How do I make my tall boots tighter?

[anyanicholson]

I got Parlanti’s about 6 months ago and they were really tight when I first got them, but over time of course they’ve dropped and stretched out but fit me fine. Theres nothing wrong with them except for the fact that they’ve continued to stretch out and I’m afraid to really work and ride in them since I think they’ll continue to drop and stretch out which is the last thing I want to have to worry about after all the money I laid down for them.

Is there any way for me to prevent them from stretching any more?

Can I make them tighter by using rubbing alcohol? (Ive heard of that trick, but I’m not fully sure how I should apply it or if it will even work.)
Any suggestions would be great!

(Also, let me emphasize how tight they were when I first got them)
Im afraid they’re so loose that they’ll just continue to drop the the point where they’re really too short.

They were on the tall side when I got them and they’ve dropped to the perfect height, so I’m afraid of them dropping more. :no:

[Sometimes]

In my experience, boots stretch and drop a certain amount and then stop – that process is going to happen in a few months (or weeks with parlantis) or a few years depending on how much you wear them ( a few years only if you are too scared to wear them! but its still going to happen). I don’t think you can really stop them from doing it necessarily though maybe someone can weigh in on the rubbing alcohol trick, but that would not be the first choice of what to put on my parlantis

The fact is parlantis are built a little short as are most of the european boots. Some people get lucky and they are taller on them, but for most the finished/dropped height is shorter than we are used to. If it makes you feel any better we ride in them every day, multiple horses and while they did drop, they have not continued to do so. If I were you, I’d wear them, love them and not worry too much about it. Ours were very tight when they arrived, and now just zip on with no squeezing, but they don’t seem any lower due to this, it’s just based on how much the ankle are settles.

[PNWjumper]

Have you gained and lost weight? The only time I’ve had boots stretch too much it’s been because of fluctuations in my weight. And I don’t know of any way around that other than not allowing my weight to fluctuate (ha!).

So I’ve had a few pairs of tall boots that got a bit too big, but never had them drop a lot more after the initial breaking in period (as long as they were pretty well fitted down the leg and not just at the calf).

I don’t think there’s any way to “shrink” leather back down in a predictable way. I had a pair of chaps that got too big and tried washing and drying them as suggested here. They got super short and no smaller around…so they shrunk in a vertical manner, but not a horizontal one. Oops!

Rubbing alcohol is usually used to stretch boots, so I’m not sure I would use it and expect them to shrink down around your leg. But maybe someone here will have another idea?

[atlatl]

Do you use boot trees when you aren’t wearing them? If not, you should as they will help hold the shape.