Can you stretch shoes or is it a myth?

[MadreInglese]

I have some lovely charidee shop shoes that are beautiful but a smidge too tigh to wear comfortably.

I remember my grandma wittering about stretching or softening shoes by stuffing them with wet newspaper - does it work or is it an old wives' tale?

If shoes are leather then the leather will giveso I am sure it is possible. Not sure about the method though.

Don't they still do it for you at the cobblers?

Have googled and found some bizarre methods such as filling them with a sealed bag of water and freezing them, or filling with a bag of oats and adding water!?!

Would be interested to know if anyone has actually suucessfully stretched some shoes.

If they are leather, you can, to a point. You can take them to a cobbler to get it done. Not sure about home methods - I have tried the "walking in them at home in thick socks" method, which is not terribly successful...

they are leather

ooh do they paisleyleaf? (I didn't really want to pay if I could do it myself but it's an option)

apparently you can buy shoe stretchers !!

The wet newspaper does work. It's best if you get it wet with warm water and leave in a warm steamy atmosphere for a while (while you have the shower running, for instance, then shut door and leave shoes inside while the room is still steamy) then dry somewhere warm with the newspaper still inside. You need to stuff it really tightly.

However, those wooden shoe-stretchers are really great, not expensive and much easier plus you can use them to stretch a specific part of the shoe. You can usually find them in John Lewis etc. You can also get shoe-stretching spray to use with the wooden stretchers which is good.

I used to work in theatre wardrobe so have a bit of knowledge about this kind of thing.

Thanks for your replies

Horton would wet newspaper not make a black mess of the inside of the shoes or would you line them with something first?

I think I may need to invest in a shoe-stretcher as I'm a half size so I constantly end up in too-big shoes with an in-sole which is a faff

i think there is a spray you can buy to soften the leather to make it more stretchable as well.....

Oh, I see Horton mentioned it already

If your shoes are pale, there's nothing to stop you using any kind of absorbent pale paper (sugar paper, tissue paper, whatever). But the actual leather needs to get damp for it to work so I wouldn't advise lining the shoes.

Great minds think alike, jamie.

Shoe stretching spray, which you can buy, is just a mixture of water and rubbing alcohol. You're supposed to spray it on inside and out and then wear the shoes until they dry. You might have to repeat a few times. Then you have to use some good polish or leather conditioner to compensate for the drying effect of the alcohol.

All that said I haven't really found it works too well . . . .

They will stretch them at your local Timpson's for £5.

I think a fiver is shockingly expensive, given that all they do is get them damp and put some of those wooden shoe stretchers in them then leave them to dry in a warm place, all of which is pretty easily achieved at home. The wooden shoe stretchers cost about a tenner so if you have wide feet then they are definitely a cheaper option than Timpsons as you can use them on every pair of shoes you ever buy.

I think shoe stretching spray works pretty well but I absolutely wouldn't use it while wearing the shoes because it will hurt your feet. I'd use it with wooden shoe stretchers and put the shoes in an airing cupboard or similar and do the spray then dry thing a few times, increasing the stretch each time. After that, it might be worth a spray or two the first couple of times when you wear the shoes.

If they're too tight in the length, then no, they can't be stretched but if it's in the width, then yes.

Most shoe shops who claim to have a 'shoe-stretching gizmo' are doing nothing more than taking the shoe in the back and steaming the inside/tightest part over a hot kettle then manipulating the leather with their hands or broom handle. You can do this at home, and you don't need fancy sprays either. Just do repeatedly and wear why still warm and you should notice a difference after a few steams

Please don't put your shoes in an airing cupboard as the heat will cause the leather to contract thus achieving the opposite result to the one you desire*! And never ever stuff them with wet anything either, it will encourage the leather to rot - remember, leather is a breathing thing and needs to be treated properly.
(**And this is why you should never dry out wet shoes on a radiator, always stuff with newspaper and let dry naturally!)

PS. The shoe stretchers some of you mention are not actually used as that, they're lasts to keep your shoes in shape and nothing more!

If the shoes are damp while in the airing cupboard, the dampness and heat will help the leather to stretch. And you need to stuff the shoe very tightly with something damp otherwise nothing will happen and the leather will loosen a bit with the damp and heat and go straight back to where it was when it is no longer damp and warm. The idea is that as the leather dries, it contracts around the very tightly stuffed filling which should be more tightly stuffed in than a foot would be.

As for those shoe stretchers, they are used in pretty much every wardrobe department in the West End to stretch shoes. You can screw different bits of them in and out to stretch eg the heel or toe. You can certainly stretch the length a little with some of them if they unscrew in that direction but obviously not much as otherwise the sole would be too short.

I worked for more than four years on a show where we had a massive cast change every few months (children) and every pair of shoes that needed to be stretched was stretched in a hot cupboard (much hotter than an airing cupboard and used for drying wigs and costume usually) using dampness and a wooden shoe stretcher. Apart from the very very tiny shoes which would not fit on a stretcher where we often used damp paper or fabric. A lot of those shoes lasted four years and more. None of them rotted, AFAIK.

You can stretch your shoes by using shoe/boot stretcher. Using a boot stretcher for expanding your instep is pretty simple if you have all of the things. So without further ado, here is everything you will need to get things started.
Shoe stretching liquid/spray
Leather conditioner
Shoe stretcher (Wood, Metal or any other material)
Thick socks.
If you want to know more you can visit the link: www.bestshoesstretchers.com/using-a-boot-instep-stretcher-for-getting-your-shoe-vamp-stretched/

Cobbler did my boots.