Often when we buy a pair of new shoes the soles are hard and uncomfortable or not warm enough in the winter months.

Fitting insoles or inserts is the ideal way to make shoes more comfortable and warmer.

Insoles are sold in packs of two, one for each shoe and are normally marked with illustrations of where to cut so that they fit. Normally these will work although occasionally the insole design is too narrow and pointed, leaving a gap at the sides of the feet once they are inserted.

How can we remedy this?

If the shoes have the original insert inside them you can simply remove this, place it on the new insert, mark around it with a sharpie and cut the foam to size. Once done, this can be slid into the shoe and pressed down firmly.

The parchment method

If the shoes do not have original inserts that you can remove there is still a way to cut foam inserts to fit correctly.

• Use a piece of baking parchment
• Cut a piece off that is larger than the shoe
• Slip it inside the shoe and press down around the edges so that you mark the parchment paper
• Now remove from the shoes and place on the foam
• Cut around the paper edges and insert the foam into the shoes

Note that you will have to insert your hand into the shoe to press the new foam down all the way up to the toes.

Final thoughts

Make sure if you use the parchment method you do a map of each shoe for each piece of foam as feet shapes will differ and some may need more foam in areas than others.

Foam inserts are an inexpensive way to make shoes feel more comfortable and warmer, they are easy to fit and last a good amount of time, which means that you can wear the shoes for longer instead of replacing them.

 

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