Recently, I bought some new boots and plates online. Unfortunately, as is the risk with buying something without having the modern luxury of trying it on first, they did not quite fit properly. I could skate in them, but they were too thin for my flipper feet and wouldn’t have been sustainable for me in the long run. But, rather than ditch my pricey new purchase, I decided to do something about it by trying to stretch them out a bit and, happily, I can report it worked.
These boots were pretty solid and so I was unsure whether stretching them would work, but it has actually gone pretty damn well. Technically you can stretch the length with this method as well, but I haven’t needed to test that. Let me know if you give it a go.
Before you follow this yourself I must stress that this worked for me, but your mileage may vary i.e. I can’t guarantee this will work perfectly for everyone else. I’m just letting you know how this worked out in my experience and you can use your own judgement about whether or not this option is right for you.
Things you will need
- Your boots
- Shoe stretch spray (approx £6; just google shoe stretch spray)
- A two way shoe stretcher (approx £14). I bought this wooden set off Amazon; https://tinyurl.com/35dc4y4t
- Kitchen roll or a cloth
You’ll need to do one skate at a time unless you bought two stretchers the same size. I got a set of both small and large because I’m a size 7 shoe and wasn’t sure which one would be best (turns out it was the larger one). Once someone in your league has one of these, then it can be passed around to help others too.
Step one
Take out your laces, then liberally apply the shoe stretch spray on to the area of your skate you want to stretch. For me this was both sides of my skate. I used a cloth to rub it in and stop the liquid dripping down onto the plate.
Step two
Place the closed stretcher into your boot and twist the knob to fit the full length of your boot so the wooden bit is pushing against the heel. Then twist the handle to spread the width. I did this so it was really pushing against the sides.
Step three
Leave it for a day, then remove the stretcher and test the boot for size. In my experience one day wasn’t enough, so keep doing the spraying and stretching each day or two until you have the correct fit. It took me about a week to do one boot, then I left the stretcher in my other boot for about 6 months over lockdown, forgetting I’d done it. Luckily, this still worked fine.
And that is it! I stretched the width of my boots, and now my skates fit better. This method cost me around £20 and has saved me from having to buy new boots and/or carry on with squished feet.
Good luck with your stretching!
The Ruth Hurts