Shoe stretcher

Have you tried beans? You fill the boots or shoes with beans, add water and leave them overnight. The beans imbibe the water, swell, stretch the boots, and are ready to cook the next morning.

If your shoes are not leather, you can't. If they are, a Google search for "shoe stretcher" will give you a myriad of choices that are all about as good as another, as well as videos on how to do it. The best solution is to simply buy shoes that fit. Yes, this means spending more, but if a shoe doesn't fit when you buy it, it is unlikely to ever fit correctly. (Some shoes do require "breaking in", but that is removing stiffness from the leather of a shoe that should otherwise fit...the shoes aren't being "stretched".)

A better solution would be to get some custom made shoes that will fit your feet right in the first place. Quality custom made moccasins Eg http://www.sodhoppers.com or http://www.walkinglibertymocs.com/ may cost a bit more but could potentially last your lifetime and would fit your feet better than those one shape fits all production shoes.

Here's your answer: http://www.wideshoes.com. The company is actually Hitchcock Shoes, a long-time catalog company specializing in wide and large feet. I've looked like crazy for a better solution, and this is a traditional company, with a reputation specifically for wide feet.

You really should buy shoes that are properly made for your wide feet, and you will find them here.

Once you've found styles that work for you, you can sometimes find them at http://onlineshoes.com, and http://zappos.com.

Brands to look for are New Balance, Propet, and surprisingly, Skechers, which are great if you want to look somewhat cool.

I have made shoes/moccasins and stretched poorly fitting shoes several times. Two methods work well, though one is "icky." Both will only work for leather shoes and boots (boots best, you'll see why)

In the first case, wearing proper socks and the shoes, laced and ready to leave the house, stand in the bathtub and fill it up. Stand in the tub at least 10-15 minutes--get the shoes soaking wet, right to the tops. Get out of the tub and wear/walk in the shoes until they are completely dry (this may take overnight, so plan accordingly. Take them off damp and they'll likely be ruined). When dry take them off, rub in shoe "grease" (silicone based is best) then if indicated, polish them as normal. They will fit your feet exactly, which means if you wear different socks, maybe not.

The other way is more fun--but as I said, kinda "icky." In this case, put on a pair of socks and go buy a pint of Vaselene. Yeah, you can see where this is going. Put a half a pint in each shoe and squish your feet in. Anything that leaks out, let it go. They will be surprisingly "non-icky" feeling--this is actually really nice for your feet. Once again, wear them for a long time (maybe not overnight this time) When you finally take them off you'll be surprised at the lack of left-over Vaselene (plan to throw the socks away)--a huge proportion of it goes into the leather, and again, the shoes will fit perfectly.

Sounds dumb, works great. YMMV

Dave

I use something like Dave's methods, but it's slightly less drastic:

Rinse out the shoes - quickly - with warm water, then put them on and wear them until they're dry. A few hours or a day will suffice. Then put in shoe trees. There's no need to soak the shoes, and I don't bother wearing heavy socks. This works with women's shoes too, btw.

As scguy and others said, just buy shoes that are truly wide.

That way those of us with truly wide feet will show that there is a market share for us, and we want wide shoes, not just wide uppers on narrow soles.

If you stretch your shoes, you'll find that the upper is rolling over the sole and can get to the point where the sides are actually on the floor. I get all my shoes from New Balance or Rockport. I wear a 13/4-5E

I have pretty wide feet, 9.5 EEEE, and I rely on New Balance. they have some moderately work-appearing shoes, although being retired, I tend to rely on walking shoes and trail hiking shoes.

http://www.baidu.com/ sajkhksak,z,s

Thank you johnfromberkeley! I’ve been looking for boot like skateboard-like flat sole shoes for 5 years+.  wideshoes.com works!! there are two hitchcock exclusives that fit the bill! Thank you for providing relief.