In today’s modern life, owning a shoe is indispensable. Shoes are our intimate companion on all roads. In addition to foot protection, this item also helps to show your style, fashion beauty as well as your personality.
A pair of shoes that fit your feet will make you comfortable in every move. You can run, dance, or walk all day without getting pain in the legs. How wonderful, isn’t it?
But life always teases us, sometimes you surf the internet and find a very good looking footwear for a great price, then you have to quickly order it without any hesitation. The delivery day comes, when you first try on them, oh no, the shoes are too big for your feet.
Wearing loose shoes will be extremely uncomfortable. Unsteady steps can lead to slow movement and even a fall during walking. At the same time, you will feel less confident when hanging out with friends.
Your mind is always on the shoes, making it difficult to concentrate on anything else. Also, we have to mention the sore on our feet after wearing oversized shoes all day.
However, do not throw those shoes away or lose hope yet, because it is not difficult to make the pair fit your feet properly. In fact, there are several methods for how to shrink shoes at home easily. Let’s find out with Workwear Magazine in this post!
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Determine the area you want to shrink
Identifying where to shrink is very important since it will help you cut down on time and effort in the process. I bet you also don’t want to change the well-formed parts of the shoe, so what you need to do here is just focus on a specific spot on the shoe, but not adjust the entire shape.
To do that, try on the shoes first and walk around a bit. Then, you can feel exactly whether the sides or the toe areas of the footwear need to be shrunk.
After you can answer the question yourself, let’s move on to the methods to shrink shoes fast below.
How to shrink shoes at home quickly and most effectively
People tend to buy shoes depending on their feet. But frankly speaking, it’s been a long time since the last time we measured our feet to ascertain the most comfortable, therefore, most of us are now accidentally wearing the wrong shoe size without knowing.
You are just aware that the shoes required to shrink are longer or larger than your typical comfort shoes. As a result, when you know your exact shoe size, it will be easier to correct any size indifferences.
Use insole pads
If the shoes are too wide which makes you always slip the heels, a pair of insole pads might be helpful in this case to prevent the shoe from slipping during use.
You can either choose a foam type (this is the most common pad because it’s quite simple) or a silicone one. You can buy this product at any shoe store or on e-commerce sites.
How to fix loose shoes with insole pads is also simple, you just need to cut them out and then stick to the heel of the footwear.
However, remember to adjust the size, many times if needed, to fit your foot best so that when walking, you will not feel the shoe is too tight or still wide.
Moreover, you need to cut out sponge or silicone pads neatly so they don’t stick out, which cannot be aesthetically pleasing.
Note: If you are using silicone pads, then you had better choose the color matching your shoe tone.
Use shoe-toe pads
If your feet are a bit short and the toes have too much room left over, you can resize your shoes with specialized foam or silicone pads for the toe area.
How to shrink the shoe toe part is similar to the way we just instructed above. Firstly, you need to measure the sponge or silicone to match the toe size, then cut it out and stick it inside.
In addition to using silicone and foam pads, you can take advantage of other cheap and easy-to-find items like tissue or toilet paper, or even a thin rag to tuck into the toe of your shoes.
This is also quite helpful and can be easily applied. However, with the nose pad, you should regularly wipe your shoes and leave them in a dry place so that the shoes do not stink. Doing this also helps you to preserve the shoes for a longer period of time.
Bandages
If you are unable to purchase shoe pads right away, then using bandages is also a great idea to reduce your shoe size. Plus, they also help to relieve heel pain.
The method is very simple, you just need to stick the bandage on your heel part where contact most with the shoe. Don’t forget to choose the ones with the same skin color!
In addition to bandages, you can use regular tape as well, but this is not very aesthetically pleasing, so you should consider it!
Use thick socks
If your boots or sneakers are wider than normal, don’t worry, let a pair of thick socks take care of that! Using lovely socks is an extremely common trick to fix loose shoes that many people go for.
They not only help the shoes fit your feet better but also absorb moisture and increase the aesthetics of wearing shoes.
All you have to do is choose a pair of thick socks (it would be great if they have the same color as your shoes), and put them on every time you wear those loose shoes. Tada, that’s it!
Use elastic bands
What you have to prepare are sewing needles, threads, elastic bands. After getting all that, follow the instructions below:
- Step 1. Sew one end of the elastic on the back of the shoe, inside the ankle.
- Step 2. Attach the elastic to the shoe to fix it during sewing, or you can use a stapler.
- Step 3. Stretch the elastic and sew the other end of the elastic to the shoes. After you finish sewing, the ankle part will be narrowed slightly.
Bring them to shoe repair shops
If you have tried the above methods and still do not see any effect, or you simply want to completely overcome this loose shoe problem, I guess it’s time to find a professional cobbler. With many years of experience in fixing shoes, they definitely know how to deal with your case.
The cost of repairing shoes is likely to be quite high, even higher than the shoe’s value, therefore, if your pair is really expensive or it’s so meaningful to you, choose this solution!
Meanwhile, for other types of sporty or casual shoes, you can fix them at home. Or else, buy new ones!
How to prevent the shoes from being wide quickly
Avoid putting shoes directly in the washing machine, as this can stretch or deform the shoes.
Do not soak shoes for too long in soapy water when washing them, as this will cause shoes to loosen.
Do not leave shoes in hot areas, which can result in loosening the sole and making the shoes wider.
Advice when wearing a pair of loose shoes
When wearing a pair of shoes that is too big, you should take the following notes:
- Pay attention to your body shape when moving. Wearing loose shoes can create a different kind of movement. Although walking is a bit uncomfortable, you should try to walk upright and gently. If the leg feels too painful, take a break to relax.
- Move carefully. Movement when wearing loose shoes is especially important. With shoes that are longer than usual, you need to lift your feet higher when walking to avoid tripping, especially when going up and downstairs.
- Buy a new shoe. Wearing larger shoes does a lot of harm. So, if you can, invest in a new pair to wear regularly. The loose one should be restored and used just sometimes.
Our last thoughts
Choosing a pair of shoes that are perfect for your foot is very important, they not only give a comfortable feeling to wear and prevent leg pain but also bring confidence to the users.
Basically, you might think that choosing the right shoe size is not difficult at all, nevertheless, the truth is that not everyone is lucky enough to buy a favorite pair fitting their foot perfectly because shoe manufacturers often make popular shoe sizes only.
Therefore, if your old shoes have been stretched or the favorite shoes’ size is larger than your foot, then all the methods on how to shrink shoes we mentioned above will be useful to you.
Just try it and let us know the results. If you have a better way, do not hesitate to share with us in the comment box below! Good luck and thank you for reading!