I have said on this blog several times that as a person ages, he loses natural muscle tone all over the body, including the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that form the arch of the foot. With age, the foot spreads.

A boot-wearer notices that when he feels…

…his toes being “scrunched” together, squeezing on the sides of the foot, and general discomfort. The boots just do not feel good any more and hurt when you walk or stand in them, particularly if you wear them for a long time.

So what do you do? Get new feet? Throw out the boots? Or…

Try to accommodate wider feet by trying to stretch the boots.

In March, I wrote a lengthy blog about stretching boot calfs. I wrote that because that is where I personally have more problems with boot fit as I age than in the foot. For information about stretching boot calves, read this post.

If, however, the most pressing problem is pain in the foot due to pressure from squeezing felt as the arches fall and foot spreads, you can try various methods to stretch the foot of a boot.

Note: This only applies to welted boots — that is, boots to which the sole is sewn on (photo to right ==>).
It will not work with boots that the sole is stuck on with nails and/or glue.
(<== photo to left). Also, remember that as leather ages, the natural moisture in the fibers of the leather dries up and the leather gets hard. The collagen (animal material that is what we know as leather) that holds the leather together break. So if your boots are several years old, trying to stretch them could cause the leather to crack and separate instead of stretch.

I know this from my own experience — I had an old pair of favorite Frye boots of the 70s that didn’t fit my feet any more. I tried to stretch them carefully, and each foot separated from the sole and the leather cracked. I had to discard these boots because they became completely unwearable and could not be repaired.

But if you have relatively new boots that you’re trying to get old spreading feet to fit into them, the easiest method is what’s known as the “large sock” method. Simply pull on very thick socks, then pull on the boots and let your foot apply pressure inside the boot to stretch the foot.

Careful: your feet can get hot and sweaty. You may not be able to remove the boot after feet heat up, so only do this when you have someone else available with lots of patience to pull the boot off your feet! (A crowbar may be required!)

The next method is to buy a pair of shoe stretchers. These are devices usually made of wood that you can adjust to apply pressure inside the boot foot. I grabbed this photo of a pair of shoe stretchers that I own and bought on-line for less than US$20.

Please don’t fall for “boot stretching liquid.” All that is is rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol. Why pay 10x the price for the same thing? Just go to the corner drug store and pay $1 for a bottle. Same thing.

Apply the rubbing alcohol liberally inside the foot of each boot. Then insert the shoe stretcher and apply adjustments until the foot is stretched without causing it to break the bonds of the leather (that is, open a hole) or break it from the sole. Allow the boots to rest in a well-ventilated, but not sunny, area overnight. (Also, not near a heat vent, either. Heat can cause leather to shrink rather than stretch.) The alcohol will evaporate overnight.

Carefully remove the stretching devices and try the boots on. With socks.

If they feel better, then congratulate yourself. If they don’t, you can try one more time.

If trying twice still doesn’t fix the problem, then I’m sorry, but the boots need to find a new home.

Life is short: keep boots feeling comfortable on your feet!