There are two types of people in the world: people who enjoy wearing a brand-new pair of shoes and people who would wear the same shoes for the rest of their life if they didn’t wear them out by working so hard. If you’re in the market for a new pair of quality leather work boots you are likely to fall into the second camp. Regardless of the quality of your work boot or how carefully you selected the size and style of your work boot there is a break-in period for every piece of footwear because no two feet (not even your left and your right feet) are exactly the same. Tough leather work boots can be especially difficult to break-in, but the reward is a pair of boots that are shaped to match your feet exactly and will hold that shape for the lifetime of the boot, making your job a lot more comfortable. So let’s get into our simple guide for breaking-in your new leather work boots.
Why is it important to break-in your new work boots?
It is important to break-in your work boots before wearing them on the job site because wearing your new boots for a whole day while working can cause discomfort and blistering, leading to long-term discomfort.
What are the steps to breaking-in a new work boot?
- Select the right size boot. See our Guide to Getting the Best Fitting Work Boot to learn more about how to make sure you’re getting the best possible fit right out of the box.
- Start indoors – before you remove all the tags and muddy your new work boots outdoors, take them for a spin inside the house. Try wearing them periodically during a week indoors going up and down stairs or even just sitting with them on to stretch them to your foot shape. The benefit of this is that you can be sure you’ve selected the right size shoe before you lose the ability to return them.
- Wear them for longer periods of time until they begin to feel comfortable enough that you don’t notice any rubbing or tight spots.
- Start taking them to work and wearing them for as much of the day as is comfortable, keeping your old work boots as a back-up in case you need to take a pause from breaking-in your new work boots.
Are there any tricks to break-in work boots faster?
While wearing your leather works boots is the most effective way to break them in there are a few things you can do to help the process along:
- Try ‘massaging’ the leather of your work boots by bending and stretching it to loosen the natural leather fibers.
- Use leather conditioner to soften the fibers of the leather.
- A boot stretcher can be used if you’re in a rush to get your boots ready for wearing. Use leather conditioner with a boot stretcher overnight if you need to.
Can I apply water or heat to help break-in my work boots?
Never use heat or water to hasten the breaking-in period of your leather footwear. Both treatments are not good for leather and will negatively affect the performance and durability of your leather footwear.
How long does it take to break-in new work boots?
If your feet happen to fit very well into your boots out of the box, or you use a boot stretcher and leather conditioner overnight you may find that your boots can be worn the next day. However, if you are wearing your boots to break them in it could take up to a few weeks of wearing them off and on to be fully satisfied with your fit.
We encourage you to not be deterred by the breaking-in process. If your old work boots are wearing thin your safety could be compromised and the best choice for your feet is to go through the break-in process. Before you know it your new work boots will become your old scuffed-up, broken-in work boots!