4 Things I Learned about Stretching Cowboy Boots for a Wide Calf

Thanks to John at Superior Shoe Repair for sharing his knowledge and expertise in this video!

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[willtrax]

I bought an 8 dollar small fabric steamer from Lowes and it works amazing for a tight toe box or just forming the shaft of the Boot.

[EdwardLawrence]

With a boot stretcher like that, I ever did some times. From my experience, you can spray the stretcher liquid both inside & outside the shaft. After about at least 3 days, you can put leather conditioner on the outside part of the shaft. After the conditioner soak in, than you can take off the sharf stretcher. Put the leather conditioner help to maintain the shaft not to shrink again, at least only shrink again just a little, compare if not putting the conditioner. Of course it easier with black/brownm boots. White colour need to be more careful. I'm interested also how he can hear the sound before cracking. It is quite informative.
I hope my information can help who need to stretch their boot by their own, especially those who cannot find a good cobbler around their home area.

[raysacapellan-fender]

Thank you so much! Bc that’s literally what I did: bought boots from Poshmark and short story long my calfs are pretty hefty

[jasonsmith]

Dude, your intro song is freakin legendary. GOOD VIBES.

[HarrisPilton]

Is it possible to add an elastic gusset behind the pull tabs, like her Ariats have?

[Lizziecolorado]

Exactly what I was looking for. My J Campbell turquoise butterfly boots are just slightly tight in the upper calf. I was thinking stretching but not sure it would work with all the decorative inlaid pieces. Would it be safe to say that spray stretching is the best way for a novice to try to stretch such a boot? That's what I gathered and may try. Spray and wear them around the house. I would hate myself if I ruined $380 boots before I could even wear them out of the house! lol. I am still within the return period so I'm trying to make an educated decision. I'm definitely not stretching and then returning if they don't stretch enough so it's a do or die moment/decision. LOL. This video was everything I was needing. Thank you! Oh, did John say that the inlays could be repaired? I'm thinking not with the original pieces, he'd probably have to replace the inlaid parts that got separated from the rest of the boot during stretching.

[micheledonnelly]

Very helpful! I am struggling to find boots to fit my calf.

[spencersonnier]

Part of me wants to take a pair of boots that are messed up or ruined and put that stretcher in them and turn it until they break. Lol

[hurricanestormy]

What if the boots 👢 have Embroidery flowers..do you still spray them y/n

[carlosmondragon]

Kinda same with my Tony lamas, I'm a 10.5 ee but my Tony's were 10.5 D, super tight but it's weird cuz my Ariat boots are 10.5d an they fit good. Had to shelf my tony lama.. sad day. great behind the scenes about the trade tho thanks Jc!

[GROZNAYA]

I actually have this same problem. My calves are an athletic 19” circumference. I had to get a 14” tall honcho, and 16” tall Hondo stretched (I have two more pair of boots I may have to do this for). Anything taller, or vintage and/or taller with even narrower calve openings may require added material/gusset, and I was told that either way the curve at the top of the shaft would have to be removed and just be flat since the stretching/gusset process would affect that appearance negatively. Cobbler told me this takes around a week turn around time(from time brought in to when you are ready to try them on/I guess this depends on the leather’s delicateness).

[sdolsay]

I have large calves and the only boot shafts that are too tight are my Dan Posts. Very thin shafts....this is on their Renegade boot.

[thomasbrown]

Shaft stretcher
It’s not mine baby. Really.
-Austin Powers

[etorres]

I just bought a pair of boots the right shaft is so much tighter then the left

[JamesSmith-mpby]

Anyone knows anything about republic boot co Houston, 1836 collection? They are some good looking boots.

[WolfRanger]

I am sorry that things were not more successful. Perhaps the gusset solution will work. Anatomically speaking, your wife has a muscle type which I believe is classified as "Slow Twitch" which is a more fibrous thicker and elongated muscle mass as compared to "Fast Twitch" where the calf muscle is more of a compact baseball shaped muscle mass and positioned closer to the knee. In that instance this sort of difficulty in fitting is likely much less likely to occur. I wonder if the Boot Makers have noticed these differences?

[sailingneil]

Shame they weren't able to be stretch quite enough for Brynna. Some good lessons learnt.

[truckgp]

I have small calfs. Any way to shrink them? Lol

[WesternWearEnthusiast]

Too bad that they didn’t stretch enough for Brynna. There maybe some other things you could try—Like putting conditioner on the inside and then stretch them slowly. That way the color won’t change on the outside of the boots. There were some good learning points to consider from this video. Well done 👍

[a.aspeedsoft]

I’m the opposite it’s way to loose around my calf and they poke out when im wearing jeans and I don’t know what to do