Sanyuktha Misra

I love boots because they’re sturdy and stylish, but the stiffness of the leather and thickness of the sole often comes with a cost. The first few weeks can feel like you’re wearing a medieval torture device instead of a modern shoe.

But once you break those bad-boys in, you’ll have a durable, beautiful pair of boots that fit your foot perfectly. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

I’ll break down how to break in your boots quickly and do so without causing any damage.

I don’t care what trick your dad taught you about breaking in boots—baseball bat, flamethrower, saying the name of the brand three times in the mirror—if your boots don’t fit well, there’s not much you can do to ease the discomfort.

Most people check to see if they have enough toe room and call it a day. There’s a lot more to finding the right fit. If you have naturally wide feet, you’ll need a wider boot. Yes, the leather will stretch a little, but not enough to make the experience comfortable. You’ll be spending your days with crowded pins-and-needles feet.

There are a lot of considerations that go into finding the right size boot—in fact, we wrote a complete guide about how boots should fit.

If you want all the juicy details on getting the right fit, check out that article, but if you want the quick version: there’s no substitute for trying the boot on in person. However, that’s not always an option.

Go to a shoe store anyway and have your feet measured in one of those metal Brannock devices. You can find your foot’s true length and width. Sure, it may seem inconvenient, but once you have it done, write your sizes down. Now you can go online shopping with confidence.

Pro tip: if you go to get your feet measured, go in the afternoon. Your foot can swell a half-size throughout the day. Buy your boots at your larger foot size.

Hard leather is the main reason your boots hurt like hell. 90% of breaking in a boot is stretching and softening the leather in those areas where your foot is shaped a little differently. Maybe you have high arches, or the ball of your foot is especially wide. The leather will stretch around those areas.

A great way to speed the process is to wear a thick pair of wool socks under your boots. My favorite pair of thick wool socks is the Camel City Mill Heavyweight. They’re designed as work socks, but you can wear them casually, too and they have a 10-year guarantee, which is awesome.

Sure, it may feel a little tight, but in exaggerating your foot-size, you’re stretching the leather much faster than by letting nature take its course.

We recommend doing this for a few hours around the house before venturing outside for the first time. If you start in the morning, at lunch you’ll know whether you need to return the boots. Because you didn’t venture outside, they’ll still be clean enough to send back.

If your feet are getting the pins and needles feeling, they’re too tight. If they’re not, then you know you’re just dealing with a tough break-in period and you’ll have to bust out some other tricks.

Treating your leather with oils and conditioners is the equivalent of giving your boots a spa day. They’ll relax and soften up.

By relaxing the leather fibers, it’s much easier for your foot to get in there and stretch the material to the correct size.

Of course, you can over-condition your leather. At that point, the leather is too relaxed and develops a significant flop-factor. Applying too much conditioner risks creating a depression in the leather where there shouldn’t be one.

One of the saddest deaths a boot can face is when the toe cap sags. Sure, they still function fine, but the style becomes sloppy. So with that warning, we trust you understand that a little conditioner is all your boot needs.

A second benefit of conditioning your leather is that it becomes more water resistant. Knowing how to properly care for your boots is a big factor in increasing their longevity and allowing them to evolve into beautiful, patina-coated masterpieces.

If you’re going to dive straight in and commit to wearing your boots out for the day, put a few band-aids on the vulnerable parts of your foot. Trust us, you won’t regret it.

The most problematic and friction-prone areas are along the pinky toe, the side of the big toe, the inside ball of your foot, the heel, and the top of your foot.

Usually a fresh pair of boots will irritate at least one of those spots. And sometimes, you get a boot that rubs all of those places and your foot stings enough to consider checking into a hospital.

Wearing a band-aid or blister pad underneath your socks in those areas can be a foot-saver. Remember, you won’t have to always wear these band-aids—just for the first week or so.

If you go without the band-aids, you can wear the skin down, making it painful to wear the boots again anytime in the following few weeks. That’ll slow the break-in process considerably. So go ahead: splurge on some band-aids. You’ll be glad you did.

Yes, the best way to break in your boots is to wear them everywhere you go. But as you wear your boots, your foot releases moisture.

If you wear them too many days in a row, the leather doesn’t have a chance to dry, and the extra moisture can cause more friction (i.e. more blisters/ howling pain).

So let your boots rest for a day or two in between wears. Even better, toss a shoe tree in your boot when it’s not in active-duty. Shoe trees absorb the excess moisture and help keep the shape of the boot.

We like cedar shoe trees the best because they have the added benefit of smelling nice. What clamps are to woodworkers, shoe trees are to boot-lovers: you can never have too many.

What’s worse than rubbing your toes and heels raw for four hours straight? Continuing for another four hours, that’s what.

When you’re ready to take your boots out into the world for the first few times, bring an older, already broken-in pair of boots (or other comfortable shoes) with you. The most important thing is that you don’t allow your foot to blister or rub raw.

Sure, wearing your boots for a few hours may cause tenderness—that’s expected—but once you go to the blister/raw stage, your foot takes significantly longer to heal. That’ll put a limit on how much you can wear your new boots and only lengthens the time they’re not broken in.

If you have a second pair of boots with you, you can change out of your news boots as soon as you start feeling discomfort. Little by little, you’ll be able to wear them for longer periods of time.

Folks with high arches often experience uncomfortable rubbing at the top of their foot. If that sounds like you, skip a few eyelets with your shoelaces where you’re experiencing the rubbing. This’ll ease some pressure and allow you to break in other parts of the boot.

Similarly, if your heel is stinging too much, you can do a hikers crossover lacing where the boot bends at the ankle. This simple move keeps your heel secured in place until the leather softens up.

Both may look a little funky, but it’s important to remember that breaking in your boots only takes a week or two. After that, you can tie your laces however you want.

If stiff leather causes the most friction and pain, there are a few drastic measures you can make to soften it up. While we’d never recommend this next method on the upper, it’s an excellent trick if the hard leather heel is wreaking havoc on you.

Take a fine-grit sandpaper and gently scuff up the inside of the heel. We’re not suggesting you go to town and grind away at your boot.

But a little scuffing will expose leather fibers, which will grip your sock. As you walk, your heel will rub more on the soft cotton of your sock rather than the hard leather.

If you’ve ever gone out for the night with a new pair of shoes, only to end up hobbling around with raging sore spots on the backs of your heels, this tip is definitely for you. Of course, you can add some leather heel grips, which are already soft. Be careful though, as adding a grip can change the fit of your boot.

This is another drastic measure as you can never go back. If you stretch a boot too much and it becomes floppy, then you become the proud owner of a floppy pair of boots.

A lot of folks think they can only stretch their boots through a professional, but you can find a quality shoe stretcher like this one that’ll do the trick nicely for under $60.

We’d only suggest this method for the stiffest, most stubborn boots. Again, because you risk altering the fit, it’s best to go little by little.

Leather loosens best when gentle heat and moisture is applied. A great source of gentle heat and moisture is your foot, so it’s naturally the best way to stretch your shoe.

But if your foot just can’t get the job done, a shoe stretcher is a suitable way to go.

Your foot naturally bends in two places: the ankle and the toe. These are the two places you need to focus on mostly when breaking your boots in.

After you wear your boots around the house for an hour or so, the leather will crease where your foot bends.

At that point, you can take your boots off and use your hand to continue reinforcing those creases.

This isn’t a perfect method, but it’s one way to wrestle tough work boots into submission.

Another route to soften the leather around those natural creases is to stay in a crouched position and bounce slightly. This will work better than doing it by hand, but you’re also not completely removing your feet from harm’s way.

Dirt and grime can stiffen up leather fibers, which is the opposite of what we’re going for when breaking in a pair of boots.

The best way to clean your boots is with saddle soap. There are a few other leather cleaners on the market, but in our experience, saddle soap does the job without removing any finish from the leather.

A horsehair brush will get into the creases and knock out anything that’s stiffening the leather.

If you don’t have any rags to apply the saddle soap, you can always just cut up an old t-shirt and use that for oils, conditioners, and buffing.

If you’ve tried everything on this list and you’re still having trouble breaking in your boots, you can always take them to a professional and explain where you’re having the most trouble.

They may be able to stretch only specific parts of your boot to allow for more room and less friction.

Though if you’ve tried the other methods on this list and they’re still not working, you may need to double check to see if you got the sizing correct.

Cobblers can likely get the job done, but you’ll be dropping more money on your boots and you won’t be able to see them for a week or two. And even then, you can’t be sure your boots will be comfortable when they come back.

Like we said earlier, the best way to break in a pair of boots is by wearing them. Don’t do anything that seems like it might damage the shoe.

We’ve heard it all: stand in a bucket of water for an hour and go for a run, spray the leather with alcohol, rub vinegar on the upper, blast your boots with a hairdryer, etc.

These are all bad ideas. Unless you want to ruin your new boots.

There’s no substitute for patience.

Take your boots on quick trips, and once they get too uncomfortable, switch them out. Tomorrow is another day.

Hopefully you’ve found a solution that works for you.

When we break in a new pair of boots, we start with the first six items on this list (and #11).

If things are bad, we’ll try #7 and #8.

It’s rare you’ll have to try the steps beyond (besides keeping your boots clean-—always do that), but if you need to go def-con, you know where to turn.

For a more visual guide to breaking in tough boots, check out this clip from our YouTube channel:

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हिंदू धर्मशास्रानुसार पूर्वजांच्या सदोष कर्माची फळे त्यांच्या वंशजांना भोगावी लागतात, यालाच आपण पितृदोष म्हणतो. ज्योतिष शास्त्रानुसार, आपल्या जीवनात अनेक प्रकारचे दोष असतात, त्यापैकी एक म्हणजे पितृदोष.

ज्या व्यक्तीचे पूर्वज सुखी नसतात त्यांच्या कुंडलीत हा दोष तयार होतो.

दरवर्षी येणाऱ्या पितृपक्षात पितरांचे श्राद्ध न केल्याने, श्राद्ध विधीत भाग न घेतल्याने आणि पितरांच्या आत्म्याच्या शांतीसाठी पूजा न केल्याने हा दोष प्रबळ होतो आणि सर्व प्रकारच्या समस्या त्यांच्या जीवनात निर्माण होतात.या दोषामुळे कुटुंबात अस्वस्थता, प्रगतीत अडथळे, अचानक आजारपण, संकट, संपत्तीची कमतरता, सर्व सुखसोयी असूनही मनातील असंतोष इत्यादी अडचणी येतात. शास्त्रानुसार जेव्हा एखादी व्यक्ती पितृदोषाने त्रस्त असते, तेव्हा त्याच्या जीवनकाळात सर्व प्रकारची संकटं येत असतात. इच्छा असूनही, माणूस त्यातून बाहेर पडू शकत नाही.

चला आज जाणून घेऊया या पितृदोष का होतो याची कारणे आणि पितृदोष दूर करण्यासाठी उपाय…

या कारणांमुळे पितृ दोष लागू शकतो?

1) धार्मिक स्थळातील म्हणजे एखाद्या मंदिराजवळील पिंपळ किंवा वडाचे झाड तोडल्यास पितृ दोष लागू शकतो.

2) तुम्ही तुमच्या पितरांचे योग्य प्रकारे अंत्यसंस्कार आणि श्राद्ध न केल्याने सुध्दा तुम्हाला पितृ दोष लागू शकतो.

3) तुम्ही जर तुमच्या पुर्वजांना म्हणजे पितरांना विसरले किंवा त्यांचा अपमान केला तरी देखील तुम्हाला पितृ दोष लागू शकतो.

4) तुम्ही जर का सापाची चुकी नसताना साप मारला तरी देखील तुम्हाला पितृदोष लागू शकतो.

पितृदोष दूर करण्यासाठीचे उपाय कोणते आहे ?

पितृदोष दूर करण्यासाठी महागडे उपाय सांगण्यात येतात पण कोणी एवढं खर्च करण्यात सक्षम नसेल तर काही सोपे आणि स्वस्त उपाय करून याचा प्रभाव कमी केला जाऊ शकतो.

1) कुंडलीत पितृ दोष असल्यास त्या व्यक्तीने घरातील दक्षिण दिशाच्या भिंतीवर आपल्या स्वर्गीय नातेवाइकांचा फोटो लावून त्यावर हार चढवावा आणि प्रार्थना करावी.

2) स्वर्गीय नातेवाइकांच्या निर्वाण तिथीवर गरजू लोकांना किंवा ब्राह्मणाला भोजन करवावे. भोजनात मृतात्म्याचा आवडता पदार्थ सामील करावा.

3) त्यांच्या तिथीवर शक्य असल्यास गरीब लोकांना कपडे आणि अन्न दान करावे.

4) पिंपळाच्या झाडावर दुपारी जल, फूल, अक्षता, दूध, गंगाजल, आणि काळे तीळ चढवावे आणि स्वर्गीय नातेवाइकांचे स्मरण करून त्याचा आशीर्वाद घ्यावा.

5) सोमवारी सकाळी अंघोळ करून बिना चप्पल शिव मंदिरात जाऊन आकड्याचे 21 फुलं, कच्ची लस्सी, बेलपत्र वाहून शिवाची पूजा करावी. 21 सोमवार हा नियम केल्याने पितृदोषाचा प्रभाव कमी होतो.

6) पूर्वजांच्या नावावर मंदिर, शाळा, धर्मशाळा निर्माण करण्यासाठी हातभार लावल्याने किंवा गरीब मुलांना शिक्षणासाठी मदत केल्यानेही लाभ मिळेल.

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