Does the Stretch Genie help make shoes wider?

It can be frustrating to find a pair of shoes that you love that are just not wide enough.

Kay from Phoenix emailed me saying she was having a similar problem. 

She said she has a bunion that is making her shoes really uncomfortable.  So she asked me to try out the Stretch Genie .

At first glance I was skeptical. So I bought two of the products. I gave one to Kay to try out at home and we also tried one on several pairs of shoes.

The claim is you simply spray and your leather shoes will stretch.

Kay said the first thing she realized was that the ingredients were things most of us already have at home, alcohol and water. 

She followed the instructions and sprayed the Stretch Genie solution in her leather shoes. 

She tried using the expander, but it was difficult to use. She also tried walking around in the shoes after spraying the solution.

Kay said she was surprised because her shoes really felt wider and more comfortable, but only for about an hour. After that, they were right back to being tight and uncomfortable.

So I had to find Kay some relief.

I stopped in at MVP ShoeRepair near 32nd Street and Thunderbird Road and they quickly had a simple solution.

The owner, Johnny, took Kay’s shoe and placed a professional shoe stretcher in it overnight. Kay said it’s like she’s wearing a new pair of shoes.

The professional shoe stretcher will cost you about $20 and did a great job, plus it can be used over and over again. The Stretch Genie cost us about $17 with shipping and I have to say, I wasn’t impressed at all.

After Kay’s results and the results of my own test, I have to give the Stretch Genie a thumbs down.