What's new

How do I make my boots fit? They hurt my feet

You might be able to stretch them some. But if they are hurting you feet that bad then I think you should look into a different size. I don't know where you purchased from but I suggest going to an actual Redwing store, at least for your first pair or RW. I did 15 years ago. They will measure your feet and find pressure points around your foot and sole. I'm not talking about the slide ruler thing in Foot Locker I am talking a contraption with handles you have to step into. Then suggest a style such as pull-on or lace-up, ankle, 3/4..... and sizes. My feet are pretty close to the same and I have bought other pairs of RW other places. My brother, however, has one foot almost a size bigger than the other and he buys all his at the RW store and gets one boot a completely different size than the other. Add on the lifetime maintenance you about can't go wrong there.
 
I've got a new pair of Elevator shoes that fit great when I'm standing or sitting, but when I walk, they rub me raw, mostly where the tongue meets my instep, and where the top of the shoe meets my ankle.

Has anyone ever used moleskin for shoes that rub in certain places?

I know it has an adhesive side and fuzzy side, but do you put the adhesive on your feet, or does it fit against the inside of the shoe, so that the fuzzy side is next to your feet?

If not moleskin, is there some other product I should be shopping for?

Sticky side on foot fuzzy side touching shoe. At least that was the way we did with football cleats. Depending on what you are doing you might have to wrap your whole foot with sports tape also. For normal everyday wear, probably not.
 
if they are that tight.. cut your lost and sell them. dorm or craigs. next time go to a RW store towards the end of the day with the sock combo you will be wearing in the winter. let them fit you. then if there is a problem they will make adjustments. I own several pairs of Irish Setters and they have been great.
 
if they are that tight.. cut your lost and sell them. dorm or craigs. next time go to a RW store towards the end of the day with the sock combo you will be wearing in the winter. let them fit you. then if there is a problem they will make adjustments. I own several pairs of Irish Setters and they have been great.
+1 ... no amount of stretching or soaking or break-it-in will take the place of a proper fit in the first place.

RedWing Corporate stores have a snazzy computer that you stand on and it takes a measurement of your feet and shows where the pressure is ... then, it will search through inventory and find the right shoe to match to your lifestyle and work/play needs.

And then there are those free "tune-ups" ... I've got two pair in the shop right now, and if I had had to pay for this service over the last few years, I'd be out several times the cost of the shoes.

RW seem expensive on the surface, but really, they are a big bargain in the long run. Not to mention the comfort factor ... you can't put a price tag on that.
 
RedWing has a whole line of "fashion" boots now sold in small retailers. They have nothing to do with the stuff many of us used to buy at the RedWing stores as work shoes. They are pretty much RedWing in name only.
 
On the steaming-break in........yes, I did that for all the leather boots I was ever issued.

Up till the late 90s/mid 2000s when the military went over to suede/rough-out desert boots that don't need polishing, the 'shower in them" or "shower with them in the shower" method was pretty standard for anyone going through basic training.

From my first pair in 1996, the all-leather models then issued with speedlaces, to the Goretex and leather hybrid that began being issued in the '99-2000ish period first with the USMC then other branches, this procedure worked for me every time.

As others noted, proper fitting is essential, if they're already too small, none of this will help too much.
 
Seriously? Because I have a tub of this in my dorm. Would this discolor the leather in any way?

So I just apply the Vaseline on the outside and wear em? (or did you mean vaseline for my feet?)

Inside the boot NOT outside, wherever it hurts your feet smear a blob of Vaseline on that area and wear them, not as messy as it sounds.
 
Vaseline shouldn't discolor the leather any. It will soften the leather and help it to stretch. You might have better luck picking up some Mink Oil. Same principal (soften/condition the leather) only made for that purpose. I still think though, that if your feet are hurting no amount of stretching is going to help. A few blisters the first week from wear spots but not hurting aching feet. It wont hurt, that much, to try I guess.
 
I picked up a pair of used Red Wing boots at a garage sale that were a tad snug and when I got home I took a 1 gallon size zip lock bag, filled it half way with water, then put the bags into the boots and laced them up. I placed them in the freezer overnight so they froze hard. The next day I took them out and let the bags thaw then tried on the boots and the boots felt better. I did the same process again the following night and they felt even better. It works because as the water freezes it expands in the boot, helping to stretch them out.

If I were you I'd give this a try.
 
You might be able to stretch them some. But if they are hurting you feet that bad then I think you should look into a different size. I don't know where you purchased from but I suggest going to an actual Redwing store, at least for your first pair or RW. I did 15 years ago. They will measure your feet and find pressure points around your foot and sole. I'm not talking about the slide ruler thing in Foot Locker I am talking a contraption with handles you have to step into. Then suggest a style such as pull-on or lace-up, ankle, 3/4..... and sizes. My feet are pretty close to the same and I have bought other pairs of RW other places. My brother, however, has one foot almost a size bigger than the other and he buys all his at the RW store and gets one boot a completely different size than the other. Add on the lifetime maintenance you about can't go wrong there.


I'm about to go to the Redwing store here in town and order a pair of Beckman/Gentleman Travelers. I stopped there last week and did the sizing in the contraption thingy. I also have one foot about a size larger (or smaller) than the other. Are you saying I can order them to fit each foot? The lady at the store didn't mention anything about that.
 
You might be able to stretch them some. But if they are hurting you feet that bad then I think you should look into a different size. I don't know where you purchased from but I suggest going to an actual Redwing store, at least for your first pair or RW. I did 15 years ago. They will measure your feet and find pressure points around your foot and sole. I'm not talking about the slide ruler thing in Foot Locker I am talking a contraption with handles you have to step into. Then suggest a style such as pull-on or lace-up, ankle, 3/4..... and sizes. My feet are pretty close to the same and I have bought other pairs of RW other places. My brother, however, has one foot almost a size bigger than the other and he buys all his at the RW store and gets one boot a completely different size than the other. Add on the lifetime maintenance you about can't go wrong there.

I'm about to go to the Redwing store here in town and order a pair of Beckman/Gentleman Travelers. I stopped there last week and did the sizing in the contraption thingy. I also have one foot about a size larger (or smaller) than the other. Are you saying I can order them to fit each foot? The lady at the store didn't mention anything about that.

They do for my brother at the store in Terre Haute. It has been a long time since I was measured but I remember the salesman saying that was part of "it". Getting measured and possibly having different size feet not only in length but also in width. That they would give me two different sizes if I needed it. Things could have changed in the past 15 years and they have just "grand-fathered" my brother. He does buy a lot of boots. I would definitely ask about it.
 
Last edited:
I'm pretty sure you just have to suck it up. They will loosen up in a few weeks and 6 months from now they will be the best shoes you own.
 
First off, when you get your shoes stretched by someone most of the time they're literally just spraying down the inside of the shoe with a mixture of alcohol and water and sticking a shoe stretcher inside...you can do this easily by yourself for the cost of some shoe stretchers and a spray bottle to mix alcohol and water in.

I have a wide foot and am a big fan of Doc Martin boots which are a pain to break in so I feel you. The method I used took me two days to break mine in, but it's a little riskier with those being brown...I only wear black. Some people say to just put em on and take a shower, then walk around with them on until they're dry. I don't like the idea of doing this though.

What I did was bought a bottle of neatsfoot oil and a couple pairs of those thick insulated socks from Menards like a road-worker would wear in the winter. I then poured the oil into the boots and spread it around the insides of them to saturate them well, put on a pair of socks, then the insulated socks over them and put the boots on. Then I smeared the outsides of the boots with neatsfoot oil as well making sure to concentrate on the tightest spots (I wouldn't do this part though since your boots look like they would stain). Then I just wore them like that for two days straight including while sleeping. When I showered I stuck shoe trees and newspaper in them and put them right back on as soon as I was finished. They're practically molded to fit my feet now. Of course YMMV and all that.
 
Well, the cheapest solution here was to the shower with the boots, which is what I did. I took a shower with them, put on 3 pairs of long socks , and now I can't feel anything. Maybe I should have put on more socks in the first place.
 
Glad you found something that worked for you. I hate when that happens; I've had plenty of experiences similar to yours. It always seems like a boot fits fine in the store, then I wear them for a day and find that they don't fit quite as well as I thought.
 
Top Bottom