How to Stretch Shoes for Wide Feet? 9 Easy Ways!

Over the years, shoes have graduated from just protecting the feet to providing a whole lot of luxury and showcasing people’s personalities. However, one thing that hasn’t changed is the comfort that one should get from shoes. Wearing shoes that hurts your feet can be so uncomfortable, and at the end of the day, they may result in serious injuries.

There are several shoes out there in varying sizes, and choosing those with the perfect size for you can be quite challenging. You may get the shoes with desirable designs, but they may turn out bigger or smaller than your feet. But, in a case where the footwear comes smaller than your feet, what do you do? Well, this article covers excellent tips and tricks on how to stretch shoes for wide feet.

Stretching Your Shoes: 9 Effective Methods

Moving about with tight shoes can be quite disastrous, causing severe harm to your feet. Tight shoes can cause your feet to become unstable, lead to toe deformation, and result in the formation of blisters. They can also cause numbness of the feet, bunions, and severe pains around your heel.

If you find your shoes a little bit tight and uncomfortable, you can stretch them using these tips below:

1. Get a Shoe Repairer or Cobbler

The Cobbler or Shoe repairers can provide the perfect solution for tight shoes, as they have a variety of methods they can use in stretching these shoes. You can find many professional repairers that provide these shoe stretching services to help alter your shoes to fit your feet. Please note that these cobblers or professional shoe repairers do not just stretch your shoes, they also improve the overall appearance and make them last longer.

2. Walk in those Shoes Ahead of Time

Let’s say you would be using your shoes tomorrow, and you find out that they are tight; you should try to stretch them by walking in them from today or a few days before. This practice helps soften your feet until they feel right in those shoes. For new shoes, you can try walking on carpets or rugs so that you can return them if you can’t handle the discomfort.

3. Try Using Thick Socks

The use of thick socks is an excellent method that provides some extra stretch and conforms to the feet. Clad your feet in those thick socks and quickly wear your tight shoes. It may seem uncomfortable at first, but keep it on for some time, and you would get a fantastic result.

4. Use Hair Dryers

The use of hair dryers to stretch shoes is beneficial. You can do this by wearing your footwear with your feet clad in socks. Then, use the hairdryer on the tight points by blowing hot air for about 20 – 30 seconds. Please, keep the hairdryer on medium heat, as excessive heat can cause harm to your shoes. This is one of the best method to stretch leather shoes at home immediately.

5. Using Shoe Stretchers/Shoe Trees

There are many shoe stretchers and shoe trees available in various shoe shops, and they come in multiple forms. You can find those made of wood and also stretcher made of steel. They are an excellent means to help stretch shoes for wide feet if kept inside the footwear for an extended time.

The shoe trees are quite affordable, and they come with plugs that tackle tightness issues around the shoe’s toe box. You can get those that would work effectively for both male and female shoes.

6. Frozen Water Bags

Using this incredible technique, all you have to do is fill the zip-closed bag with water and freezing it. It is an excellent solution for non-leather shoes, as it helps stretch the shoes in no time. Fill the water bags placing them in the shoe. Then, freeze the shoe overnight or until it turns to ice. Then, you would notice an expansion that stretches your shoe. This is also one of the best method to stretch shoes at home.

7. Using Shoe Sprays

There are various shoe sprays that you can get to help you get this task done, as they can stretch leather, vinyl, and fabrics. Alternatively, you can use a mixture of water and alcohol, mixing them in equal proportions. Then, spray them in the shoes and wait for the stretching results. For significant results, you can use these sprays with shoe stretchers.

8. Change to a new wider and thinner insole

If you change your shoe insole with a thinner and wider insole, it will help you to free up your feet.

9. Stretch Shoes using Newspaper

It’s a trick you can do at home. The newspaper is very manageable, and easy to apply. Simply roll up a few moist newspaper pages. Put them in your shoes and wait some time. If you leave the paper in your shoes overnight and remove it in the morning, your shoes will expand on their own.

Tricks for Picking the Right Shoe: Buying Tips

Here are some tips that can help you pick the right shoes to prevent you from stretching these shoes.

Test these shoes on before purchasing them and if you can’t do so there in the shoe store, make sure they provide a return policy to that effect.
Choose shoes that would provide enough space for your toes. If you keep having issues finding them, try avoid those that comes curvy shapes or irregular shapes.

Go for brands with the perfect shape and width that works for your feet.
Ask for help while at the store, as most salespersons have experience fitting shoes; they can make the right suggestion for you.
If you have some medical issues with your feet, you can visit designated stores with perfect orthopedic footwear.

Try to shop for shoes towards the end of the day. Typically, your feet must have gotten swollen from the day’s activities. With that, you can get the perfect shoes that wouldn’t get tight.

FAQ’s

How to tell that shoes don’t fit?

A good pair of shoes that is excessively snug will cause your toes to turn inside, feel cramped together, or overlap. There should be enough room between each toe when wearing shoes that fit properly, and the toes should point straight ahead rather than to one side.

Can I Stretch Fabric Shoes?

Yes you can stretch fabric shoes using using hair dryer or shoe stretchers. Be careful when you do that, because fabric can be torn out if don’t do it properly.

How Do You Stretch Shoes that Aren’t Made of Leather?

No worries. It’s possible to stretch non-leather shoes with hairdryer trick and thick socks or the newspaper hack.

Conclusion

Now you know, how to stretch shoes for wide feet. But remember, Having tight shoes on for an extended period can be very tiring and cause severe injuries to the feet. If you’ve got those desirable shoes that seem quite tight on you, it would be best if you stretch them before wearing them. You can go through the tips and tricks provided in this article and get those shoes stretched.

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