by Jonte Rhodes

Created on: April 09, 2010

Shoes that seem to fit just right in the shoe store can often feel tight when you actually start walking around in them. One way to alleviate this if the shoes cannot be exchanged is to stretch them out so that they are marginally looser.

Before you decide to stretch any shoes, there is an important difference between shoes that are too tight and those that merely need to be worn in. Certain kinds of shoes tend to be stiff and can often feel tight if they are new, but will loosen by themselves over time.

Probably the easiest way to loosen a pair of shoes is to wear them indoors for a while before using them outside. The softer surfaces inside the home will make sure that they will not be as uncomfortable if they are tight, and will give them time to wear in. Many people make the mistake of buying a stiff pair of shoes and wearing them on hard surfaces right away. If the shoes are a little tight, or need time to soften, then they will often be painful to wear.

One easy way to stretch shoes is simply to put them through a wash cycle in your washing machine. Now obviously this is fine for sneakers and the like, but with leather or expensive shoes you might not want to risk it. This is also a good way to clean white sneakers or tennis shoes, although can cause the color to fade in other colors.

The most common way of stretching shoes is to use a shoe stretcher. These can come in all shapes and sized but usually resemble a plastic or wooden foot with a split in the middle and a screw on the end. As you turn the screw the foot gets longer and wider inside the shoe and stretches out the leather. After leaving the stretcher in place, usually for a few hours, the shoe is then much easier to get on.

Shoe stretchers are commonly sold in shoe stores and department stores, and are usually inexpensive. The only thing to be wary about is making sure that you don't stretch the shoes out too much, especially if they're expensive, as the process is often irreversible.

Similarly wetting shoes before you put them on will cause them to stretch and then reform around your foot, making them easier to slip on and off. Unfortunately this does have the downside of forcing you to wear wet shoes, which might be considered more annoying than having tight shoes.

Most people in fact have one foot slightly larger than the other, meaning if you have a pair of shoes that is tight to begin with, it might well feel more uncomfortable on one foot more than the other. This is often a good case for having

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