How to Shrink Leather Boots

If you've got a brand new pair of leather boots, you probably can't wait to wear them out somewhere. In some cases, though, those new boots don't quite hug your feet the way you wish they would, which can make showing them off in public pretty difficult.

Luckily, you can fix this problem easily with a little H20 and a bit of physical activity — or, if time is a factor, you can safely shrink those shoes now with just a spray bottle, hair dryer, and some leather conditioner.

Soak your boots in a tub of water for about an hour. It doesn't need to be a lot of liquid, but your shoes should be totally underwater. If they don't get good and soaked, they might not shrink evenly.

    Alternately, you can use a wash basin or large bucket.

    If your boots are made of suede, submerging them might ruin their appearance. Instead, just wet the inside of the shoes and let them air dry in a sunny space.




Put on a pair of socks and dunk your feet in the water. The damp socks will help your boots shrink to the proper size. They'll also spare your feet from the pain caused by the shrinking leather.

 Put the wet boots on over your socks. You'll want to do this as soon as you pull them out of the tub, because they'll start shrinking right away. Heads up: getting them on might take a little elbow grease.

 Wear the wet boots and socks until the socks dry. At this point, you can go ahead with whatever you've got planned for the day. As you walk around, the leather will naturally shrink to fit your feet. It may sound uncomfortable, but it's definitely effective.

    By the time the socks have dried, your boots should feel much better.