How to Break in Your Birkenstocks so They’re Comfortable and Supportive

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The perfect guide to softening and shaping your Birkenstocks
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Birkenstocks are a great choice for keeping your feet comfortable when you want to wear sandals, but do require a period of breaking in before you can really get the full comfort potential out of them. Slowly increasing the amount of time you wear them each day will break them in, while making any adjustments or physical changes to the sandals to better fit your feet will ensure they’re comfortable as you do. All this will soon earn you some incredibly supportive footwear you can walk in for as long as you’d like.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Wearing New Birkenstocks

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  1. Going longer can put more strain on your feet before the cork material of the Birkenstock’s footbed has shaped to them. If they start hurting before 30 minutes is up, take them off anyway.
    • Wearing socks may help ease the stiffness of walking in them the first couple times, and then start to transition to going barefoot.
  2. Walking in them each day will allow the footbed to loosen up and better shape to your individual foot. If you can, try to increase the length of time you walk in them each day to speed up the process. [1]
    • Follow this method to make sure your Birkenstocks are well and truly comfy to use prior to taking long walks in them. This is especially important if you’re planning a vacation involving lots of walking.
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  3. As you wear them, you should begin to notice an outline of each of your feet in the Birkenstocks growing darker. This is showing how they’re becoming better formed to the shape of your feet each time you wear them. [2]
    • Committing to consistently walking in them at first is the only surefire method for making them more comfortable to wear.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Making Adjustments to Your Birkenstocks

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  1. Birkenstocks may initially feel very stiff when first taking them out the box. Use your hands to bend the shoe back and forth in both directions, then grab the front and back to twist them in opposite directions at the same time. [3]
    • You can also roll it against the floor or bend it against a heavy piece of furniture for the same effect.
  2. The toe bar is often where people complain their Birkenstocks are too stiff or uncomfortable. Take a small mallet and carefully but firmly tamp down on the footbed to loosen up the cork where it’s bothering you. Give it several hits, pressing the footbed with your fingers to test how soft you’re making it, and keep going until you feel it’ll be easier for it to form to the shape of your foot. [4]
    • Try not to hammer too much, or you might weaken the supporting nature of the footbed.
  3. If you’re finding that the sandal isn’t able to be fit to the shape of your foot, adding an extra hole to the strap may help in securing your foot better, and adding a degree of comfort when you walk. [5]
    • You can heat up a pin or screw to pierce through the leather to make a new hole in the strap. Then work the buckle’s prong through the hole to widen it and make it easier to use.
  4. If there’s a section of the strap that’s uncomfortable when it rubs against the top of your foot or chafes it when you walk, sandpaper can help. Using a fine grit paper, rub down any problem areas on the underside of the strap to make the contact points more comfortable. [6]
    • Be careful not to sand them too much, or you may end up making them more uncomfortable or damaging the shoe.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Fitting Your Birkenstocks Properly

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  1. Line up the arches and contours of your own foot with the ones built into the Birkenstocks, and let the toe bar rest underneath all your toes (where they connect with your foot). Rest your heel so it fits comfortably into the cup at the back. [7]
    • Neither your heel or toes should be extending beyond the length of the footbed. Grab a larger size in this case.
  2. Make sure you have enough clearance around the perimeter of your foot, about a 1 ⁄ 4 inch (0.64 cm) of space for your heels and toes, and an a 1 ⁄ 8 inch (0.32 cm) for the sides of your feet. [8]
    • You’ll want to leave yourself a little bit of room for your foot to move around in the Birkenstocks while you’re walking around.
  3. With your foot properly aligned with the footbed, begin strapping up the sandals. When you go to tighten the buckle, adjust it so your foot is secured snuggly, but not too tight. You can test this by seeing if you can still wiggle a finger under the strap at your ankle. [9]
    • Support from the sandal will come from your foot resting properly on the footbed, not from how tight the straps are.
  4. Although you may have adjusted properly while at home, while out walking the natural movement of your foot may have it rubbing against the sandal uncomfortably. If something is bothering you, a strap on the sandal, such as the ones going over the top of your foot or your toes, may not be properly tight or loose enough. Make any of these changes while you’re walking so they’ll be ready for the next time.
    • You may need to fasten the straps differently between your feet depending on their shape or size. [10]
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Expert Q&A

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  • Question
    How do you break in a tough pair of Birkenstocks fast?
    Marc Sigal
    Shoe Care Specialist
    Marc Sigal is a Shoe Care Specialist based in Los Angeles. Marc has over 19 years of experience working in the world of e-commerce, with extensive experience with the care of luxury goods. He is currently the VP of Strategic Partnerships at Blutag, an e-commerce platform helping consumers find products. Prior to Blutag, he founded ButlerBox, a dry cleaning and shoe care service based in Los Angeles, California. ButlerBox reinvented amenity services by placing custom-designed, wrinkle-resistant lockers in luxury apartment buildings, class A office buildings, shopping centers, and other convenient locations. The company got acquired by Rinse.com in 2021. Marc has a BA in Global and International Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
    Marc Sigal
    Shoe Care Specialist
    Expert Answer
    Try bending the shoes in the direction you want them to loosen by hand. This should help make the shoes more pliable. You can also a rubber mallet to soften up the material if you'd like, although this may leave blemishes depending on the material of your shoes. If your Birkenstocks are leather, you can use a leather conditioner to soften the material up as well.
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      Tips

      • Order the soft footbed if you’ll be walking in them for long distances. Birkenstocks makes a model of sandal with an extra layer of cushioning foam to make it all the more comfortable to use the sandals for long periods. Get the soft footbeds if you’ll be using these as your main piece of footwear, or if you need them for walking while on vacation. [11]
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      • Comfort comes with a proper fit, and Birkenstocks do run true to size. They have two major fits to accommodate people with narrow and wider feet, so make sure you’re picking up a pair that will fit you for maximum comfort and support. A sizing guide can be found here: https://www.birkenstock.com/us/us-service-fittingguide.html .
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      Warnings

      • Avoid exposing your Birkenstocks to rain and other moisture, as it can degrade the quality of the footbed, leading it to feel more uncomfortable over time.
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      References

      1. ↑ http://www.ilovebirkenstocks.com/blog/how-to-break-in-your-birkenstocks
      2. ↑ http://www.ilovebirkenstocks.com/blog/how-to-break-in-your-birkenstocks
      3. ↑ Marc Sigal. Shoe Care Specialist. Expert Interview. 15 January 2020.
      4. ↑ Marc Sigal. Shoe Care Specialist. Expert Interview. 15 January 2020.
      5. ↑ http://www.ilovebirkenstocks.com/blog/how-to-break-in-your-birkenstocks
      6. ↑ http://www.ilovebirkenstocks.com/blog/how-to-break-in-your-birkenstocks
      7. ↑ https://www.happyfeet.com/blog/birkenstock-fitting/
      8. ↑ https://www.happyfeet.com/blog/birkenstock-fitting/
      9. ↑ https://www.happyfeet.com/blog/birkenstock-fitting/
      1. ↑ https://www.vox.com/2017/9/1/16145270/birkenstocks-breaking-in-pain
      2. ↑ https://www.birkenstock.com/us/us-about-footbed.html

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      To break in Birkenstocks, slowly increase the amount of time you wear them each day while making adjustments to the sandals to better fit your feet. When you first start wearing your Birkenstocks, walk in them for 30 to 45 minutes on the first day to avoid straining your feet before the cork material of the footbed has shaped to them. Over the next few weeks, wear your new shoes for 1 to 2 hours daily to let the footbed loosen up and shape to your foot. As you wear them, you should begin to notice an outline of your feet as they break in. If your shoes feel too tight or loose, add extra holes to the strap to adjust them to your feet. Additionally, if you notice any uncomfortable parts, sand them down with fine grit paper. To learn how to properly fit your Birkenstocks, keep reading!

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