Madre's Shoe Tips: How to Shrink Your Shoes to Fit Your Feet

It is a general rule to know when purchasing your clothes, better to take one size bigger - be it shirt, pants, or shoes. I mean, it would make such a perfect sense because you can easily alter to your fit. Whereas if it is smaller than your fit, there would be no room for alteration.

Alas, a shirt and a pant are much easy to alter than a pair of shoe (or at least for those who don’t know how to).

Nevertheless, I am here to share three easy methods that are great for any types of shoes – be it too much room at the front, or the back, or it just not fit right.

#1. Blow Dryer Method

For a pair of leather shoe that’s a bit loose, get grab a water-filled spray bottle and your blow dryer. Start with lightly spray your shoe, and blow-dry your shoes with medium heat. When it’s completely dry, try it on. If it’s still a tad bit lose, repeat it until it fits you perfectly.

Use medium heat only, and keep the dryer moving. Too much direct heat weakens the glue that holds the sole, which is a harder problem to fix than a loose fit.

#2. The Cushion Method

For loose pumps, boots or sneakers, you can put a sole in the back of the shoes. If there’s too much space at your toes, place a sole that fills in the open area. Or if there’s a gap between the top of your feet and the inside of the shoe, place a full sole to elevate your foot.

This is the method we recommend most, because nothing about the shoe is permanently changed. Madre makes the pads for each of those three gaps:

• Space at the toes: Cozy Toe Fit Extender

• Heel slipping out at the back: T-Shape Heel Comfort Pad or the Slim Heel Grip Pad

• Foot sliding forward in an open shoe: GripGlam Shoe Straps

#3. The Dryer Method

For canvas shoes, you will need to completely soak them. Once they are completely soaked, put them in the dryer for at least 10-15 minutes. The heat from the dryer would shrink the canvas shoes in a blink of an eye.

This one is for canvas only. Do not try it on faux leather or PU, because the heat will crack the upper.

Better Still: Buy the Right Size

Shrinking a shoe is a repair, not a plan. Your feet also swell through the day, which is why a pair that fits at 10am can feel tight by 6pm. We cover that in how to avoid shoes feeling tight in the evening, and every Madre product page lists its cutting, from small to large, so you can match it to your own foot before ordering.

If you have shoes that you wanted to buy but you scared that its a tad bit bigger for your feet, maybe now you could since we already taught you how to shrink your shoe to fit you perfectly.