How to break in a hard leather pair of boots?

[Lottapianos]

I wore my new ankle boots for the first time yesterday. They are lovely but the leather around the heels is very stiff and hard and has skinned my left heel quite a lot. Any ideas for softening the leather quickly, or do I just have to wear plasters on my heels until they wear in naturally?

Thanks

I would put some protective compede on and tough it out.

The only other thing is to wear much thicker socks than you would normally and wear them for short periods and have other shoes to change into.

Round the heels is difficult because it's not really an area that will benefit from shoe stretching.

Thick socks - hiking socks are partic good for this.

Wear around the house for increasing periods of time

Wear for a short journey and then change shoes (eg I wear on the journey to work and change when I get there)

Compeed do both an anti blister wax stick which you rub over the areas that are likely to get sore (don't use on broken skin) and also blister plasters that protect the blistered spots - I recommend both.

Is it possible to stretch shoes then? If so please tell me how xxx

cobblers - key cutting/reheeling places will do it.

May cost more than the badly-designed boots, of course.

I successfully stretched a pair if leather shoes after following a method I found on YouTube . It involved filling a sandwich bag with water ,tying a knot ,packing the bag into the shoe then popping in freezer overnight. The water expands in the bag - stretching the shoe. I did this twice and each time as soon as they were out the freezer I instantly put them on with thick welly boot socks on and walked about. The final part involved directing a hot hairdryer at then then kneading the inside if the shoes whilst still warm with the end if a wooden spoon. Sounds crazy but my beautiful pointy leather court shoes fit me like a glove now. Not sure if you could apply any if this to a boot tho ?

Put on some thick socks, put your boots on. Blast with a hair dryer for about 30 seconds each foot. Leave boots on and wiggle your toes around til they cool down. Repeat as necessary.
disclaimer This is what my friend does, all my boots are fake leather!

You can buy a shoe stretching spray. Its very good.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/261064794996?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

Im sure i only paid £7.00 for it so shop around. It really does work and you can combine it with shoe stretchers that fit in shoes and stretch them gently.
I love the shoe stretching spray because i have bunions and new shoes often pinch.

Double layer running socks. They'll stop you getting blisters until the boots soften naturally. You can help them soften by applying neatsfoot oil to the problem areas

I've just tried smothering my feet in Vaseline and walking around the house for a couple of days in new leather brogues and it's worked brilliantly. The advice is to put loads on the bits of your feet which rub the most. I also found other advice online about wearing leather shoes in at home wearing wet socks but haven't tried it because the Vaseline worked for me.

Put them on with thick, damp socks. Wander round a bit. Job done.

Wear tights and then socks on top - the sock between the boot and your foot will rub against the tights, not your skin, if that makes sense.

compeed or scholl blister plasters for a week or two, I would worry with wet socks or using vaseline that it would damage or stain the boots.

My grandma used to put a cut potatoe in shoes to stretch them. Something to do with enzymes? I have no idea.
I use double walled socks. That is probably not the correct term but they have two layers. I got mine from m and s.

My Dad used to bash our new shoes with a hammer, wrapped in a towel, to soften up the stiff bits.

My Nan had a special shoe stretcher that worked like a vice - nothing as exciting as chunks of potatoes and hammers!

I have one foot bigger than the other. I take one shoe to menders in local market for stretching. It cost about £3.