Tips & Techniques

how to break in climbing shoes

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how to break in climbing shoes

Are climbing shoes almost unbearably tight for you?

Many rock climbers want a tight fit on their shoes. This can prove quite uncomfortable and can ruin the experience for you.

Is there any solution? Yes, a solution exists, which is to break in your climbing shoes.

So now, some questions might arise. How to break in climbing shoes? What is the best way to break in rock climbing shoes? How long does it take to break in climbing shoes?

This article will seek to help you find the answers to those questions.

Lets Dive in:

how long does it take to break in rock shoes

How Long Does It Take to Break in Climbing Shoes?

It’s hard to give an accurate answer as some factors can affect the break-in period. But it is important to make it faster so you can have an experience of comfortable shoes. 

These factors include what rock climbing shoes you’re using and what method you’re using to break them in.

The break-in time for climbing shoes can vary from 12 hours to a week or two.

04 Simple Tips to Break in New Climbing Shoes

Let’s look at some tricks to break in climbing shoes. It’s recommended you try these out for yourself. Stick with the one that gives you the best results.

Perform Physical Activities While Wearing the Shoe:

The most basic way to break in rock climbing shoes (and shoes in general) is to wear them. Wear your new shoes and take a walk. It should be noted that this isn’t the fastest method to break in your climbing shoes. However, it is usually the most effective.

To get comfortable with your new shoes, you should perform physical activities while slowly increasing the difficulty. We recommend the following order for you to follow:

  1. Walking: After getting the shoes out of the box, you should wear it. Start by walking around the house in them.
  2. Jogging Outside: Next, you should try running or jogging outside with your shoes. Increase your distance each time.
  3. Practice Climbing:

    If your local gym has a wall to climb, then that is your next step.

This method is recommended if you have bought your new shoes well in advance. You’ll have more time to break them in.

Wearing Socks:

If you feel like your shoes need just a bit more stretching to be comfortable, you can try this. Usually, rock climbers don’t wear socks when climbing. This is because wearing socks can pose a danger of slipping

However, wearing socks before a climbing session can help you to stretch rock climbing shoes. So when you do wear shoes without socks, they prove a more comfortable fit. If your shoes need just a little stretching to become comfortable, this method is quite useful.

Taking a Hot Shower:

A strange but effective method is to wear your shoes and take a hot shower.

The heat can cause the shoes to expand. This will make them more comfortable to wear. For this method, follow the below steps:

  1. Wear your rock shoes and lace them up properly. Make sure you had gotten rid of any packaging and stickers they had when you bought them.
  2. Turn your shower on and let the hot water soak your shoe. If your shoe is dyed, some of the dye might come off. Be careful that you don’t stain anything.
  3. Before letting it dry, you will want to wear them. Walk-in them for 20 minutes. This will help mold them.
  4. Once you’re done walking, leave the shoes to dry. Put in some crumpled newspaper inside of the shoes. This will help with the break-in process. Leave it to dry for some hours.
  5. Try the shoes again. If you think it needs to break in more, repeat the process.

This is one of the best ways to break in climbing shoes. It causes your shoe to stretch more, and thus, the break-in period is less.

Freezing Them Overnight:

If you didn’t like the previous method, then this is a good alternative. For this, you’ll need two zip lock bags. Follow the steps below:

  1. Fill the zip lock bags with water. If you want to stretch the shoes more, use more water.
  2. Put the water bags into your rock shoes. Lace the shoes after this.
  3. Place the shoes in your freezer. The water will freeze and expand. This will also cause your shoe to stretch.
  4. Leave the shoes for 12 hours.

This is a bit of a slow method. However, it is effective and works well with dyed shoes. You can repeat the process if needed to stretch the shoes more.

F.A.Q

Here we have the most commonly asked queries regarding the question at hand

You can use zip lock bags with water. Simply put them in the shoe and then the freezer. This will cause the shoes to break in before wearing them.

It depends. Climbing shoes are meant to be tight to avoid slips. If you feel uncomfortable wearing them, slightly breaking them in via physical activity can help.

The freezing them overnight and hot shower method will work. You will need to repeat them several times to stretch the shoes enough.

Tight enough that you don’t slip. Your climbing shoes shouldn’t be so tight that it hurts. And you should be able to securely climb in them.

Conclusion

A good climbing shoe can make rock climbing a lot easier. So knowing how to break-in climbing shoes is important. Rarely will a shoe be the perfect fit but properly breaking them in can help.

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How to clean & wash rock climbing shoes

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how to clean climbing shoes

Maintaining a good climbing shoe is important in making sure that your climbing experience is either a success or a failure. 

Climbing shoes are the home for bacteria, and thus they smell! All that sweat from those long climbs only leads to terrible smells and a shorter lifetime. 

Do you want to grow fungi on your climbing shoes?

Hope Not!

It would help if you had a few tricks up your sleeve to ensure that your rock climbing shoes are clean and well taken care of. 

Lucky for you, here are some helpful tips about cleaning your climbing shoes!

Precaution: Keep Your Shoes Clean

Prevention is better than cure! It is important to keep your shoes from getting dirty than trying to clean them out later. 

It is better said than done.

Trust me, I know.

Just try to keep your shoes clean, dry, and aerated! Here is how you do it, wash your feet, keep your shoes in an open space.

That’s not all, regularly take off the shoes in-between climbs and use air freshener to keep the smell at bay!

Here is the deal, if you keep your shoes clean, you wouldn’t have to worry about cleaning them constantly.

Handwashing

You probably question yourself on how to wash your rock climbing shoes, each time you put them on.

It turns out; a simple hand wash is the best way to clean your rock shoes. 

There are a few things that you will need, a bucket, water, and a brush. You will need to fill your bucket with warm water only. That’s not all; you have to remember not to use any harsh chemicals that can damage your shoes. 

Here’s the deal, You may want to use a detergent to remove bacteria and smell. 

Please note that it has to be mild and not too concentrated as it might result in your shoes being damaged.  

Let me let you in on a secret if you wear your shoes wet they will smell bad. Allow your shoes to dry before you use them again properly. 

If washing inside of your climbing shoes has been a problem for you, the handwashing method can be the perfect solution for you!

Other Ways To Wash Your Climbing Shoes

  • Use a damp cloth

Here is the thing, sometimes you do not have to wash the shoes full-on. How to clean climbing shoes can be a stressful venture. Some problems require simple solutions like the use of a damp cloth! 

The thing is you can wipe the insoles and lining of your shoes with a damp cloth and leave them to dry. 

That’s not all

Always remember to keep your shoes away from direct sunlight! You want to know why? They might shrink, making you uncomfortable!

  • Use odor killing initiatives

You were probably wondering how to clean smelly rock climbing shoes without damaging them. 

Obviously, there is no way you would want to have stinky climbing shoes. 

To rid the awful smells that shoes can have, it might be wise to use deodorizing foot powders or sprays.

There are also various home remedies that can be used to ensure that your shoes are clean. 

You might want to clean climbing shoes with vinegar, charcoal, or alcohol as these are known to kill the stench!

What To Avoid When Cleaning Rock Climbing Shoes

As important as it is to clean your shoes, there are things that you must most certainly avoid when cleaning your shoes. 

As you might have heard, there are things that you might do while washing the shoes that might damage your climbing shoes.

  • Do not use hot water

Here is the deal, whichever way you choose to wash your shoes, do not use hot water. 

Hot water is the reason for the glue that holds your shoe together comes off. This is a danger to you as you might lose a shoe sole whilst climbing. 

It is important to have clean climbing shoe soles, but it is more important to have the sole on the shoe!

  • Do not heat dry the shoes

It might seem like a good choice at the time, throwing your shoes in the dryer so they can dry off quicker.

But it is not recommended! This can result in your shoes shrinking and being unable to fit and making your climbing experience uncomfortable. It is a better choice to air dry your shoes!

  • Do not use harsh detergents

You might think that using a detergent will be a better way to get your shoes clean. You, however, might be doing more harm than you realize. 

If the detergent is too harsh, you might end up damaging your great pair of climbing shoes. 

What does this mean for you? 

Do not use any form of detergent when cleaning out your shoes. This is to ensure that you do not cause them any unnecessary damage.

An Important Thing To Note:

It must be on your radar to learn how to clean a climbing shoe rubber if you are an active climber. The sole and the rand are the points where the rubber meets the rock. 

You must clean the bottom of the climbing shoes to keep the gripping rubber clean! Clean climbing shoe soles are as much your responsibility as is your climbing safety.

FAQ

It has probably popped into your head if you can clean climbing shoes in the washing machine. Turns out washing your climbing shoes in the washing machine is not recommended. 

It is said to ruin the leather climbing shoes and the rubber sole. However, in instances that your shoes are purely synthetic, you can take the risk.

Yes, you can wash your bouldering shoes but a washing machine is not recommended. It is best to hand wash.

The perfect home remedy for smelly shoes is using baking powder, activated charcoal, and vinegar inside the shoes.

Conclusion

so as a beginner or intermediate climber the most important task after buying climbing shoes is to break in your rock shoes first and then keep it clean and bacteria-free. just follow this article and you will be fine.

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