Overview
It’s virtuous to wear products out from using them rather than going out and buying new ones, and a good pair of leather shoes are meant to be worn until they fall apart. That’s why it’s a shame to have to stop wearing shoes while they’re still in their prime because they just don’t fit. Maybe you got them wet and they shrunk, or maybe you bought the wrong size and thought you could break them in. Whatever the case, if you had something that could stretch them out you’d be able to wear them again and reintroduce them into your shoe lineup.
The Claim
The Stretch Genie uses a solvent that is designed to penetrate into leather footwear or leather gloves and relax the fibers so that they can be pulled and molded into the size and shape you want. They say it works on every type of shoe, but that is a bit misleading because it doesn’t work on every type of material. Only if your loafers, flats, or pumps are made of leather, suede, and natural skin will you see the results they’re talking.
The problem arises from the fact that in today’s modern world very little of what gets sold is made the way it once was. Things that look and even smell like real leather are often imitation, and the majority of the shoes you have are probably made with more advanced materials so they’re lighter and produced for less so they don’t cost as much.
The Hype
The hype is that this technique has been around for a long time, and shoe repair shops have been repairing shoes in the way for decades. They’re trying to bring it home to you so that you can do it yourself, but the big question remains of whether or not you should bother, or if it’s best to just let the pros handle it.
The Cost
Stretch Genie is $24 for a double order, so you get two bottles plus four expanders, and they throw in a pair of heel pads as a bonus.
The Commitment
This is more commitment then just donating your shoes to Goodwill, but it’s worth it because you will be saving money on having to buy a new pair. If you have multiple pairs of shoes that could fit better, this may be an option for you. It’s also more commitment than bringing it in to a shoe repair shop and letting someone else do it for you, but the thought is that you are putting in some time in order to save some money.
Evaluation
If you’ve got wide feet, the Stretch Genie might be just the thing for you. The expanders can be set so that they put a constant push on the sides of the shoe. They claim that you can increase the width by several sizes. Other than that, they say that it can be used on the toe area so that you can have more room there, which is one of the hardest parts to get to fit properly.
The Stretch Genie is not a new idea, it is just been packaged and presented in a way to appeal to a broader audience. Shoe repair shops have been using leather relaxers for decades, and this is what they do to fix your shoes and make a living off of it. If you’ve got a pair of shoes
that you’re trying to salvage, it’s better to take it to the pros than make a mess with this and hope that it works. It has mixed reviews from those that have tried it out, and the overall consensus seems to be that it’s not worth the cost and hassle.Our Recommendation
You can safely pass on this. Our reasoning: It only works on genuine leather, suede, and natural skin shoes, and most of the time people will be trying this on artificial leather or other materials. If you have a pair of leather shoes that don’t fit right, you can take them into a shoe repair shop and have them fitted professional for about the same price and then you don’t have to worry about doing it yourself. This would only be something to invest in if you have multiple pairs of real leather shoes and none of them fit right.
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View Comments
I've been noticing how shoe repair shops are starting to charge premium over the past couple of years. I think it's a combination of two things, one is that there just aren't that many shoe repair shops anymore and two is that people are far less likely to throw out a pair of shoes that need repair in this economy and so they frequent the shoe repair shops a lot more often now. I think I'll buy the stretch genie and use it on multiples shoes instead of paying premium to repair one pair of shoes.