Stretching synthetic shoes?

I just ordered a new pair of evolv Pontas II, and i guess i ordered a half size too small. The main problem is my wide feet in a small toe box (apparently that's an evolv thing). They're fully synthetic (leather footbed). Does anyone have any experience stretching these or other synthetic shoes? Water method perhaps? I'd hate for it not to work and then not be able to return them

I had the same problem with my shoes, being I have wide feet. I used a large wrench and put the closed end of the wrench on the floor, the open end pointing straight up towards the ceiling. I'd put the shoe on the open end, and use my body weight to push down and stretch the sides out a bit. I found this technique also worked to stretch the top of the shoe above my toes if I rotated the wrench 90 degrees.

Between doing this and just wearing them and dealing with the discomfort until they are broke in worked fairly well. I didn't use water or heat at any point.

This worked really well for me anyways.

Good luck!