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How to stretch tight leather shoes?

Polishing time:

10-15 minutes

Difficulty

Beginners

Introduction

Are your shoes a little small or do they pinch your feet in certain spots? Then in that case a shoe stretcher might be the solution! Normally, people would drop off their shoes at the local shoe cobbler, but it is nice to have control over the stretching process so you can stretch your shoes exactly to the point you find them comforable.

Step 1.

Leather stretch spray

Get the shoes you want to stretch ready by using a leather stretch spray such as Tarrago expander spray. Spray Tarrago expander on the painful areas of your shoes. Spray mainly the inside of the shoes, but give the outside a light spritz as well for good measure.

Step 2.

Stretching shoes

Place the shoe stretcher with attachments of choice into your shoes. The attachments can be easily pressed into the holes on the shoe stretcher. This way you can put extra pressure on tight spots on the shoes.

Give the shoes 12 hours to stretch the leather of the shoes. We recommend using only light pressure during the first round of stretching and increasing the pressure each round.

Too much pressure at once can potentially damage the shoe stretcher and the shoes.

Good to know

Shoe trees vs shoe stretchers

You probably have seen both the term shoe tree and shoe stretcher come by during your search online. Often people think these are the same. However, these two products have two completely different purposes. A shoe tree focuses on keeping your shoes in shape and therefore slowing down the forming of creases in the leather. They are part of a good shoe care routine, while a shoe stretcher is meant only to enlarge and widen shoes that are too small.

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