The wrong kind of shoe trees can limit the width of your shoe’s toe box.
But if you get a shoe tree that has a wide enough opening, it can stretch out the leather and help your shoes last longer.
Unless you have a very fat foot, most full-size retail stores will recommend an M or L size shoe tree because they’re more likely to fit in your shoes and not restrict their shape.
However, if you have a slim foot and only wear children's or women's shoes, then the smaller sizes are probably right for you.
Shoe trees can help make your shoes last longer by making sure your leather is dry and leather will stretch in these conditions:
When you get out of the shower or bath.
If you live in a humid area.
If your shoes are frequently scuffed, punctured, or damaged—you want to minimize the amount of damage that occurs to the shoes in order to prevent more wear-and-tear.
The size of the shoe tree opening determines how much shrinking your shoe will allow. You want a shoe tree with a wide enough opening for your feet to comfortably slide into, but not so wide that your foot slides all the way past the top edge and comes out the side. Otherwise, you will have to pull out your shoe from the bottom of the tree and work it back in order to get your foot back in.
If you’re planning on getting an insert like OrthoSole’s GelPro (link) or Exofit technology, then make sure that you buy a shoe tree with an opening large enough to accommodate those inserts. Or buy two different sizes of shoe trees—one for when you wear your shoes normally and another that accommodates OrthoSole’s inserts.
Can shoe trees stretch out shoes?
Shoe trees can stretch out shoes in two different ways:
Stretching the leather on the upper shaft.
Stretching the leather on the sole.
It is because of how shoe trees work that they can cause your shoes to wear out faster on the bottom rather than at the top, even though both wear and tear happens at roughly the same rate. Since most shoe trees have a square or rectangular shaft, only a certain amount of stretching will occur; however, if you wear shoes with wavy soles then a lot more stretching will be caused when you step forward with your foot. This stretching of the leather on the bottom of the shoe will cause it to wear out differently than if you were to damage that sole by stepping on a sharp rock or something harder.
The most common way for shoe trees to stretch out your shoes is by stretching out the top part of your shoe, especially if you are wearing shoes that do not have a lot of stretch in their leather.
The leather stretches out when moisture is absorbed into the shoes.
If a full-size tree isn’t wide enough for your feet, try using a child’s shoe tree or children's shoe tree (link). You can also use a fitted insert like OrthoSole's GelPro (link) or Exofit technology.
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