boot stretching?

[mikawendy]

Does anyone know if there's a way to stretch the toe area of the boot other than having someone at the pro shop do it? My right skate is too tight around my bunion and my pinky toe. I thought the skate would stretch a little after using it for a few months (it has, but not enough). I have Riedells 275s, which are not heat-mouldable.

My pro shop can do it, but I'm wondering if there's a way to do it without spending the $15? Does a tennis ball work there, or only in the ankle? I only want to stretch the toe area, not the arch or the heel, which fit just right on that foot.


thanx ;)

[dobiesk8r]

Did your pro shop sell you the boot? If so, I'm
surprised they would charge for a stretch. But
15 dollars seems a small price to pay for skating
pain free. Bunion..ouch. You may also need the
blade moved depending on how much they stretch.

Even so, my new sharpener punched my old boots
out in a couple of places for free. He wasn't the
one who sold me the boots - won't go back there,
because the boots are sitting in my laundry room.
I cast them dirty looks once in a while.

New Klingbeils next weekend. I'm not sure I'm
looking forward to it. I have visions of doing
camel spins and ending up on my nose.:twisted:

[mikawendy]

Originally posted by dobiesk8r
Did your pro shop sell you the boot? If so, I'm
surprised they would charge for a stretch. But
15 dollars seems a small price to pay for skating
pain free. Bunion..ouch. You may also need the
blade moved depending on how much they stretch.

Actually, I bought the boots at one rink (that I occasionally practice at) but I usually get them sharpened etc. at the rink where I take lessons. Both sharpeners are good and have a good reputation, so I may just take them back where I bought them. It's been quite a few months, but again, I was waiting to see if they'd stretch and even though they have, my foot feels a bit squished there.

My bunions are on the small side compared to what I've seen in some of my dancer friends. I got mine through genes and also ballet dancing. They don't hurt now but I don't want to make them worse through tight footwear (and these boots just now are making the bursa around the big toe swell up just a little).

dobiesk8r, thanks for the tip about the blades. I'll be sure to ask them if they need to be moved after the stretch.

New Klingbeils next weekend. I'm not sure I'm
looking forward to it. I have visions of doing
camel spins and ending up on my nose.:twisted:

Mmmm, Klingbeils, I'm green with envy (and already saving for my next pair of skates--I was originally thinking SPTeris, but I don't know if I could handle how hard everyone says they are. Grafs might be a good fit for my foot shape)...and if I win the lotto, then I'll treat myself to Klingbeils! :lol:

[ddpskater]

My 8 yr old son went from wide Reidell 121's to medium width Silver Stars and complained like mad about toe area. We started stuffing a sock with two golf balls (side by side) into the toe and leaving them in the trunk (in Texas). It seems to have worked.

[garyc254]

I was having similar trouble with my pinkie toe. One of our local, very expensive coaches (he's a world gold medalist from Russia) suggested that before I put my skates on, I take my foot and step/stand on the area I need to stretch 10 times or more with all of my weight. Kind of like pre-warming the leather and squishing it out in the direction I needed relief.

I was skeptical, but tried it. I haven't had trouble in that toe since a couple of weeks after I started trying his technique.

And I have SP Teri's that are hard as rocks. :lol:

Now, I always step on my toe box before I put my skates on.

[dobiesk8r]

I've gone through some rough times with my boots.
My husband and I went to Klingbeil in NY (Mr. K thought
my husband was my bodyguard...seriously!) and my
husband said "look at her feet with all those bumps,
they're pretty bad". Mr. K replied that I have "very
pretty"?? feet, but they're round, and would never fit in
a stock boot

Well that's the truth. I'm wearing my ages old custom
Harlicks, but the new custom Harlicks I got a year ago
were not the same, and caused a brand new bump on
the front of my left ankle. They were fine at first, but
then caused a very painful corn on my toe, which
coincided with my last ski trip. Joy. I try not to think
of the money I wasted on them.

I went back to my old comfies. Perhaps, mikawendy,
you only need a punch out in the pinky toe area? In
any case, best of luck. It's a lot more fun skating
in comfort!

[SusanaO]

I have horrible bunions on both feet and my boots (Riedell 320s) are not helping. I tried the wet sock thing a couple of times without much success. I also bought a ball and ring stretcher but somehow I haven't been able to punch out the exact location, so I'm still having trouble with them.

[Elsy2]

I used a ring and ball stretcher borrowed from my podiatrist for the tailor bunion area too. It was hard to stretch out the exact area, and the ball part was a bit too small. I kept redoing the stretching for a few weeks until it was finally comfy.

I would definitely try stuffing a sock with a golf ball in the boot as stated above. If you leave it in constantly when you are not skating, it might help keep the stretched out area from reverting back.

One skater at our rink puts a hockey puck at the top edge of his new skates and laces them up when he's not skating....says it helps soften the top edge of new boots.

[Francis71]

My son was near the end of the skating season and his boots (Reidells) were becoming too tight. I didn't want to buy him a new pair in April as he was only skating until June and then back in September. I have rather wide feet myself and have this product called "shoe stretch" - it comes in a red small bottel and you can buy it at a shoe repair shop (at least in Canada you can). I decided that it was worth a try so I soaked the front of his skates and had him walk around in them with the shoe stretch on. It worked so well that he wore the skates until that year in December.

On other occasions when we have just wanted some relife in one area we have had punching done which seems to work quite well. A word of warning though - never heat stretch a boot that isn't meant to be as some of the boots have a certain type of glue that breaks down with the heat and this then voids any warranty.

Good luck