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Breaking In Duckfeet
4 tips on breaking in your Duckfeet:
Pa-tin-a: /puh-tee-nuh/
The appearance of something grown beautiful, especially with habit or use.
Duckfeet shoes are built to last from all-natural, high-quality heavy leather. The natural characteristics of Duckfeet are great for your feet, but they may feel a little stiff at first. So we've worked out the best ways to break in our Duckfeet with little discomfort to our feet. (questions about sizing? head over to the fit guide)
1. Leather conditioner
- We recommend applying a natural leather conditioner to your Duckfeet, as this nourishes the leather like a moisturizer would nourish your skin.
- An initial coating of conditioner helps soften up the leather, especially on any spots that you feel 'rub' on your feet.
- No conditioner? No worries. We hear raw potato or butter are just as good, although, we haven't tried these out ourselves. If you have a conditioner at home that isn't Duckfeet brand, be sure to test it on a small, non-visible area, or reach out to us to see if it's recommended.
For best results, we recommend our Leather Care Kit
2. Thick socks
- Wearing thick socks with your new shoes will help push the leather outwards around your foot shape. It will also protect any sensitive spots on your feet from rubbing during the process
- With thick socks, wear your Duckfeet around the house in short, 10 minute bursts.
- Once they start feeling better with each wear, bump the time up to as long as they feel comfortable. Just wearing them like this helps the shoes mold to your foot shape and movements.
- If you do notice any pain while doing this, just take a break! You can also avoid this method and stick with the sit-down and massage method.
3. Sit down
- Our favorite, and simplest, method of softening up our shoes is to wear them at night while we're sitting down relaxing. Your feet will be slightly bigger due to the natural swelling we all experience from being active during the day.
- Popping on a pair of thick socks will help put slight pressure on the leather to relax the fibers, as will your body heat.
- A week of hanging out in your Duckfeet at night should help them soften up nicely.
4. Massaging
- Generally, people often wear shoes to break them in which, depending on sensitivity, could be a painful, blistering experience.
- Save your feet the hassle, and massage the leather by moving it around with your hands. This mimics the action of wearing them, so you're saving your feet from any discomfort, and causing the rigid leather fibers to relax.
- Good spots to focus on are any points that you feel pressure or rubbing on your feet, and again leather conditioner can help speed up this process a little.
