Cold method of stretching shoes

   
While reviewing the Nike SB Omar Salazar LR, we stumbled upon one crucial problem that prolonged the reviewing process. The shoe was too tight. Strangely enough our foot grew. Now don't be alarmed. I promise you, we went through puberty a long time ago and I can assure you, this isn't some teenager behind this keyboard. The fact of the matter is that even in our old age, people have experienced growth spurts. It's been proven that long-time smokers and vegan/ vegetarians slow down their full growing process due to their choice of lifestyle. This delay of growth is due to their lack of nutrients & other essential vitamins from leading such diets. Not to get too far off course, we were vegan/ vegetarian for about 9 years. Before this review, we started eating meat & sure as shit our foot grew a half inch larger. With the review already started, we knew we had to finish it but the Omar's were far too tight. During the first week of review, our toes were swollen.
Commonly, buying tight skate shoes only occurs when buying a brand that you're new to online. For this reason alone, we always urge you to support & buy at your local skate shop; if they have your desired model in stock. There you'll be able to play around with sizes and etc.

Now that we have all that addition info out of the way, lets demonstrate how to conform tight shoes to your slightly larger foot.

The solution we used was the "ice bag" trick.

Items needed:

• Ziplock bag
• Water
• Old Wheels

Instructions:
This form of stretching your shoes is usually used by woman who need to stretch out their high heels in order to avoid crushing their toes. Seeing as how most skate shoes are starting to look like stilettos, this pretty much applies to skaters more than ever.

Note: We left our insoles in during the freezing process and experienced no flattening or damage to the insole.

1. Fill the ziplock bag to the halfway point with water. Take all the excess air out of the bag by zipping it a third of the way and then sucking the air out through the small opening. Zip it the rest of the way. Make sure that it's closed and sealed properly to avoid ruining this process before you've even started.

2. Carefully insert the water bag all the way towards the toe of your shoe. Loosen the laces to properly make sure you've pushed the bag in as far into the toe as possible.

3. Place some old wheels standing one behind another until you firmly reach the heel. Carefully place the last wheel in to ensure a tight fit without bursting the bag open. Tighten your lace in order to keep the natural shape of the shoe.

4. Place the shoes in the freezer. The water in the ziplock bag will expand when frozen and will successfully stretch out the toe/ forefoot area.

In order to guarantee the water from escaping the toe area, you're welcome to add an additional object to keep the water from expanding elsewhere. We used a hard ice pack to speed up the freezing process and keep the water from reaching elsewhere. It's completely optional though. Let the shoes sit overnight and remove it from the freezer. Take out all the components from the shoe and slowly take the ziplock bag out. It might be stuck but if you loosen the laces and lift the tongue, you should have no problem getting it out. If the bag is stubborn & stuck, use a hair dryer until the bag will give.

If it's a hot summer day, consider yourself lucky. Throw those cold shoes on and try to walk/ skate in them for at least a good 2 hours. The session should past by in no time & you should feel a slight difference.

To assure your feet with the utmost comfort, repeat this step as many times as needed. Between skating them & repeating the "ice bag" process, the shoes should stretch out over a short period of time. Ours stretched in a matter of 3 days.

Nuked method of stretching shoes.

Alternative method: 
Notes: Take out your insoles & shoelaces for this version. 
Warning: Using this method will burn some of the glue off from the outsole. Peeling and some minimal damage may occur. Proceed with caution. Basically, shits on you if they get fucked up.

Instructions:
If you're impatient and need to skate these shoes as quickly as possible, here's the "hot" & classic version of stretching/ breaking-in skate shoes. All you'll need are skate wheels & a microwave.

Simply line up your wheels standing from toe to heel as tight as possible. If there is a limited amout of space & you find yourself unable to fit another wheel in, simply put one wheel laying hole up in the shoe. This should extend the stretching and lock well into the shoe & other wheels. After you've done this, throw your shoes into the microwave for 1:00. If you've got a bootleg microwave, make it 1:20.

Take everything out of the shoes, insert your insoles and put them on right away. It'll be a warm feeling on your feet but it'll guarantee the shoe to mold to your foot. Walk around or skate in them right away to prevent the shoe from getting stiff during the cooling process. Do not repeat this step because it will ultimately lead to destroying your shoes. Only use this method if you absolutely have no other shoes to skate & are fiending to hit the streets.

Either of these stretching solutions require house hold items so you'll be able to find most of this stuff around the house. If you're homeless, curl your toes and viola, skate shoes fit.

Nike SB Omar Salazar review is coming real soon.....