Hot tip

[rydra_wong]

To break in super-tight new shoes faster:

Put your shoes in a plastic bag, closed as tightly as you can. Wrap it in towels soaked in boiling water. After about 5 minutes, the rubber will be warm and pliable enough to get the shoes on with minimal agony.

Put them on and wear them round the house for a while (some people recommend skipping or jumping up and down in them, but that seems unduly masochistic) while they mould to your feet.

Repeated as needed.

(Sharing because I just learned about this trick and have been using it today, with great success. Only traces of water got on the shoes, so looks like you don't have to worry about damaging the leather.)

Comments

[ridicully]

I do not understand what you mean with "wear them around the house for a while". People can actually *walk* in new shoes?

(My new pair is so downturned and asymetrical, even after I've broken them in nicely and can put them on without any major problems, walking in them is next to impossible...)

[wpadmirer]

Huh. I'll have to share this with my climbing partner. She has a pair of shoes she bought for bouldering that are really tight.

I have arthritis in my feet, so I only buy my shoes 1/2 size smaller. It's as much as I can take.