Does anyone have a tutorial on how to quickly break in a set of boots? I have this issue with my right boot where it’ll bend just above my ankle and the leather will rub away at the back of my akilies tendon.
Is there a leather softener out there to break down the boot’s stiffness?
Just wear them a lot for a couple of weeks. Walk around in them and they’ll conform to your feet eventually. Once they do they’re really comfortable. I remember in basic being told that wearing them during hot showers helped out, but I can’t verify whether or not that actually works, as I have no point of comparison. They’re also shouldn’t be any rubbing at all, if the boot is properly fitted. They should be, roughly, 2 sizes smaller than your normal shoe size (mine are 3 sizes smaller, as depends on the person in question). I’m sure it helps to treat the leather with polish, especially if you’re heating the polish. Other than that, I don’t think there’s anything I can advise to do to help.
Don’t put them in an oven (you might think it’s silly but that’s how some people used to break them in). All you can do is wear a nice boot sock and walk around in them, that’s it! Also, no ruck marching until they’re broken in otherwise you’ll have some pretty gnarly blisters. The best thing to prevent that is use moleskin
there is some softner you can use,
and everyone has their own way of doing it so im sure you will here a lot of suggestions
what i do when breaking in new boots, is ill get some anti blister heel pads at most pharmacy’s, then wear 2 pairs of socks while wearing the boots,
a method one of my friends uses, is to wear his boots walking around the yard with hot wet socks.
then i have another friend that swears by soaking the leather where it needs to bend with rubbing alcohol
but all i can atest to is my method, the anti blister heel pads dont cost a lot usually 1 to 3.00 depending on the place and are well worth it.
It sucks but I have to do this with work boots as do all the guys I work with.
There doesn’t seem to be a quicky method although I’ve been advised to use a leather softening oil called “neatsfoot” oil. That stuff does soften up leather and people use it on baseball gloves and stuff but I tried it and I can’t say it made much of a difference on boots. Plus it darkens the leather and might not penetrate whatever finish coat is on your boots. It’s sorta risky.
The absolute best method I’ve found is simply to wear them and they will naturally work themselves out.
I like to take it in hours at a time and eventually build up to wearing them a whole day.