot cushions available in the market.
Things You Will Need
Actual Procedure
1. This method is particularly effective for high heels and dressy shoes.2. You will need one pair of metatarsal pads. Just peel off the protective cover from the pad and stick them on the insole of your shoe.3. They are not insoles but they work much similar to sockliner.4. They help efficiently in reducing the internal toe box space. Due to this, it prevents the sliding down of your foot and also avoids your heel slippage.
You can watch the following video to understand how to use these metatarsal pads to make your big shoes fit comfortably.
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How To Make Big Shoes Fit
Sometimes, you need to know how to make big shoes fit. Whether its because youre borrowing someone elses shoes, picking up a one-of-a-kind thrift store find, or you picked out the wrong size, there are some times when were just stuck with a shoe thats slightly too large. Thankfully, there are several strategies you can use to make large shoes fit you better !
If you try to wear big shoes without any extra support, you can end up with unstable footing. Large shoes tend to flop around, and you could end up twisting an ankle or worse if you dont walk carefully in them.
Not only do the strategies in this guide help you make these shoes feel better, but theyll help you walk more safely in them, too. For these reasons and more, if youre planning to wear big shoes, its essential to know how to make big shoes fit.
Stretch With A Blowdryer
You can speed up the stretching process for leather shoes using thick socks and a blowdryer. The heat loosens up the leather, so it can mold to your foot.
Instructions:
Cover your feet with one or two pair of socks
Then put on your shoes and blast them on medium heat for 30 secondsyou want to move the nozzle to different spots on your shoes to avoid overheating any particular area and cracking the leather.Repeat this process until your feet slip in comfortably.
I tested this on a pair of suede booties that were a little tight around the balls of my feet. After rotating the dryer around the front of the shoe for about two minutes, there was definitely more room. I was able to walk in them easily with just one pair of sockssuccess! Make sure to apply a leather or suede conditioner afterwards, as the heat can dry out leather.
Best for: Leather or suede oxfords and boots
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How To Tell If Your Shoes Are Too Big
Weve all been there. You try on a stylish pair of shoes and discover that your usual size is tight but the size up is a little too roomy for your liking. Maybe you have one foot bigger than the other, which requires you to fork out on two pairs in different sizes.
But, how do you know if your shoes are too big? Well, it all comes down to comfort.
It may seem fairly obvious when a pair doesnt quite offer that Cinderella fit, but we discovered that a huge 76% of people havent had their feet measured properly since school, meaning some of us could actually be wearing the wrong size without even knowing.
Well, youre not alone! The Duchess of Sussex herself is said to wear shoes that are too big for her on purpose to avoid blisters or bunions However, wearing shoes that are too big can actually do more harm than good.
We recommend accurately measuring your feet to find shoes that fit you to a T.
Visit A Shoe Care Professional
You can always take the shoes to a professional if youd rather not risk damaging themthis may be a better option if they are expensive. Cobblers can use a variety of methods to shrink your shoes for a better fit. Though cobblers may not be as popular as they were a hundred years ago, they are still treasures to anyone whos ever had issues with a shoe that they didnt want to throw out. Keep in mind that their services can be on the expensive side, so youll want to make sure that the shoe is worth it.
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Use The Freezer Method
Put your shoes in the freezer? Yes, really!
Instructions:
Fill a sandwich-size Ziploc bag one-third of the way with water.Secure tightly, leaving a little room at the top. Squeeze the bag to make sure there aren’t any invisible holes .Place the bag in the shoe. Make sure to mold the bag down into the toe area, where shoes tend to feel especially tight.Put the shoes in the freezer until the water becomes ice. Once the ice has formed, you can take out your shoes to thaw for about 20 minutes.Repeat this method multiple times until you reach the size you need.
I first attempted this ice method on a pair of leather oxfords, but I found it’s tough to get the bag down into the instep area. So, in my experience, the blowdryer is a much better method for closed shoes, but I did pull off a half-size stretch on a pair of pointed-toe kitten heels. The corners of the Ziploc slid right into the structured tips, and now my toes are no longer squeezed on top of each other.
Best for: Peep-toe or pointed-toe heels, sneakers, and other non-leather shoes
