After heat molding

[luckykid]

How are the boots supposed to feel after heat molding?

[Mrs Redboots]

Er - hot?! Sorry, that's not very helpful, but the idea is that you put your feet in them as soon as they cool down enough that they won't burn you, so that they mould to your feet as they cool. Well, to your ankles, anyway.

[katz in boots]

It's difficult to know what you mean, with such a short post.

If you mean when how should they feel when they come out of the 'oven',
hot, soft and supple. I've heat molded 3 different brands and each has been very different.


If you mean how they feel after the entire process is finished, well, cool.
And hopefully a better fit.:lol:

[luckykid]

Ah sorry on the brief post.
I mean like after you put it in the oven, take it out, wear it, cooled down. What should it feel like then?
It doesn't feel as though my boot has changed any though. I'm having Jackson Freestyle.

[katz in boots]

Did you do it yourself in a home oven? If so, was it fan forced oven or conventional? What temperature & length of time did you use?

The reason I ask is that I found the temperature & time recommended by Jackson seems too low to make any difference.

Be aware though that doing it yourself may void your warranty.

[luckykid]

Jackson advised me to 'contact our authorized dealer nearest to you' which will not work because there are no Jackson dealers here in my country. I got my skates in USA. So I won't worry about warranty either since the next trip will be a year later, where pretty much will happen to my skates.. maybe.

So I followed the rainbosports direction. 180 degree for 4 minutes. I don't know if it's pliable or not after 4 minutes. I seriously couldn't tell. And it was a convection oven.

Should I redo with a hairdryer or put it in the oven again? I know some people do heat mold twice.

And on another note, the sharpener dirtied my skates. I don't know what stuff that was but they're like blue marks. I tried using nail polish remover, water, soap, but to no effect. Should I just give up?

[Skate@Delaware]

Jackson advised me to 'contact our authorized dealer nearest to you' which will not work because there are no Jackson dealers here in my country. I got my skates in USA. So I won't worry about warranty either since the next trip will be a year later, where pretty much will happen to my skates.. maybe.

So I followed the rainbosports direction. 180 degree for 4 minutes. I don't know if it's pliable or not after 4 minutes. I seriously couldn't tell. And it was a convection oven.

Should I redo with a hairdryer or put it in the oven again? I know some people do heat mold twice.

And on another note, the sharpener dirtied my skates. I don't know what stuff that was but they're like blue marks. I tried using nail polish remover, water, soap, but to no effect. Should I just give up?
Did you lace them very tight during the molding process? That helps pull them in to mold to your feet.

For the marks, try using one of those "magic erasers" like the Mr. Clean one or a different type. Follow the directions for use, lightly scrub, and hopefully it will come out.

[luckykid]

Yes I did lace them tightly, even more tightly than I usually would.. I read somewhere about having to do that.

Sigh there's no magic eraser here. What really bites is they're new boots.

[Skate@Delaware]

Did you try using rubbing alcohol?

I have some "strange" stains on my boots, I think they are what remains on the ice after someone uses a permanent marker, it will not come out although it faded somewhat after trying all of the above mentioned solutions. But my skates are so beat up it doesnt matter anymore.

Did you take them back and point out the stains? They might shed some light as to what caused them.

As far as the fit, maybe you didn't really require a lot of molding in the first place.

[Query]

Congrats on getting new boots!

I once went to a shop where the guy had me remove the laces before putting the boots in the oven. (AFAIK, most laces can take 180 just fine, but I might be wrong.) By the time I got the laces back in and tightened, the boots were too cool to mold much. Lace all the way up very tight, very fast, and start the tightening from the bottom so it is tight everywhere.

1. If you used your own oven, I wonder if glue fumes can poison food.

2. Did you pre-heat? You should have.

3. Did you use an oven thermometer? Kitchen oven temperatures typically vary by 25 degrees from the nominal settings. (Some ovens can be calibrated, but lose calibration in power outages.)

4. I'm sure you used 180 fahrenheit. 180 centigrade and you'd need new boots again. :cry:

5. It takes repeated heat moldings to soften (break in) leather, if that is what you want. But too many, and they break down.

6. Maybe they already fit! How wonderful! The heat mold wouldn't change anything.

7. If it still doesn't fit, there are some other things you can do.

8. If the boot guy can't help you with the stain, the right color shoe polish (preferably a type sold in skate shops) must do the job - it's how they color leather boots in the first place. The guy might touch them up for free, if you bought them there or had them heat molded there.

I once bought a new car, and got minor (non-spreading) stone damage to the windshield a couple weeks later, and a minor parking lot ding a few weeks after that. I was very upset. You may be suffering from the same problem, and think new should be perfect.

If you don't use boot covers, they will get roughed up. If you use boot covers, you maybe won't care.

9. If all is good, they should feel quite snug all over (at least below and to the sides of the ankle - people disagree on high tight it should be ahead and behind the ankle, cuz you have to be able to flex forward and back) and quite comfortable. Except your toes should feel little or no side pressure, and no front contact, and should not feel like they are bent in any direction. Nothing should slide at all inside the boot when you skate, and you should always feel about equal pressure on all parts of the sides and all parts of the bottom of your feet. You should feel no significant lessening of pressure anywhere as you switch edges, or balance forward and back, or you will briefly lose control of the skate and blade.

There should be no higher than average pressure points, and nothing should ever, ever hurt. (Unless a foot doctor tells you otherwise, because you have a foot problem that needs correction beyond the immobilization any high level skate provides.)

Since you are presumably doing freestyle (not dance) and want the ankle protection, you probably shouldn't be able to move your ankle significantly side to side.

How should your boots feel? Ask rather how you should feel. You should feel a wonderful euphoria as you lace on your wonderful new boots, and show them off to all your friends. Your skating should be effortlessly perfect, and you should be able to do anything on the ice you can possibly dream of.

If that doesn't happen, there must be something wrong with the boots.

10. Good luck, luckykid. :)

[aussieskater]

How should your boots feel? Ask rather how you should feel. You should feel a wonderful euphoria as you lace on your wonderful new boots, and show them off to all your friends. Your skating should be effortlessly perfect, and you should be able to do anything on the ice you can possibly dream of.

If that doesn't happen, there must be something wrong with the boots.

:lol: :lol: So that's what it takes! Why didn't I think of that??

[Kat12]

^ I know! I'm taking mine back! They must be defective!

[luckykid]

I haven't skated in my new skates yet. Um I can't tell just by wearing my skates then? Maybe I'll take it to the ice to test it out. I don't think I dare to do a second heat molding.

I do plan on using boot covers, but well, I still don't like looking at my skates unwhite. I think I know what it is. It's iron filings or some other powdery substance the sharpener used. I smeared the powder when I handled the boots, so it became dirty. :cry: Well I couldn't see that there was powdery substance on it at first, until I touched it. Thennn it became dirty. Ugh.

EDIT: It's not iron filing. It's SILICA GEL. What in the world is silica gel doing in my skates? I know some people use that for waterproofing. Soooo anyone who waterproofs with silica gel... how to get it out of my skates? I tried rubbing alcohol.. doesn't work. Hm will my skate rot from all the cleaning agents applied on it?

[Clarice]

If you haven't skated in them yet, you still need to break them in. Heat molding doesn't do that for you, it just helps the process along. I'm not sure what you're expecting, but new skates are never going to feel like bedroom slippers, even with heat molding. If your boots were properly fitted in the first place, the heat molding should help with pressure points, like over the ankle bones or bunions if you have them. But the boots will still feel stiff and you'll need to work on bending the ankle. In my experience, my boots have broken in easier since the advent of heat molding, but it still takes me a week or two of skating just about every day before I get comfortable in them.

[luckykid]

I know this sounds stupid, but can you like feel the boots molding according to your foot?

[katz in boots]

I know this sounds stupid, but can you like feel the boots molding according to your foot?

I can't say I did feel this.

[doubletoe]

The difference I felt was that after heat molding, the boots didn't feel like they were pressing in on my ankle bones. There was a gentle indentation where my ankle bones were, so for the first time, I didn't have to punch out the boots at the ankles. I also felt that the boots conformed to the shape of my foot a little better, specifically that the boots flattened out a bit so that they fit more snugly at the top of my foot and spread out a little wider at the widest part of my foot. They were still pretty stiff once they cooled down, though, and I still had to keep the top one or two hooks unlaced for awhile.

[Query]

Doubletoe: It sounds like your heat mold did exactly what it is supposed to do. All you can hope for is approximately uniform pressure on the foot everywhere, except where you need it less. Good job!

[Skate@Delaware]

There is some confusion between what heat-molding is supposed to do vs. what breaking-in is supposed to do (I'll admit confusion at the beginning as well)

Heat-molding: helps the boot conform to the foots bumps and contours for a better fit. This can only be done using a convection type of heater either in a pro-shop or at home (under certain conditions). The person has the heated boots placed on the feet, they are tightly laced and the person sits while the boots conform to the feet. There are some conflicting ideas as to should the person sit only, sit then stand, or sit then stand then bend while the process is going on. The heat-molding continues until the boots have cooled.

Breaking-in: softens the boot so it bends in accordance to your particular bend/skating style; this can only be done with blades on and on the ice (there are those that wear their boots on carpet with hard-guards on at home for extra time). Some people hasten the process by wearing slightly damp cotton socks while skating-the dampness of the socks and the heat of the feet not only mold the interior of the skate but hasten the breaking in process (like breaking in jeans I suppose).

Doing knee-bends at the boards and back crossovers is a good way to start breaking in skates. Many skaters leave the top 2-3 hooks undone at the beginning, hooking them as the boot begins to break in. Most skaters don't wear their boots more than 30-60 minutes at a time at first (unless they have no choice).

I get to do this all over again in a few weeks when my new boots come in (and when my rink re-opens). I'll be molding, breaking-in, and wearing only my new boots....8O

[luckykid]

I skated in my new skates the day before. It didn't rub into my ankle bones either, but it kept rubbing against the sides of the ball of my feet. Maybe they're too narrow.

[doubletoe]

I skated in my new skates the day before. It didn't rub into my ankle bones either, but it kept rubbing against the sides of the ball of my feet. Maybe they're too narrow.

Rubbing or pressing? If pressing, then yes, they are a bit narrow and you may want to get them stretched (or try heat molding again while standing in them so that your feet spread out inside the boots).

[luckykid]

I'm not sure what the term is supposed to be, but maybe pressing is more correct than rubbing. I can't get them punched out because the pro shop here doesn't deal with Jackson skates. So I guess I'll heat mold them standing. I did it sitting previously.

[stardust skies]

Don't do it standing. Actually, when doing heat molding, you should not put ANY WEIGHT on your skates. You should be sitting down with your feet on the floor, with no weight on them. You shouldn't move your feet around inside the boot either...all that will do is flatten out the padding which is supposed to protect your bones and hold your feet in place. Standing while doing heat molding isn't doing *anything* to the outside of the skates. If the skates are too narrow, they need to be stretched, so that the shape of the *outside* is changed.

Heat molding boots of any brand is the same. Why do you have to go to a Jackson dealer? Go to any dealer with a heat molding service, and pay to have them heat mold the skates. The shop doesn't have to sell Jacksons to be able to heat mold them. It is much better to do it in a pro shop where the oven is at the quality it should be, it can cook both skates at the same time, and the people should know what they are doing.

Also, there is no reason you can't get your skates punched out just because your shop doesn't "deal with" Jacksons. Again, all boots are exactly the same. Punching any boot of any brand is the same as any boot from any other brand. If they offer a boot punching service, they can punch your boots regardless of the brand.

[doubletoe]

Don't do it standing. Actually, when doing heat molding, you should not put ANY WEIGHT on your skates. You should be sitting down with your feet on the floor, with no weight on them. You shouldn't move your feet around inside the boot either...all that will do is flatten out the padding which is supposed to protect your bones and hold your feet in place. Standing while doing heat molding isn't doing *anything* to the outside of the skates. If the skates are too narrow, they need to be stretched, so that the shape of the *outside* is changed.

Heat molding boots of any brand is the same. Why do you have to go to a Jackson dealer? Go to any dealer with a heat molding service, and pay to have them heat mold the skates. The shop doesn't have to sell Jacksons to be able to heat mold them. It is much better to do it in a pro shop where the oven is at the quality it should be, it can cook both skates at the same time, and the people should know what they are doing.

Also, there is no reason you can't get your skates punched out just because your shop doesn't "deal with" Jacksons. Again, all boots are exactly the same. Punching any boot of any brand is the same as any boot from any other brand. If they offer a boot punching service, they can punch your boots regardless of the brand.

True. If your skate shop can punch out or stretch other boot brands, they can do it with Jacksons. Same with the heat-molding. They will probably just charge you a fee for the service.

[luckykid]

I didn't know that. But no, there's no heat molding service here because the only brand they deal with is Risport and Risport does not have heat molding right? But I'll try to have them help me punch it out.

[stardust skies]

Well to be honest I have never had anything positive come out of heat molding. I know many other people have, but not I. I think heat molding is basically just supposed to make the boot a little bit more comfortable- it will not add space where space is not there already, and it will not drastically bend the boot to your shape if the shape of the boot and the shape of your foot don't match. I believe that you may have more success trying to get the boot to stop bugging you in the spots you are saying, by either having the boots left on a stretcher overnight, or to have them punched right around both sides of the arch area.

I have very wide metarsals and narrow heels so I always end up having to get boots that are a little too narrow in the arch area...punching on both sides of the boots right above the sole usually fixes this for me.

I never bother with heat molding anymore, I just punch out where it hurts and have usually not had too many problems, so you may want to see if that works first, and then continue with the do-it-yourself approach if it doesn't.

Just some thoughts!!

[aussieskater]

I didn't know that. But no, there's no heat molding service here because the only brand they deal with is Risport and Risport does not have heat molding right? But I'll try to have them help me punch it out.

The higher level Risports (RF3 and higher) do have heat molding but if the proshop doesn't stock those higher levels then they may not offer the service.

[katz in boots]

Jacksons say that if heat moulding is done by anyone other than a qualified technician it might void your warranty.

They did give me instructions on how to do it only because I live 1000s kms/miles from a qualified technician.

Personally I think that there is nothing to be lost from heat moulding, and if boots are at all uncomfortable, then something might be gained - if it's done carefully.

[stardust skies]

I think it's a bit strange that they wouldn't void the warranty if an untrained layperson does it inside their house with possibly not the right equipment, but if a trained professional does it in his shop it voids the warranty..

Not that they can tell boots have been heat-molded, or who they were molded by.

[Query]

According to Don Klingbeil (who makes boots), any boot can be heat molded. He claimed the ohly difference between a heat moldable boot and a non-heat moldable boot is the label, and the price tag. (He was quite offended I thought the boots he made me needed to be molded. Done right, they make a custom last to match the shape of the foot, then sew and I think steam- and very high pressure-mold the boot around the last, which should last longer. Maybe mine were measured wrong.)

There are some limits, because some footware might use low temperature glues. They could fall apart if they get too hot. But shoes are unfortunately sometimes left in hot cars, which might reach 130-140 degrees (F) in a dark car on a very hot day, so it is hard to imagine any shoes not able to briefly take 160-165 degrees (F), and I'd bet most leather boots of any type can take 180, though I've run no extensive tests. You wouldn't get very complete molding in one 160 degree mold, but you could probably do that to almost any type of shoe.

But a bootfitter I respect says some types of heat moldable boot use very high temperature glues - e.g., some GAMS can mold up to 300 degrees (F). He said they also contain things like clay, which bakes to a shape, or plastic, which molds to a shape. Then you may get more complete molding.

BTW, anything you do with heat molding will likely be undone by leaving it in a hot car - or by a few months of time without much skating. Same is true of severe stretching. These things are temporary, at least if the changes are major. But it is surely worth a try.

[Mrs Redboots]

According to Don Klingbeil (who makes boots), any boot can be heat molded.
While I'm quite sure he is right, those boots that are marketed as heat-mouldable have gel pads in the ankle-bone area that melt and soften when heated and can then conform to the shape of your ankles.

[Ivana27]

I just bought a new pair of Jackson Elite boots earlier this month, and had them heat molded. When I first put them on before the heat molding, they were soooo stiff. My toes were squished into the front of the skate because my heel couldn't go all the way to the back. My first thought was that my foot measurements were taken wrong.

But after the heat molding (done in a pro shop by a skate tech) the boots were very warm and comfortable. I sat in them with the laces tied tightly until they cooled off. Then I took them off and the skate tech mounted the blades. Then I went out on the ice to try them out to make sure the blades were mounted correctly. Fortunately this shop was at an ice rink so I could go on the ice immediately. On the ice my boots felt GREAT! I could spin and jump right away. Crossovers were a little awkward. But the mounting was just right and nothing had to be adjusted.

A staff person told me that due to the heat molding, the breaking in process should only take a week at most......not true. The next day (after the boots had totally cooled off) they were very stiff -- not as stiff as before heat molding, but still stiff and uncomfortable. I have been skating for three weeks with the top hook undone, and they are just about fully broken in. There is one spot on my left ankle that the top of the boot rubbed at my skin and caused a small cut. But other than that everything is good.

So I say all that to agree with the others that heat molding only molds the skate to your foot, the breaking-in process remains the same and can still be kinda painful. Bunga pads help with any sore spots (I haven't bought any yet though).

[doubletoe]

While I'm quite sure he is right, those boots that are marketed as heat-mouldable have gel pads in the ankle-bone area that melt and soften when heated and can then conform to the shape of your ankles.


Yes, I was told something similar by the guy from SP Teri. I think he said there was a layer of plastic (or a resin or glue?) in-between the layers of leather in heat-moldable boots. When heated, the plastic/resin/glue softens and molds to the shape of your foot, then it re-hardens when it cools down again.

[Skate@Delaware]

Yes, I was told something similar by the guy from SP Teri. I think he said there was a layer of plastic (or a resin or glue?) in-between the layers of leather in heat-moldable boots. When heated, the plastic/resin/glue softens and molds to the shape of your foot, then it re-hardens when it cools down again.
I believe its the same type of plastic used in making orthotic splints...so if you leave them (skates and/or splints) in a hot place like a car they become unmolded and in the case of a custom-made splint (like for carpal tunnel syndrome) become a mess of goo-plastic+strapping! It's easy to see, learn and remember after one incident with a splint, not so easy on the skates because there is no evidence of them un-molding!