How to Stretch Leather – 6 Proven Methods

Don’t feel like waiting around?

No problem.

There’s plenty of safe ways to stretch your leather without risk of damaging it for a better fit. 

Here’s everything you need to know about stretching leather in a quick and efficient way.

Method 1: Alcohol

No, this doesn’t mean getting drunk and letting whatever happens to happen.

There’s a much more effective way to stretch your leather than just hoping for the best like that.

Simply combine one part rubbing alcohol with three parts water in a spray bottle, shake well, and spritz it over parts of the leather you wish to stretch (joint areas, for example).

The leather doesn’t have to be soaked, only moistened.

When sufficiently dampened, put on your leather garment of choice and wear it around.

For best results, try to flex the areas you’re wanting to stretch as you wear them to help speed up the process.

This method works by helping to soften the fibers that make up your leather, allowing them to flex more as they become less rigid.

It’s also far less risky than completely submerging your leather garments completely in water, a process that serves to saturate the fibers for a similar effect but could potentially end up ruining your leather in the process.

As an alternative, you can also do this process with a rag or cotton ball dipped in the alcohol solution and swabbed across the areas of the leather you wish to stretch if you lack a spray bottle.

Method 2: Ice

When water freezes it contracts, but ice thawing out expands. You can probably see where this is going, so the only real question remaining is how you’re meant to freeze your leather without completely ruining it.

Place your leather item inside a secure zip-top plastic bag and seal it shut (for extra security, you can clip the end shut or even vacuum seal it).

Place that bag inside a larger freezer bag, then fill the second bag with water before zipping it up.

Placing the item flat, leave it in the freezer for several hours to freeze it completely.

Once that’s done, simply let it thaw out. The natural contraction and expansion that comes with freezing and thawing do the work of squishing and pulling your leather clothing better than your hands ever could. You can even repeat the process several times if you like.

This method works best on smaller things like shoes or bags, but creative freezer arrangement and big enough bags make anything possible.

Additionally, it does come with the risk of the first bag springing a leak and flooding your leather, so be sure everything is safe and secure before attempting this.

Method 3: Heat

Just like with your own skin, heating leather opens the pores of the hide that was used to make your favorite jacket.

You can use this to your advantage when trying to stretch your leather clothing so long as you’re careful about not burning yourself or your leather.

Using something like a hairdryer, heating up specific areas of your clothing with concentrated air from about six or so inches away.

Try to heat the area evenly for best results.

Once the area has become soft and hot, turn off the hair dryer and put on the leather.

Just like in the last method, wear your leather around to help permanently stretch out the heated areas, flexing around them to speed things along.

As mentioned earlier, be careful not to burn yourself when trying this method. If the leather you’ve heated is too hot to touch, it’s obviously too hot to be putting on your body.

For more sensitive areas, wear a protective layer of clothes underneath them to try and prevent too much of the heat from transferring to your body.

While not necessarily a tip, it’s also recommended that you employ this method when the weather gets colder.

It won’t help the stretching process but will make wearing your leather around a lot more pleasing.

Method 4: Dryer

This works best with things like jackets in pants, as tossing a pair of shoes in your dryer can often lead to some problems.

Regardless, this is one of the least laborious methods for stretching out your leather.

All you need to do is toss your leather into the dryer on the lowest heat setting and let it spin for a cycle.

The heat will help to soften the leather as detailed above while the spinning and banging against the sides of the washing machine deliver physical agitation that stretches the leather out.

For even better results, use a few plastic dryer balls while you’re at it. These can give your leather a real beating that can make it even more supple and stretchy when it comes out.

The only thing to keep in mind is that this probably isn’t a safe method to try with your more delicate pieces. While it’s unlikely to cause any harm, it’s better safe than sorry.

Method 5: Weight

Stretching things with weights is a bit caveman for some people, but it’s undoubtedly effective.

It’s also incredibly easy, needing only a bar suspended in the air and something a bit heavy to attach to the end of your garments.

Hang your leather over the bar (a shower rod works perfectly) and tie or otherwise attach a small amount of weight to the hanging end.

You can try things like bags of rocks, bottles filled with water, small paint cans, or whatever else you might have lying around.

Just make sure it’s weighted appropriately for your leather’s toughness.

Let things hang out like that for an hour or two while checking every ten minutes or so. You’ll likely see a visible difference of a few millimeters or more once you’re done, with leather that’s stretched out and ready to be worn after you take it off the bar.

This works best on things like belts or something with straps, though it is possible to rig up a way to use this with something like a jacket.

Either way, always be careful not to overstretch and remain vigilant while you stretch so nothing gets broken.

Method 6: Professional Products

If all else fails, just go with the professional options.

There’s a ton of commercial products available specifically to help you stretch out your leather garments.

Stores often sell specialized leather stretching sprays that are a mix of chemicals that help to soften your leather.

For things like shoes, there are spreader inserts that can be placed inside and expanded to stretch your shoes in different areas. If you don’t feel like DIYing anything, this is generally a good route to take.

Final Thoughts

As one of the top fabrics in the world, leather has a multitude of features that make it great to wear.

Being as durable and naturally flexible as it is, it can stretch without issue for a more comfortable fit.

If you’d like to accelerate the stretching process for a more bespoke fit to your favorite garments, try one of these six methods.