“Are these Shoe Trees too large?”
We have had many variations of this question from our customers, and legitimately so! If your Shoe Trees are too large, they will place too much pressure, especially on the heel area, and risk overstretching the leather; Come too small, and your Shoe Trees will not serve their function at all. This is why Shoe Tree fit is so important, and why you should only opt for Shoe Trees that come in individual sizes instead of generic sizes.
When Are My Shoe Trees Too Big?
Your Shoe Trees are too large when 1) the front and heel parts are contacting each other when inserted into your shoe or, 2) the Shoe Tree cannot be inserted into the shoe.
When the front and heel parts are in contact, the twin tube is fully compressed and there is no allowance for further compression. However, Shoe Trees have to be compressed slightly shorter than your shoe in order to be inserted. Otherwise, you’ll be stretching your shoe ever so slightly when inserting and removing the Shoe Trees from your shoes! Over time, this will lead to shoes becoming too large for wear!
To tell if your Shoe Trees are causing undesired stretching, use a whiteboard marker to mark on the twin-tubes where the shoe tree compresses to when inserted into your shoes. Observe if the front of the shoe tree moves away from this mark – this is a sign of stretching. Stretching does not occur overnight, and slight stretching is completely reversible! This gives you a lot of leeway in determining the right Shoe Tree size before it does any damage to your shoe. When you shop with SHOETREE Singapore, you can get a size exchange to ensure that your shoe is getting the optimal fit!
When Are My Shoe Trees Too Small?
Shoe Trees are too small when 1) the Shoe Tree can be almost fully extended when inserted into your shoe or, 2) the split-toe mechanism does not fill the width of your shoe. When the twin-tubes of the Shoe Tree are fully extended, there is virtually no tension along your shoe, and it does almost nothing to unfurl you sole and prevent creases. Same goes for the split-toe mechanism – if it does not fill the front of your shoe, it does not stretch out the creases on the vamp.
What Is A Good Fit?
For Shoe Trees from SHOETREE Singapore, a good fit is when the front and heel portions of the Shoe Tree are about 0.3 cm – 1.3 cm apart when inserted. This way, the springs in the twin-tubes are exerting enough pressure to unfurl your sole, while still giving compression allowance for inserting and removing the Shoe Trees.
Because optimal fit is so important, we create Shoe Trees in individual sizes from EUR 35 all the way to EUR 46, with each size step being just 0.5 cm – 1.5cm. When purchasing, you may print out our Brannock Device (foot measuring device) on our product page to determine the best Shoe Tree size for yourself – if they are the same size as your feet, and your feet fit your shoes, your Shoe Trees will fit your shoes! In the event that even that is wrong, we have you covered with 7-Day Size Exchanges. Long story short: when you purchase a pair of Shoe Trees from us, you will only be getting the best fit.
It is important to have a full heel on your Shoe Tree i.e your shoe tree fills the heel instead of just one point, because this helps distribute the pressure long the entire heel instead of focusing it all on one point, which will cause it to distort.
Do your Shoe Trees not provide an optimal fit for your shoes? Check out our wide range of individually-sized Shoe Trees from EUR 35 – EUR 46. These are lovingly crafted from fresh, decay-resistant heartwood from the American Red Cedar, and shipped to you for FREE! We also provide Size Exchanges within 7 days of purchase, ensuring that your leather shoes only get the best care!
I used my shoe tree in my leather loafers that are 10 years old. I never used one until about a week ago & it stretched the leather out so there’s some slight slippage in my heel. I can still where them but for reference before I put the shoe tree in I was playing pickleball on Thanksgiving day in them! I’d like to get them back to that glove like fit. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance & I love the site!
Hey there!
Firstly, it certainly isn’t usual for shoe trees to cause your shoes to stretch. Without something like a screw-gauge shoe stretcher and some stretching liquid, it is really difficult to cause changes in the length of leather fibers. I’m guessing that it is more likely to be related to changes in the shape of your shoe.
Leather shoes can be shrunk by soaking in water and drying them subsequently with shoe trees in, so that it doesn’t dry out in a misshapen shape. But I’d strongly recommend unless this pair doesn’t have much wear left in them, because the process can significantly reduce the remaining life of the leather by robbing it of its oils. A better (and more reversible soultion!) would be to use an insole instead!