Boot Lab, month three: liners and footbeds. If your boots go numb or let your heel lift, the fix is often inside the boot rather than a new pair. A footbed and liner upgrade is the change we recommend most and the one people try least, and it usually costs less than replacing the boot.
Why isn't the stock footbed in your boots enough?
Almost every boot leaves the factory with the same basic footbed, whatever your foot looks like.
- It is flat and generic, built to suit as many feet as possible rather than yours
- It gives no arch support and does nothing about how your foot sits under load
- A custom or moulded footbed often fixes hot spots and numbness that felt like a sizing problem
When should you upgrade your boot liner?
Liners wear gradually, so most people do not notice until the fit has already gone.
- Stock liners pack out and lose their shape over a season or two
- A heat-mouldable liner closes the gaps around your ankle and heel, which is where heel lift and blisters usually start
What does heat moulding involve?
It sounds like a bigger job than it is.
- The liner, and sometimes the shell, is warmed so it forms to the shape of your foot
- We do it in store at the Boot Lab
- Short of a new boot, it is the biggest comfort change we can make
Should you upgrade your boots or buy new ones?
Ask this before you spend anything, because the answer decides where your money goes.
- If the shell still fits, meaning the right length and the right last width (the width of the boot's internal shape), a footbed and liner upgrade is usually the cheaper fix and often all you need
- If the shell itself is wrong, no liner will fix it and a new pair is the right call
A new boot is not always the answer. Fix the fit inside the shell first, and replace the shell only when the shell is the problem.
Not sure whether it is the liner or the boot?
Book a Boot Lab appointment with us in Dry Drayton, near Cambridge. We check how the shell fits your foot before we talk about footbeds, liners or new boots, so you only pay for the fix you need. Book your Boot Lab fitting.