Dr Marten Boots

MadelinesMum · 13 December 2012 at 12:01PM

Hi all, I hope this is the right place.
I've always wanted a pair of Doc Martens and finally got a pair from ebay but I can't drive in them. I just can't put the clutch peddle right down and I'm also worried about the brake. Does anyone else have this problem? (perhaps I'm just weird). Most of my journeys involve driving and you can appreciate it's not easy to change the boots every time I want to drive.

The boots are not worn in yet, so any tips on how to make the leather more supple or perhaps I should just put them back on ebay?
Thanks in advance

foxgloves · 13 December 2012 at 12:19PM

I love my old pair of purple Dr Martens, which I've had for 12 years & still wear them. I've never had a problem driving in them, even when they were brand new. It might be just a case of getting used to them, but I appreciate you wanting to feel in control of the pedals when driving.

timbo58 · 13 December 2012 at 12:21PM

New boots will be stiff at first -keep polishing them with a high quality boot polish, they'll soon be far better.

VJsmum · 13 December 2012 at 12:25PM

My DD has some new DMs that have ripped her feet to shreds. At the moment she is refusing to wear them and I am refusing to buy her anything else until she agrees to wear them in. I wear them intermittently to try to help wearing them in but she is 2 shoe sizes bigger than me.

I read the best way is to wee in them and then wear them till they are dry! I have also heard of soaking them in water with a tiny amount of bleach and then wearing them till they are dry.

nuatha · 13 December 2012 at 1:29PM

My process for breaking in walking boots is to wear them around the house, including pleanty of trips up and down stairs. Start of with 30 mins at a time twice a day and build up from there. After about a week I dig over a stretch of garden, clean the boots then brush dubbin into the leather (rumour mill is that dubbin rots the stitches, a lot of my walking is in peat hag, I've never had a problem) for dress boots I use Brasher conditioning cream, dry the boots over night (not in front of a fire or radiator) then do a two to three hour walk that involves plenty of water - walking through streams or puddles. Repeat the clean and dry process. It generally takes me two weeks to break new boots in (or break my feet into new boots, not sure which way round it actually works

)

Either dubbin or conditioning cream will help make the leather a little more supple, but its actually using the boots that will help stretch them where you need them to be more flexible.

As Foxgloves has said, it may be a case of getting used to them (they aren't ever going to give the same sense of feel as a light pair of soft shoes). It may also be worth playing with how you lace them, adjusting the tension at the top of the foot, bottom of the ankle.

It may also depend on the car, I usually wear very light flexible shoes. I was quite surprised when I realised I couldn't drive my OH's car in boots - my boots are physically too wide to only fit on a single pedal without catching the adjacent pedal(s)

HTH

tori.k · 13 December 2012 at 2:13PM

just drive in a pair of trainers then swap shoes before you get out of the car, i drive in boots as the norm, but i do have a well worn in pair that the soles are just to thick to really drive in and i can't really feel the pedals well enough, i just swap shoes if im wearing these.

Hermia · 13 December 2012 at 6:17PM

nuatha wrote: »

It may also depend on the car, I usually wear very light flexible shoes. I was quite surprised when I realised I couldn't drive my OH's car in boots - my boots are physically too wide to only fit on a single pedal without catching the adjacent pedal(s)

HTH

Same here. My car's pedals are narrow and close to each other so bulky boots would be quite dangerous. Personally I like to feel the pedal through my shoe when I am driving as it feels safer.

When I had Doc Martens as a teen we were advised to cover them with vaseline and then wipe it off the next morning to soften them up. I'm not sure if this is advised now!

meritaten · 13 December 2012 at 8:16PM

a tip for your DD VJsmum - tell her to wear a pair of thin socks or popsocks under some thicker socks when wearing the boots. The two layers of sock rub against each other rather than rubbing the skin.

geri1965_2 · 13 December 2012 at 8:19PM

Get rid of them and buy something that doesn't need wearing in.

Life is too short to have uncomfortable feet.

[Deleted User] · 13 December 2012 at 8:47PM

My youngest DD in the summer drive without shoes on at all and has done for 24 years and never has had an accident,in the winter when its cold she takes a pair of soft slippers in the car which she keeps in there to wear just to keep her feet warm

muckybutt · 13 December 2012 at 8:57PM

Ive had many dm's I always use neats foot oil a good generous covering of it at night - wipe off and polish in the morning.

If you are finding that the heels start to rub then a couple of layers of duct tape up the back on the inside - less friction on the duct tape so makes wearing them a lot more comfy, if needed I also added some of the plaster strip you can cut off to what ever length you needed....gives it a bit morepadding.

Urine does help but then theres a stale sweaty wee smell....not nice ! not so bad if you are in the army and in the battle field.

As for any blisters etc that you may get, I used the compeed blister plasters....excellent I have to say. Once healed apply some surgical spirit to harden the skin, dont get it in any cuts....I once told my bro to put some on a neat blister he had from wearing dm's..... I heard the scream downstairs followed by lots of colourful language :rotfl::rotfl:fancy trusting your brother

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Dr Marten Boots

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