Breaking in New Hardshoes

So the time has come to break in new hardshoes. Every irish dancer's worst nightmare. My old one's barely made it through the Oireachtas. I had to have the heel secured on, in the fears that it may rip off at any time, and I had danced all the way threw the bottom leather. Sure enough my arthritic big toe was not happy with me dancing in these shoes...

I would love to hear what everyone does to help speed up the "breaking in" process. What do you do to work in your hardshoes? My methods have always been to slice the bottoms and bend/tie them over night.

Looking forward to your replies,

Maggie

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Comment by Margaret Wilkins on December 2, 2011 at 2:33pm: I have always worn Rutherford hard soles. As you can see from the picture I am very hard on my shoes. I am known for my rhythm and hardshoe dancing, but it does a number on my shoes. I have never tried the super flexi but i know I would go threw them in a couple months.

Growing up we weren't allowed to wear the black soles because they require no strength in your foot and offer no support on pointe. The pain of breaking them in is worth it for me. If it ain't broke don't fix it :)

Comment by Aisling on December 2, 2011 at 4:31am: i haven't worn the harder soled shoes like that in forever... i wear the super flexi type and they are a breeze to break in as far as toe stands, etc. any reason why you prefer the stiffer sole?

Comment by Margaret Wilkins on November 25, 2011 at 5:09pm: Thanks Beth. I have been bending them a lot. I guess I just have to be persistent. I have a huge sore blister on my heel at the moment that's making the process extremely painful, but I'll toughen up.

Comment by Beth on November 25, 2011 at 3:50pm: I twist the sole so I can hear them crack, and I do that over and over and over again. I also keep them bent and under the edge of the couch. My TC used to wear them in a hot bath to soften up the leather.

I'm going through this too, although my new shoes are the black suede so it's a little less painful than the full leather sole.

Best of luck!

Comment by NataliaA on November 24, 2011 at 9:40pm: Well my friend who'd been dancing for many years adviced me to use...hammer. You take the shoe and the hammer and you show it who's really hard :P But seriously, it works. Just use it on the leather part of the sole and it will be softer. And i guess simple moving it helps, you just bend it inwards and outwards.

hope that helped :)

cheers!