How to stretch a pair of leather shoes

[farmerslife]

I have a pair a lovely Clarks brogues, however I can't wear them for long with out crippling my very un glamorous bunions !! I thought I would try to stretch them a little I have had them a couple of years and think if I could get past this stage they would be nice a comfy, so any tips !!

A tip I have read but not tried is to wear the shoes with a pair of thick and wet socks (indoors obv.) to stretch the leather.

Umm might give that a whirl my feet are not my best feature and finding nice shoes is just so hard x

Get the leather really hot with a hair dryer/ on a hot radiator then (wearing thick socks so you don't burn your feet) put them on till the leather cools.

Punch do a shoe stretching spray. Its great. You can also buy sho stretchers that can be used with the spray. Buy from amazon or ebay. I have heard you can also get them stretched st a cobblers.

The local shoe man said he can do spray and stretch after I mentioned my shoes were tight because of bunions. You know, I actually mind the word 'bunions' more than the things themselves!

It may be possible to DIY but if I loved the shoes I'd rather not risk making a bad job of it.

A good cobblers will have a stretching machine, should only cost a few pounds and will be more effective than trying yourself.

Think will brave the cobblers it would be a shame to ruin them.
Yes something I think you are right the word Bunions has such old lady vibes but I have had them all my life !!! Hate the wa y the hurt wouldn't mind the way they look if they didn't hurt so much !

Something I've seen, which I haven't tried, but seems to make sense is: half fill two strong ziplock bags with water, squeeze most of the air out, and put one in each shoe. Then freeze the lot overnight. I suppose the science is that the water expands as it freezes, so stretching the leather.

My mum used to put damp newspaper in shoes, pack it really tight then dry them out on radiator.

Agree on being careful - you don't want to hurt them

I have done the freezer bag thing.
Popped them in the freezer twice , each time as soon as they came out I put the shoes on whilst wearing thick welly boot socks and walked around wiggling my toes!

Also blasted them with hairdryer then pressed inside them (down the toe end ) with the handle of a wooden spoon to slacken / soften the leather.

This combination of jiggery pokery worked a treat , Very comfy leather courts now .