- What's up, guys?
Matt from the Football Boots team,
and today I am finally back with another boot hack video.
Because I can almost guarantee that a lot of you guys
have got some brand new football boots
just like these ones here.
So, today's episode is going to be looking at the best
and most unique ways to break in those brand new boots.
Let's go!
Football boots with collars.
It seems like 90% of footballers these days,
both young and old,
want a pair of football boots with a collar added on.
The Phantom 3 DFs.
The Predators.
The Superflys.
All have collars and a lot of you guys want those boots.
Now, whilst it might look very cool,
these collars can start out a little bit stiff.
So, what are the best ways to make them
a little bit softer right away?
Well, there's two main products that you guys can use.
Firstly, fabric softener.
Secondly, hair conditioner.
And both of them work amazingly
to help soften those collars.
Of course, firstly, you're going to need
to ask your mum for the fabric softener
or hair conditioner.
A little bowl or ramekin to put some warm water in.
And then, you need to put about a spoonful
of the fabric softener of the hair conditioner inside
and then give it a little bit of a mix-around.
Now, you've got your solution.
You're ready to soften up the collar.
Now, you need to use your fingers for this.
Don't use any type of brush because it might be
a little bit too aggressive and start to pull
at the individual threads.
So, using your hands and fingers is the very best way
to do this.
Dib your fingers into the solution
and then massage that collar very softly
and then gradually get a little bit more aggressive
as you go on.
Don't be afraid to get the collar very wet.
All it's going to do is dry out and become softer.
So, wetter, the better, in this circumstance.
Now, once you've got it all massaged into that collar,
make sure that all of that solution
is actually washed out.
So you can just give the collar
a little bit of a rinse-out with some warm water again
and then leave to dry out overnight.
And once you get back to the boot in the morning,
hopefully, you guys can feel that that collar area
has actually become a little bit softer,
making the boots easier to put on
and also giving you a less aggressive feel
around the ankle.
Alright, so you guys are probably wondering
why I'm wearing my girlfriend's pink fluffy socks.
Well, it's for one of our boot break-in hacks.
All you need for this one are some thick socks
and a hairdryer.
First step is putting on the socks and lacing
up the boots.
The boots are now laced up and this hack
is actually dead simple.
All you need to do is, now that the boots are laced up,
put the hairdryer onto the hottest setting
and then hair-dry for five minutes per boot.
The hairdrying process is now finished.
But why am I wearing thick socks, boots on feet,
and also just giving them a hair-dry on the hottest setting?
Well, the reason is, because I'm wearing these thick socks,
it's packing out the boots inside,
making them stretch a little bit.
And the hot setting from the hairdryer
is making that upper a little bit softer
so it's going to stretch.
Now, what you need to do is actually
just sit still for about 10 to 20 minutes
so the boots are going to keep its new shape
which are a little bit more stretched out
than original.
So what you guys are about to see
is probably the biggest cheat way to break in
your football boots.
And it means you don't even have to wear them.
So, let's take a closer look at the shoe-stretcher.
As its name suggests, the shoe-stretcher stretches
out the shoe and, in this case, it's the football boot.
But how does it actually work?
Well, all you need to do is put the contraption inside
the boot.
Now, once you've got it in place,
all you need to do is start to turn the little toggle
which lengthens that contraption.
The idea is to give it enough tension
to stretch out that toe box and also the heel region.
And, although this is a video on how to break in
your boots, you can also use this contraption
if you wanted to give your boots half a size more
or a full size more in length.
The main trick with the shoe-stretcher is patience.
It's not going to work in one or two hours.
You need to do it for a couple of days.
First, you put the tension onto it a little bit
just so it's giving it a bit of stretch.
Then, after some several hours,
you can then even extend the shoe stretcher even more
so it's giving it a little bit more tension
and that's making the boots even more broken-in.
But if you guys can't get hold of a shoe-stretcher
or simply don't want to use one,
there is an alternative.
And that's by using newspaper.
Now, very similar to the shoe-stretcher
with the newspaper.
Stuff it into the boot right to the toe very tightly,
and you pack it in all the way to the heel.
Once you've left that newspaper inside the boot
for 24 hours, you can then add some more pieces
of newspaper, giving the boots a little bit more stretch
so the first time you wear them,
they're going to fit a little bit more forgiving.
All you need for this hack are your brand new pair of boots,
some water, and a pair of socks you don't mind
getting soaking wet.
Now, the idea for this one is to get the socks
soaking wet, the boots soaking wet, as well.
Put them both together, wear them on the feet,
and then wear them for half an hour or so
to soften up the inner material and also the upper itself.
It's actually a very simple process.
Get the socks soaking wet,
get the boots soaking wet,
put them on and then go for a run
for half an hour or for however long you want
to do so.
The more time you actually spend inside
the boots running around in those wet socks and boots,
it's going to make them even softer.
And, also, a nice little trick is,
if you want a very barefoot feel,
you can actually play football with wet football socks.
This is something that a lot of German footballers do,
especially the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Now, the reason we're showing you this hack
is because a lot of the common break-in methods
only treat the upper.
So, the outside of the boot.
But what's actually happening inside?
Can we actually create a little bit of stretch and softening
inside the boot itself?
Well, by making the inside of the boot incredibly wet,
it's going to soften those materials and fibres,
making the boots feel even softer inside
as well as the outside.
This next hack absolutely saved me.
When these Mizuno Rebulas got delivered,
I had to test and review them the very next day.
But the problem was they fit half a size too small.
What could I do in 24 hours to give myself
a little bit more room inside the boot
so I could go out and test them?
Well, there is the freezer hack.
All you need to do this trick is a sandwich bag,
some water or, if you need even more space,
some fizzy drink.
So, we're going to show you exactly how
to do the freezer hack by using these items.
So you guys have got your brand new pair of boots,
you're ready to break them in,
but they're are so tight, you don't even want to
because they're going to give you a blister
or be very uncomfortable.
What you need to do is freeze them.
Now, it's not as simple as putting your boot
in the freezer and expecting it to just grow
half a size or a full size.
That's not how it works.
What you need to do is fill a sandwich bag
with some water about three-quarters of the way full
and push it into that toe box area.
Now, once you've done that,
you put it into the freezer overnight,
even longer if you want to,
up to 24 hours, and that water when it freezes expands.
And that means that that upper is actually going
to stretch over time.
So once it's been in there, take it out.
Take out the sandwich bag, as well.
Make sure the boot warms up a little bit
and then you are going to find that the boot itself
fits about half a size bigger than it originally did.
Now, when I intro'd this hack,
I said you can use fizzy drink, as well.
The reason you can use fizzy drink
is if the boots are way too small.
You bought them online and, for some reason,
you can't take them back.
There's no refund.
So what do you do?
You can't play in a pair of football boots
a full size to small.
If you do the exact same process but,
instead of using water,
you now use a fizzy drink.
And the reason we do this is because it expands
even more so than water.
Repeat the exact same process.
Put some Coke, Sprite, lemonade,
whatever you want inside that sandwich bag,
put it inside the freezer,
leave for 24 hours, take it out,
and the boot itself, leather or synthetic,
is gonna be a little bit more stretched out
compared to its original state.
This next hack is for all the lazy players out there.
You just got your brand new pair of boots
and you can't be bothered to properly break them in.
You're sitting on the sofa, feet up, watching TV.
Is there anything you can do to help the boots
break in a little bit?
Well, there is.
If you want to just give them a little bit
of minimal break-in, you can just flex the boots in hand.
The upper and sole plate, when they're brand new can just be
a little bit stiff.
So, give them a wiggle and a little bit of flex.
It's just going to ease up that sole and upper material
ever so slightly.
This next hack is the absolute classic.
The Hot Water Trick made famous by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Now, there's two variations of the Hot Water Trick,
so we're going to show you both and then you guys
can decide which one you'd prefer to do on your own pair
of football boots.
So, the two variations of the Hot Water Trick
is doing it in-hand or on-feet.
Now, the first method which we're going to show you
is the one in-hand, and all you need to do this one
is the pair of boots that you want to break in quickly
and a sink which can run hot water.
So, you've got your boots in the sink
and you've also got the water running.
Now, the temperature that you want the water
is about seven or eight out of ten.
You don't want it too hot because this
can weaken the glue where the sole plate
meets the upper and cause premature sole separation.
Now, the idea is to put these boots underneath
the hot water and massage the upper.
But that's not the end.
Once you spend five to 10 minutes on each boot,
give them a quick pat dry and then stuff them tightly
with newspaper.
But that's only if they're synthetic
or knitted football boots.
At this point, you can then just leave aside
in a cool, dry area to dry naturally.
Not by a radiator or in direct sunlight.
But if you have leather football boots,
it is a little bit different.
Again, quick pat dry and then stuff them with newspaper.
But, finally, you need to apply some leather cream
or some dubbin to make sure that beautiful natural
leather upper doesn't crack and stays luxuriously soft.
Method number two is the on-feet version.
It's a little bit different but, essentially, the same.
You need to have a bucket big enough to put your feet in,
and this time the boots are actually laced up
on the feet.
Again, you want your water temperature to be about
seven or eight out of ten.
Firstly, because of the whole sole separation.
And secondly, because you don't want it
to burn your skin.
So, you've got your boots laced up and also placed inside
our big bowl.
You've got a lot of your hot water ready to pour in.
And the reason you need a lot is because you want
the whole boots to be submerged.
So, you're now ready to pour in that hot water.
Once it's at the level you actually desire,
you need to leave your feet inside this hot water
for approximately 10 minutes.
You're counting down the 10 minutes and the time
is finally up.
So, what do you guys do now?
Well, keep the boots laced up.
And if you've got a garden or any area
that you can keep wearing the boots,
then do that for another half an hour or so.
Walk around the garden or, if you're doing it
on a football pitch, then have a little run, as well.
Do some football movements because this is actually
going to make the upper even softer.
So, guys, there it is.
Our boot break-in hacks video.
Hope this has given you some good ideas
that you can try on your own brand new pairs of boots
that you want to break in,
or maybe you've got some boots which are fitting too small
and you want to get a little bit more space.
If you would try some of these hacks we've shown you,
give the video a big thumbs-up.
But if you would never try any of these,
then give it a dislike.
But guys, that's it for today.
So, thanks for watching.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers.
My girlfriend is going to kill me for wearing her socks.