Heat Molding Ski Boots in My Home Oven DIY - Custom Fit for Wide Feet

I measured my own foot and bought my first pair of ski boots on Amazon, because there's no ski shop nearby. The Head Edge LYT boots I bought have heat moldable outer shells and liners. The forefront of my foot is wider than average so I thermoformed the boots in my own oven. I had never done this before so this video shows the whole process, including cooling the formed boots by quenching in the bathtub. The results were great and the width of the boot is much more comfortable after the heat forming process.

[@ske4ever1]

I’ve been doing this for 40 years. You should stand with the toes of the boot on a 1 inch piece of wood or broom stick. This will seat your heals into the heal pocket. Helps keep the foot aligned properly.

[@BigHorse4200]

Can you do this with any boot?

[@randyskiba5761]

Randy S 1 second ago that doesn't make sense for the case presented in the video. He stated the front of his foot is wide, so if you shift weight back to the heal, there is not going to be as much pressure to expand the boot in the front. Am I missing something?

[@jeffw5956]

@@randyskiba5761 If you have a good ski stance while toes are elevated, your toes will flatten out to their widest as they would if skiing. You probably could do that without a board under the toes but you'd have to stand in a real uncomfortable position for 5-10 min

[@eggcleaver916]

I spent two days in Purgatory last week. I used "performance" rental skis with my brand-new heat-molded boots. In 30 years of skiing I have never felt so in-control of my skis as I was with my formed-boots. Skiing 9AM-4PM with no breaks, two days in a row, my feet were perfectly comfortable with no hotspots, blisters, crushed toes, or anything. I took a gamble when I measured my feet to be 285 mm, then invested in 285 boots (as seen in the video). I was nervous that my toes would not have enough room but this boot-length matchup was perfect. Incidentally, while I was picking up my rental skis, I put my sock-foot on the measurement device, saw that it measured 285, and asked the rental tech what size boot he would put me in and he said "295". I'm still contend that is how I have gotten rental boots that were too big for me (sacrificing ski-control) all my life.

[@the_hate_inside1085]

The only thing that can't be fixed is adding extra length. As long as you have enough length, you should be able to bubble, or grind out any spots that are too small width wise. I also bough my exact length, hoping that this would lead to a better fit in the end. Renting boots is always a gamble, sore feet, or a bad fit, can really ruin your day... I decided to get my own, and will only rent the skis from now on. They are also very cumbersome to bring with you...

[@50guitar]

I’m betting your inconsistent boot temp was due to placing the boots on a cookie sheet. That caused the heat to deflect around the boots instead of through them.

[@MrSovde]

Im glad I found this video. I tried the same w +105’C for 12 min with my LYT110. 15 unforfortable minutes with four pair of sox and some padding.The boots were terrible tight before this fitting. Now they seem more comfortable. Well done!

[@salty_berserker_channel]

He's right about shoes size. My US foot size is 11.5. I notice as a boot renter, my size was 29.5 . Seemed to be ok. With my first new pair I fit a 28.5 much better especially with proper toe space.

[@thomasmedeiros5722]

The industry standard of size and measurement of ski boots is known as Mondopoint. That is what the 27.5 means. Ski shops use a mondopoint scale to measure your feet. We don’t ask you what US shoe size you wear and just try to use a conversation chart. I been fitting boots for decades and we follow a proper process. Measure the foot with the customer seated with no weight on the foot so it’s in a neutral position. Then have the customer stand and observe the size on the mondopoint scale and look to see if the ankle rolled in, arch flattens , etc. A more involved method after mondopoint is determined is to remove the liner and have the customer stand on a footbed inside the shell with toes touching the front. There should be enough room at the heel to place two fingers. Then we checked the room over the instep and along the side for width.

[@eggcleaver916]

Hi Thomas: I agree with and understand everything you said. I did not mean to imply that any pro boot-fitter had given me bad information. I'm just relating my own experience with the Mondopoint to US Shoe Size conversion table (which would put me in a boot larger than a 285) and with telling the ski rental techs at the mountain what boot you need based only on your shoe size, not a foot measurement. Thanks for the comment.

[@1688AAA]

If my side length is 10.5cm. Do I have a LAST 105 mm?

[@the_hate_inside1085]

Great video, I'm about to do this myself soon. The trick with adding padding to the foot, to create more room, looks like it might be useful. Take note that some of their newer models the inside boot, can be filled with some paraffin vax substance to get a tighter fit around the ankles. If your boots support this. Taking them to a place that does that could help out.

[@Youtuber-ku4nk]

I find it is better to do one boot at a time. Then the oven will not cool down as much when you put the boot in and you can put the boot on more quickly and concentrate better on pushing on those hotspots during those important first couple of minutes.

[@lajosvajos]

Man i am so glad that you made this video.

[@GMec78]

I also have a size 12 street shoes and wear a Mondo 27.5, but I like a performance fit

[@johngroves1023]

Thanks do much for this video you answered everything i needed to know about doing this.

[@AntiTheory]

This is a very instructive video, so thanks for showing us how it's done step by step. Do you have any specific resource you used to get the information about how hot to heat the oven, how long it should be in the oven, and whether or not the shell and liner can be heat molded together or separate? I just bought a pair of Nordicas and I want to heat mold them myself, but I can't find any info on their website or in their manual about heat molding or thermoforming, but I do know it's possible with the particular model I purchased.

[@quattroesp]

Thank s , i will try with mine to do the same !

[@douglashedenkamp1087]

Great video! Where'd you get the closed cell foam? How did you attach/position it?

[@wp4217]

i think i'm going to do this. i've bought a dalbello boot, heat moulded the liner and the outside plastic is still too tight. it's bullshaite because they're advertising the model i've bought as wide

[@donstevens801]

Wide was my problem, too. That's probably why I always ended up with rental boots that are too long. I can tell you that the width of my boot improved to match my foot AFTER I put the closed-cell foam pads in my sock to create additional space then formed the boot to my foot.

[@saucy6440]

did you ever try this? I have a pair of k2 boots i’d like to heat mold and don’t want to risk damaging them. any issues?

[@teddyzamba1396]

You are going to have width problems, and the only way to correct that is by providing an expansion device under heat because I can tell from a visual inspection the bladder will not give you the comfort for a day of skiing.

[@eggcleaver916]

I appreciate the comment and I'm sure it's true for some people. For my wide feet, the use of the closed-cell foam pads inside the sock when I stood in the hot boot was all I needed. For the first time ever, the "last" of my boot was right for me and skiing was pure comfort.

[@brockbarn]

Thanks for the video. Can I ask how wide your feet are?

[@Failedcyborg]

do ur feets burn when u stick them in burning hot boots

[@Galanty]

1. Oven 235 farenheight degrees to get boots to 212 farenheit degrees Placed in oven for 10 to 15 mins. 2. Place on feet for 10 mins. 3. Place in water up to topp of split in boot or Place bag of peas for 10 mins. 4. Redooif still doesn't fit right.

[@zino123]

can't you just buy a boot with more last?

[@tnkl9230]

Actually I don't really understand 3.49. I bought a pair of boot MP26.5 and I measure my foot length 26.5, is that too small for me? My toes have a slight curl to it touching the end of the boots.

[@eggcleaver916]

For me, the measure of my foot indicated the boot measurement exactly. Be aware that most boot sellers secretly admit that there are no differences in 1/2 sizes and next-lower whole size of their boot shell. That is, although I bought a 28.5, it would measure exactly the same length as a 28. If you're a 1/2 size, the safe thing is to buy up to the next whole size, and the aggressive approach (for snug fit and maximum ski control) is to buy the 1/2 size which is probably the same as the lower whole size.

[@1688AAA]

@@eggcleaver916 Reading your reply, I re-measure my foot standing against a wall. It is 26 cm (sorry for the mistake) yet I can't fit a MP 26.5 boot with comfort. My 2nd toe is touching the end of the boot. Is that a wrong pair of boots for me?

[@IamtheWV17]

@@1688AAA is this with or without a liner?

[@1688AAA]

@@IamtheWV17 with liner. It felt tight

[@IamtheWV17]

@@1688AAA felt? Did you get rid of them? If it were the right shell, it should fit with about a thumb of free space. Then the liner is fine tuning to fill out that space. This is why heat mouldable liners are the norm now. You get the shell that fits and the line may be a little tight; so you heat mould the liner.

[@willstonewall6185]

I know this isn’t relevant but I just had the best glass of water…

[@wp4217]

good story bro

[@bryanmanning5726]

thats cute, I just had the best glass of whiskey

[@jonfyfazan]

👏👌🇳🇴🤠

[@kevinprzystawski3177]

I wouldn't mold the shells. Just the liners on a head boot. Salomon and atomic are the only ones with the true PU in the shell to mold the whole thing.

[@thomasmedeiros5722]

I just checked a KZbin video made by Head Winter Sports. The product manager did place the boot with the liner into the Head Heat oven. There was a chart to give recommendations for heat time depending on temperature. I believe 12 minutes at 100 C. Then he had customer stand in boots for 10 minutes. We do Salomon Custom HD shell and liner at my shop. We remove and heat separately. We don’t deal in Head products so this was useful in case a customer comes in with an online purchase which I don’t recommend. We custom fit and guarantee every boot we sell and fit. Can’t put a price on good professional service.

[@giorgibagrationi9271]

What about K2?

[@Osnosis]

Definitely do the shell and liner separately. I do my zip fit liners in the microwave and steam warm the boots with a lobster pot.

[@reneryter7872]

I think it's great when people have no idea how to do such viedeos. 😂😂nur weiter so.

[@klank67]

This is terrible advice.