How to Walk Without Creasing Shoes

Co-authored by Moe Draper and Caroline Heiderscheit

Last Updated: October 12, 2024 Fact Checked

You've got a new pair of amazing shoes—but you're worried that in a couple of months, they'll be super creased. When you wear your new sneakers, dress shoes, or heels, you want to look fresh. And luckily, we can help! There are so many simple ways to reduce creasing while you walk, store shoes so they crease less, and even remove creases that have already formed. To learn everything you need to know, read through our complete guide below!

How to Prevent Creases in Your Shoes

Put your heels down before your toes when you're walking.
Maintain good posture and avoid hunching over.
Avoid crouching or bending over if you're able to.
Wear shoe inserts so they have a tighter fit.
Tighten your shoelaces so your shoes don't move around.
Alternate the shoes you wear each day.

Things You Should Know

Train yourself to walk heel-to-toe. This will be especially effective if you can maintain good posture while you walk.
Wear padding inserts and store your shoes with a shoe horn or shoe tree to protect the toe structure.
Remove existing creases using an iron, blowdryer, or steamer.

1

Walk heel-to-toe.

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Lead with your heels and your shoes will be less likely to crease. When you put stress on the front of your shoes (where creases are most likely to form), you make creases worse. Shift your weight to the back of your shoe (towards the heel), and you'll limit creases over time.^{[1]
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- Plus, leading with your heels can help strengthen your calf muscles and increase flexibility. It’s a win-win!
- Avoid walking on your tip toes, especially if an activity or job requires you to do it regularly. In those cases, wear shoes that you won't mind creasing.

2

Maintain good posture.

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Walk with your shoulders back and your back straight. When you avoid hunching over, it'll be easier to walk with your feet flat and your heels leading. When you keep good posture, you’ll be able to walk in a way that limits creases over time.

3

Avoiding crouching and kneeling.

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Kneel down in your new shoes, and you could leave permanent creases. If you need to get low, take off your shoes first. Kneeling puts a ton of pressure on creases in your toe box, which can easily create wrinkles.
- Once or twice might not make a huge difference, but crouching regularly definitely can. If you perform work or do activities that require regular crouching down, wear shoes that you don’t mind wrinkling.

4

Choose a proper fit.

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If your shoes fit perfectly, your feet will support the toe box naturally. This means that as you walk along, the toe box won’t repeatedly collapse (which will eventually cause creasing). So if your shoes aren't too big, they're less likely to crease over time.
- For most people, simply buying the correct size will do the trick. If you’re not sure of your size, go into a shoe store and do a fitting.
- To get the perfect size for narrow or wide shoes, you can order custom shoes online

5

Keep your shoelaces tight.

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Loose laces allow the shoes to bend at the toes and eventually crease. Keep your shoes tightly laced from the toe to the top of the tongue. To do this well, undo all of the laces and start from the top. With each new criss-cross, make sure you keep the ties tight.
- There’s no need to break your foot bones, though. Keep everything snug and secure, but don’t use all of your might while lacing up.

6

Wear padding inserts with sneakers.

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ForceFields are made of comfy foam material, so you won’t mind wearing them around. They provide extra support around your toe box, which prevents future creasing and makes creases you already have less noticeable. Buy a pair and slide them into your favorite pair of sneakers.

7

Create DIY padding inserts with your socks.

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Don't have padding inserts handy? No problem. Put on a second pair of thick socks, rolling them back over your toes. As long as it feels comfortable for you, this will keep your toe box from caving in while you walk around. In the long run, this will reduce creases!

8

Alternate your shoes.

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When you have a pair of shoes you love, it makes sense that you’d want to show them off regularly! But trust that if you’re wearing your shoes every single day, they will start to wrinkle faster. If you can, swap out a few pairs of shoes throughout the week.

9

Store your shoes with shoe trees or shoe horns.

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Buy shoe horns or shoe trees and push them into the toe of your shoes. With the added support under the toe box, sneakers and dress shoes are way less likely to crease between wears.

10

Remove creases with an iron, blowdryer, or steamer.

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Even after shoes start to wear, applying heat can reduce creases. Typically, removing creases will work best with leather shoes. If you're removing creases from suede shoes, be careful when you apply water, as water can cause damage to that material.
- To iron: pack your shoes with newspaper, dampen a cloth, lay it over your shoes, iron for 10 seconds at a time, and keep checking to make sure your shoe isn't being damaged.
- To blow-dry: pack your shoes with a shoe tree, blow dry on a low setting from 2 feet away, and push your shoe's hot leather over the tree to smooth out the material.
- To steam: heat a damp cloth in the microwave for 30 seconds, rub it over the shoe's creases to smoothen them, and insert a shoe tree to give the shoe support while it cools down.