New leather shoes can be uncomfortable to wear as they’re stiff in the beginning. There are several ways you can make them comfy for you. Below are some hacks that’ll help you achieve this feat, check them out in the pointers provided below.
7 tips that might help you with your new shoes
1. Scuff shoes with sandpaper
New leather shoes have smooth soles which don’t provide proper traction. This can make you slip while walking. To prevent this, you can scuff your shoes with the help of sandpaper. By doing this, the sole becomes slightly rough, which makes it easy for you to walk without the risk of falling.
Scuffing involves a simple process, you just have to hold your shoes facing up and then rub the front-bottom sole with the sandpaper. Don’t rub it so hard that it becomes difficult to walk. You just need to make them feel gritty.
2. Prevent blisters with gel deodorant
Commonly, new leather shoes can rub your feet and cause blisters. They can be very painful as you’ve to walk around the entire day for different tasks, or even if you sit, those blisters can make your life very painful. You can reduce those blisters by applying anti-blisters gel deodorant to your skin. This makes the shoes feel comfortable by reducing friction and preventing blisters.
3. Make the shoes bigger by using a hairdryer
If your shoes are tight on your feet, you can use the hairdryer technique to expand them. This is a well-working and easy-to-do process. You’ll just require a hairdryer, a pair of thick woolen socks, and the pair of shoes that are tight.
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First, put on two pairs of thick socks and then wear your shoes. After that, set the hairdryer to medium heat and point it to the places of shoes from where they are tight on your feet. Move it back and forth to prevent them from burning. Keep jiggling your toes to expand the size of shoes, you’ll feel the change within a few seconds, but it’s good to do it for at least 1 minute to make sure the size is changed permanently.
When you’ve done this process, wait for the shoe leather to be cooled down. This will prevent the shoes to get back to their original size.
4. Professionally stretch your shoes using a shoe stretcher
Stretching shoes with the help of a shoe stretcher is a very precise method of increasing their size. You can easily make shoes bigger only by turning a handle. With the help of it, the size can be expanded without damaging the shoes. It can be used to enlarge both the right and the left shoe.
The process is very simple, you just need to enter a stretcher into the shoe then turn the handle until you get your required amount of stretch. Leave the stretcher in for two days to get the best result.
5. Use a leather stretch spray to widen the shoes
Shoe stretch spray is a very effective thing to enlarge shoe size. It’s recommended to use these sprays inside the shoes. Using them from outside can damage the leather, but even if you want to apply it outside, you must spray from a distance to keep the leather safe.
After spraying, wear the shoes and walk inside the house to expand the size. Most people recommend using a stretcher along with the spray to get faster results.
If you want this to be done at cheaper rates, you can also use alcohol to rub on the leather as an alternative.
6. Insert insoles for a better fit
Insoles are pieces of various materials that are inserted inside the shoes. They’re also known as inner soles. Their major purpose is to make shoes comfortable to wear and fit for your feet. Insoles are made from foam, memory foam, gel, air bubbles, leather, bamboo, or similar material.
The type of insole you should choose for your shoes depends on the problem you’re facing. You can use a gel insole if the heel is slipping or the shoes are rubbing your skin. You can use a full-sized leather or foam insole if you want to fill the room in your shoes. Insoles can help to solve many problems that are compromising your comfort.
7. Make your shoes waterproof
It’s very important to waterproof your shoes if you travel to countries where it keeps raining or snowing. Without making them waterproof you can compromise your comfort if the shoes get wet. There are multiple methods of how you can save your shoes from water. You can use waterproofing sprays, beeswax, or put galoshes over your leather shoes.
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In the beeswax method, you’ve to melt the wax then apply it to the shoes with the help of a brush. It’s easier to do the work with waterproofing sprays, you just have to apply them to your shoes directly. Putting galoshes to your shoes is the last option, it makes them waterproof, but you’ve to compromise with their looks.
Some additional tips for better comfort
Make them soft using oil or petroleum jelly
To make your leather shoes more soft and comfortable, apply oil or petroleum jelly on them. This will make your shoes comfier to wear.
If you’re using oil, select one that’s good for leather. Always make sure to read the label on its bottle and avoid using it if it contains any toxic substance. Commonly oils like mink oil, coconut oil, and saddle oil are useful to soften the leather.
Take a clean bowl and pour some oil into it. Dip a piece of cloth or cotton and gently apply it to the shoes. Coat them once and then leave them to dry. Once dry, check if they are as soft as your requirement, if yes, good. If not, apply another coat on them to make them softer.
Often wear them and walk a little
It’s another good tip to walk around wearing your shoes for a lesser period like a quarter or half a day. This softens the shoes and prevents hurting your feet. If your feet are still burning due to their stiffness, you can wear an additional pair of socks to speed up the expansion process. It’s very important to be patient as this is a time taking process. Shoe softening can also take more than a month or two.
Always make sure to wear your leather shoes when they’re dry. Also, avoid wearing them in the rain as wet leather can easily break or become irregular when used.
Polish them regularly
Polishing the shoes regularly can help a lot in softening the leather. The best time to polish your shoes is when you arrive home after a whole day of using them. At that time, your shoes are a little moistened due to the warmness of your feet and can easily absorb the polish or oil. This helps the material to become soft faster. It’s recommended to leave your shoes for a while after applying polish to them and buff them later.
If you follow these tips you are likely to gain a lot of comfort and your shoes are likely to last a lot longer if you properly care for them.
Photo credit: The feature image has been done by Kenji Tanimura.
This guest article has been submitted by Sibtain Haider. We appreciate all guest contributions but the opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views of TechAcute.