Stretching shoes?

[MissStache]

A friend of mine gave me a brand new pair of the cutest shoes I've ever seen (she had never worn them- still in the box!), but the problem is that they are a touch too small.  Enough that it is uncomfortable when I put them on, but only in a couple of small places.  If I can stretch them a bit, they will be perfect.  I really don't want to go out and buy one of those shoe stretcher things.  Anyone know a good way to embiggen them?

 Thanks!

[Frankies Girl]

What are they made of?

If they are leather, I've had success just wearing them around the house.You can also try the hair dryer trick - put on a pair or two of socks, squeeze your feet into them, and aim the hair dryer at the areas that are too tight while flexing your toes and wiggling/shifting your feet around and putting your full weight on them. Keep your feet in there until the shoes cool back down, and then try them on after without socks. It's a bit uncomfortable, but it does work eventually.

If they are canvas or cloth, then dampen them, put them on and wear them around the house. As they dry, they conform to your feet and should loosen up.

If it's more than a half size too small, these tricks might not work as well.

[MissStache]

Thanks!

They are leather, so I'll try the hair dryer trick.  I've never heard of it before!  I think they are just a bit small in the toes, so I'm hoping they will fit eventually.  They are my favorite brand of shoes and are generally pretty pricey (well, for me...) so I wouldn't buy them otherwise.

[aliciamaas]

Same thing happened with me when my friend suggested me to buy air max 90 shoes. They were very tight fitted. But as they were not leather, I tried the socks trick and it worked. The hair dryer trick does work well with leather shoes though.

[Adventine]

I'm going to try this too! I recently ordered a new pair of shoes that fit perfectly on my left foot, but are a wee bit tight on my slightly larger right foot.

[southern granny]

I stretched a pair once with rubbing alcohol and it worked pretty well.  you take a pair of socks and in the area where the shoes are too tight you wet the socks with the alcohol.  Then put on the shoes and wear them until the alcohol evaporates.  I wore mine from the time I got off work until bed.  Worked great.

[LadyStache]

Rubbing alcohol does wonders! You can just dab the troublesome spots with it and insert your foot. Within about 5-10 minutes, mine were good to go.