Shoe stretcher

New shoe time. The only shoes that will stretch are leather, and not that much. It’s just age. Yours, not the shoes. And your big toe is actually short, don’t blame the second toe, lol.

+1 to what Ken said. I assume you already tried moving to thinner socks.

Cross Country boots will start to go on sale in a few weeks,assuming you know your new size, you could snag some good deals on the web.

Your shoes are probably in need of being replaced by now.  Just because they look fine doesn’t mean the support is still up to par.

Stretchers can help leather shoes and boots to stretch out a specific point that’s too tight.  But they won’t make the sole longer, which is what you’d need. Just get new shoes.

There have been several discussions about our shoe size growing with age. Sometimes with some shoes a combination of trimming the shoe and change of sock can get you there. But it is probably time to pony up for the new shoes.

Back in the day of leather boots, Colin Fletcher advised walking around with wet shoes to have them more quickly conform. Frederick the Great introduced the practice in his army of using animal fat on bare feet in leather shoes. I don’t think the armies of the past smelled so great…

Wow, cut off toe parts? That’s dedication!

I don’t know how old you are but I found that some time in my early 30’s my feet grew by 1/2 a size. Not sure if it’s my age or the fact I wore flip-flops for most of my 20’s or that I was just on my feet a whole lot more. Regardless, from what I read and the dr. told me, this is not unusual even with strong feet (weak feet can flatten and become bigger). The other possibility isn’t so much a lengthening of your feet but a thickening of your joints which make your toes higher volume and thus hit the top of your toebox (and cause black toenails).

Either way, just get some new shoes. Much less painful than lopping off a digit!

I do have one simple and inexpensive thing to try. Clean them well inside and out with water and a saddle soap (does help even synthetics), I like https://www.fiebing.com/catalogue/soaps-oils/?product=103. Dry and brush. Put 1 to 2 cups of water in a baggie, into the toe box, put them in freezer toes down to freeze. You can repeat the freezing process several times to gradually widen the toe box.

KM

“With age, everything gets bigger, hairier, and closer to the ground.”

To repeat Bruce’ thought: Try thinner socks.  Even really, really thin socks like men’s nylon business socks or women’s short nylon stockings.  You say they are warm, so there are some conditions in which they could be a little less warm and still work okay.  And if they’re well broken in for your feet, you may not need any padding from thick socks to avoid blisters.

Otherwise, you’re in for a new pair of ski boots.  Since your feet aren’t getting any smaller in the years ahead and because we rarely try on shoes after having been on our feet all day (we should), wear your bulkiest socks when you go boot shopping.  Then you can go to thinner socks in the future, as needed.

Stretching footwear only works on leather. It will not increase the length, only the width and overall volume of the shoe. You might feel like synthetic shoes stretch with time, but it’s not the upper material stretching, its the foam packing down which gives more room for width and instep height but not more length. If your feet are hitting the end you need new shoes, there is no other option. You should have at least a thumb width of room at the end of your shoes.

It’s normal for your feet to get bigger. Sometimes my feet swell up for extended periods of time (several weeks) and then contract back smaller for a while. All reasons to buy shoes that are nice and roomy but still hold your foot securely.

Shoes are made out of layers of plastic, rubber, leather, foam, fabric…

Sometimes on an older boot, a rubber or plastic piece will start telegraphing through.  An edge will start bending over or something and I’ll get a blister there.

Occasionally I’ve pushed out on it from the inside and maybe it would help.  A shoe stretcher would be nice.  I have a shoe stretcher like thing but it doesn’t work very good.

Sometimes I’ll put a piece of stiff plastic between my foot and the spot, and wear it all day, and it pushes down the edge of the plastic/rubber piece

Thanks for the many suggestions everyone. I guess lopping the last knuckle off my toes is a bit extreme, and actually more costly than buying new gear. Just tired of looking at the icky toes. How long does it take for the black to go away? Our ski trip was Jan 3rd. They’re still nasty, but don’t hurt that much any more. I’ll try some of the attempts at stretching the boots, wear some thinner socks and see how skiing goes this weekend. If it doesn’t work I’ll fork out the dough for new stuff; much as I hate to spend money (got a 15% pay cut last year!) I can’t sit by when the snow is good and the weather is warm.

I’ve had some success stretching the width of a couple of old trail runners. I used a wooden stretcher I got from amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000POHSFG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1   Works only if you need a slight widening. Also came with some metal attachments for working on parts of the shoe that are rubbing specific spots on the foot.

You feet are probably just growing. This is completely normal. Hands, feet and teeth all grow slightly throughout your life. Get new shoes.

I went from size 9 in my early 20’s to size 9.5 in my thirties. In my forty’s I went to a size 10. In my 50’s I wear a 10.5 to 11 while hiking.

If you don’t size up, you will have problems (as you discovered) and it could cause your toes to deform (ignoring other problems.) I would say a size larger will work for you, but do not get them overly large. People often sit when trying on shoes. Put them on and walk around the store for 5 minutes or so. Even a half hour if you have time. Then check sizing again. I often wear two pair of wool socks when I go. With one pair they might initially seem a bit loose. Too big can be a problem. The shoes can crunch your toes at the joint crease rather than at the joint causing as many problems.

No shoe stretchers don’t help with synthetics. Only leather shoes or cotton(sneakers) or wool(felts) will stretch. And, as was said, not in length. Length is often molded in with synthetic materials, anyway.