Boot Sole Finish

[Alanna]

Well, I recently got a pair of new skates. I've sno-sealed the soles a couple of times, however, the heels don't keep that rich color you should be getting... in fact they've turned white and splotchy. I'm at a loss as to what I should do or try... i've never had this problem before so please help! :giveup:

I appreciate your help!

~Alanna

[RachelSk8er]

You probably have way too much sno seal built up on them. Sno seal shouldn't change the color of your soles or give them a "rich" color, it just makes them feel waxy and protects them from moisture. And all you need is a very thin layer, because the cork/leather in your soles still needs to breathe.

Shellac will change the color of your soles and make them look very glossy, is that maybe what you're thinking of? This is something you'd need to have done professionally at your skate shop before the blades are mounted.

I've never had shellac on my soles, I don't even think our main local skate shop reccomends it, because it's very uncommon in my area. If I see it at all, it's mostly on Harlicks, SP Teris, or Klingbiels. I don't think I've ever seen it on Riedells, which is what at least 80% of the skaters around here who at least beyond recreational skating (i.e. taking private lessons and testing) wear. It's probably because a lot of their newer boots have cork in the heels, I don't think you're supposed to shellac cork, it needs to breathe or it will deteriorate. Plus, if you take proper care of your skates, you shouldn't need it.

[sk8tmum]

You probably have way too much sno seal built up on them. Sno seal shouldn't change the color of your soles or give them a "rich" color, it just makes them feel waxy and protects them from moisture. And all you need is a very thin layer, because the cork/leather in your soles still needs to breathe.

I've never had shellac on my soles, I don't even think our main local skate shop reccomends it, because it's very uncommon in my area. If I see it at all, it's mostly on Harlicks, SP Teris, or Klingbiels. I don't think I've ever seen it on Riedells, which is what at least 80% of the skaters around here who at least beyond recreational skating (i.e. taking private lessons and testing) wear. It's probably because a lot of their newer boots have cork in the heels, I don't think you're supposed to shellac cork, it needs to breathe or it will deteriorate. Plus, if you take proper care of your skates, you shouldn't need it.

Custom Klings come with their soles sealed, and they are very nice and shiny and glossy. Stock Klings don't seem to be sealed-? Not sure, we only have custom ones and I've never really looked at the stock soles.

Riedell provides Sno-Seal in the box with their skates - for the leather and the cork soles - and it is still used on the cork ones.

I do know what the OP means. Before our previous leather soled Riedells were sno-sealed, the leather was a little less intense in colour, and they looked afterwards sort of like really good furniture looks like AFTER they've been polished - a little more smooth and rich.

[Isk8NYC]

You don't usually need to waterproof new skates because they should be finished at the factory. Did the manufacturer recommend it or are you being extra-vigilant? (Asks the Queen of Boot Rot!) I don't think anyone still uses shellac, afaik. Most manufacturers, including Klingbeil, use a light polyurethane finish on their new skates, both stock and custom.

I waterproof two or three times a year, and I wear my skates almost every day. For my kids' skates, once a year suffices since they only skate for around six hours/week.

When you notice dark water spots on your skates, it's time to use the sno-seal. Before you can do that for the first time, you have to gently remove the remaining polyurethane finish with steel wool.

Don Klingbeil explained this to me - if you don't remove the poly, the sno-seal wax cannot melt into the leather. I asked him about reapplying the polyurethane or another finish and he said that it's never done anymore. The days of applying "heel and sole enamel" (or shellac) to your skates before a competition are over. For one thing, applying sno-seal prevents the finish from bonding to the leather afterwards. If you didn't sno-seal, the finish will crack and flake off unless you strip the finish entirely, which is a lot of work to do. Klingbeil gives out sno-seal with new boots for later waterproofing. (Not sure if they still do that.) As Rachel said, the leather needs to "breathe" which is why hard finishes gave way to beeswax for waterproofing.

When you apply the sno-seal, you are supposed to heat it with a hair dryer so it does melt and soak in. I think it always darkens the leather, in my experience. I think that's what you're calling "richness." I do know some people who just apply it like a "spread" and never heat it, but I follow the directions. I don't know what the benefits are to not heating it: to me, it makes the outside of the boot sticky.

When the leather won't absorb any more sno-seal, you're supposed to wipe off the excess. Some people don't, so the excess forms a "skin" over the leather. It won't hurt anything, but it is whitish in color.

Perhaps that's the problem?

[RachelSk8er]

Depending on your skate shop, they may just check your soles and apply sno seal for you when you go in for a sharpening if it's needed. My shop has never charged me for this, I don't even ask them to do it, but they'll mention they did it when I pick them up.

[Isk8NYC]

I've never had that experience at a pro shop - they really waterproofed the skates for you without asking? Great customer service, but I would have thought they'd ask you first. The sarcastic NYC person in me thinks that they may have made a mistake, used your skates for a demonstration, scratched them/spilled something and fixed the damage. lol I'm just kidding. That's a great pro shop - you're lucky.

One of the pro shops I used for a new boot-and-blade mounting sno-sealed the new skates because they sliced off the PVC coating on the bottom of the skate. It never soaked in because they were new skates, or maybe they never heated it. I wouldn't even put them in the skate bag, it was so tacky, so I took them home and cleaned off the excess.

[RachelSk8er]

I've never had that experience at a pro shop - they really waterproofed the skates for you without asking? Great customer service, but I would have thought they'd ask you first.

My skate shop is the best! People drive hours to buy skates here. They know all of their repeat customers really well because most of us have been going there for years--that's how you stay in business when you're a figure/roller skate shop in a pretty small market. So in a lot of cases they know that they can go ahead and do whatever minor stuff needs done (fixing the occasional stripped screw, sno-seal, etc) when people drop their skates off for sharpenings. They sponsor my roller derby league and take care of all of our skates/equipment, too. So needless to say I'm in there a lot these days.

[Alanna]

The skates i've been talking about are custom klingbeils... and i've kinda had this problem from the beginning (though never with my prior Klingbeils).

I think Isk8NYC figured it out... but how would I remove this "skin" that has formed over the leather?

Thank you so much everyone... its definately appreciated!
;)

[Isk8NYC]

I'll ask when I go there this weekend. Try warming it with a hairdryer and wipe off the wax as it melts. It's a sticky job, but much less messy than knocking over the bottles of heel and sole enamel, lol. (I thought my mother was going to KILL me when I got it on the wood table.

[sk8tmum]

Our skate mounter/blade guy told us that our custom Klings didn't need SnoSeal or anything else due the finish that Klingbeil puts on the skates already. They came already "sealed" as it were. After a year and a half of hard use (and frankly a lazy teenager who doesn't always wipe them down properly or put them out to air :x) - the soles of the boots are still in great shape, and still show no damage. Same thing with previous pairs.

Our Riedells ... they were immediately snosealed by our mounter/blade guy as they needed it. Which is why I so appreciated the nice little packet of SnoSeal that they include with the boots! I checked the Riedell site, and they also indicate that it's a good idea ...

" The routine use of leather protectants will help keep leather looking and feeling like new. Riedell recommends using Silicone Protectant to prevent moisture absorption by linings, Sno Seal® to keep heels and soles from weakening, and Lexol® to restore and condition leather uppers." http://www.ice.riedellskates.com/Content.aspx?PageName=Save The Leather

Isk8NYC - thanks for satisfying my curiosity on the finish on the stock Klings. I never wanted to get nosy enough to ask to peer at the bottom of someone else's boots ... b/c our Klings are black soled and heeled, they look different regardless, and I was geeky enough to want to know if the difference was the colour, or the way stock vs. custom was finished.

[RachelSk8er]

Our skate mounter/blade guy told us that our custom Klings didn't need SnoSeal or anything else due the finish that Klingbeil puts on the skates already. They came already "sealed" as it were. After a year and a half of hard use (and frankly a lazy teenager who doesn't always wipe them down properly or put them out to air :x) - the soles of the boots are still in great shape, and still show no damage. Same thing with previous pairs.

Our Riedells ... they were immediately snosealed by our mounter/blade guy as they needed it. Which is why I so appreciated the nice little packet of SnoSeal that they include with the boots! I checked the Riedell site, and they also indicate that it's a good idea ...

" The routine use of leather protectants will help keep leather looking and feeling like new. Riedell recommends using Silicone Protectant to prevent moisture absorption by linings, Sno Seal® to keep heels and soles from weakening, and Lexol® to restore and condition leather uppers." http://www.ice.riedellskates.com/Content.aspx?PageName=Save The Leather

Isk8NYC - thanks for satisfying my curiosity on the finish on the stock Klings. I never wanted to get nosy enough to ask to peer at the bottom of someone else's boots ... b/c our Klings are black soled and heeled, they look different regardless, and I was geeky enough to want to know if the difference was the colour, or the way stock vs. custom was finished.

Do your Klings also have a clear caulk or similar type sealant along where the plate of the blades meets the soles? I noticed this when looking at the skates of a few teenagers who train at my rink. Not sure if this is also something Klingbiel normally does (although it would be done when blades were mounted so this is more of a shop thing), if it goes back to "lazy teenagers" who don't take care of their skates and this helps them last, or if it's because these kids are home schooled, on the ice about 20 hrs/week, so their skates never really have time to sit and fully try out. Or a combination of those factors. I'd never seen it before on any other brand, though, and they must have gotten the blades mounted elsewhere because I don't think our shop even does that.

[sk8tmum]

Do your Klings also have a clear caulk or similar type sealant along where the plate of the blades meets the soles? I noticed this when looking at the skates of a few teenagers who train at my rink. Not sure if this is also something Klingbiel normally does (although it would be done when blades were mounted so this is more of a shop thing), if it goes back to "lazy teenagers" who don't take care of their skates and this helps them last, or if it's because these kids are home schooled, on the ice about 20 hrs/week, so their skates never really have time to sit and fully try out. Or a combination of those factors. I'd never seen it before on any other brand, though, and they must have gotten the blades mounted elsewhere because I don't think our shop even does that.

Nope, not on ours... Klingbeil doesn't mount our blades, they are mounted by our amazing guy, and there's nothing sealing the blades to the sole. So, I don't know what they do there ... I'm guessing that ISK8NYC would know, though!

[sdfigureskater]

Well, I recently got a pair of new skates. I've sno-sealed the soles a couple of times, however, the heels don't keep that rich color you should be getting... in fact they've turned white and splotchy. I'm at a loss as to what I should do or try... i've never had this problem before so please help! :giveup:

I appreciate your help!

~Alanna

I just sent my boots to SP Teri and they applied a gorgeous coat of varnish...really worth every penny of the 70 dollars they charge. When I talked to George at SP Teri he said that the main reason people don't varnish anymore is because of cost and the large amount of labor involved. For them the service is at no profit for them but they do it upon request anyway. It really does look beautiful...and if you are ok parting with your skates for a week and a half...I'd say absolutely do it :) Good luck!!
PS Let me know if you would like me to send a pic of the finished soles :)

[GoSveta]

Klingbeil didn't put any sealant on my boots, and my black boots arrived with a cork-colored sole/heel (which I think looks nice). The guy who mounted them had to put the sno-seal on them, though.

Has anyone had to get their blades moved after the permanent mounts were put in them? My blades have been mounted for quite a while but I feel like I need to have them adjusted (again)...

[sk8tmum]

Custom Klings can be ordered (from looking at my copy of the last order form) - Finished Unfinished or Black.

[kssk8fan]

Don Klingbeil puts one coat of sno-seal on the soles of the boots before shipping or mounting blades. You'll notice and edelweiss flower with the skaters name on the bottom of the skates. They are pretty shiny when they are brand new. He also recommends using sno-seal on the leather soles. The single shiny coat he puts on will come off almost immediately (in random areas) if the skaters have deep edges, do lunges, or fall a bit.

My DD is on her third pair of Klingbeils (she's still growing) and after about the first month, I'll sno-seal her boots (soles and heel only). It brings back the shine to an extent but also will create that "richness" or darker color that I think the OP is referring to. However, some Klings have a much darker sole and I believe this is from additional waterproofing. The soles and heels are layers of leather, no cork or plastic and they really absorb the sno-seal. I do my daughters about every month - sometimes I get lazy and it'll be a few months between applications.

[GoSveta]

I guess the fitter ordered mine unfinished, then.

[Isk8NYC]

Do your Klings also have a clear caulk or similar type sealant along where the plate of the blades meets the soles?No, Don's shop doesn't caulk or seal the blades during mounting. There are a number of pro shops that do that and the sno-sealant during mounting.

[Query]

OK, your boots are new, and you can't stand any blemishes, but can anyone tell?