I decided to sno-seal my skates for the first time since I bought them. For those of you outside the US, Sno-seal is a beeswax product used to keep water from penetrating leather. Wasn't sure if everyone had the same product name. Anyway, I figured it would take me about a 1/2 hour and instead it took me about a two hours. My soles were starved for the stuff.

So, I've learned that 8 months is too long to go without sno-sealing. I usually wipe my whole skates off each time I skate, so the white leather is in good condition, and I just replaced the laces for the first time (because one of the laces had a cut in it).

Of course, I clean the blades each time I skate and store them in soakers. I don't leave my skates in the car when the temperature is over 75 degrees F, and I completely air them out each Sunday. I get my blades sharpened every 5-6 weeeks or so (skating six hours a week).

What to all of you do to care for your skates?

I admit I'm pretty awful about skatecare My daughters boots never seem to dry sufficiently to reapply snow seal on a regular basis, but I do try to do it a few times a year. I swear I don't remember the last time I snow sealed my soles.....my boots are 3 1/2 years old too! My coach just looked at my boots this week and told me to clean them...I guess they do look a bit nasty. I would always clean and polish them before competition, but I haven't competed in a long time.

Other things we do.....I put skatetape on the front of daughter's boots, as she seems to really rip them up with double jumps, etc. The tape really does seem to help keep them from getting cut and gauged as much.

As for cleaning them before polishing....I always use Comet cleanser which takes off those black marks very nicely. I'm lucky to still have some Hyde polish which is no longer made unfortunately.

Your sharpening schedule is about the same as ours.....about every 40 hours of skating. Sharpening after every 30 hours would probably be better....

And don't forget to check those screws periodically! Just yesterday I found a screw on the ice during a freestyle. Not only is that hazardous in and of itself, but how would you like to go up for a jump, have your blade come off, and land just on the sole of your boot? I've heard that actually happened to Kat Witt once. Sounds like no fun at all!

With my current skates, I had them Sno-sealed about 8 months after I bought them. I only skates 2 or 3 times a week, and I had the Sno-Seal stuff redone (it was put on when the boots were new) when I took them in for sharpening. I learned that I don't need sharpening that often, as I am a fairly lightweight person.

My regimen is to dry off my skates after I skate, put their blade covers on, and leave them sitting out overnight (in other words, not in a closet or bag) when I get home from the rink. I also make sure the tongue is pulled forward so the inside can air out, although I don't know how much that's helped - I joke with friends that I may need Odor-eaters for my skates!

My new skates were sealed at the store and I've only skated in them once. I was talking to a skating mom at my rink whose daughter just got SP-Teri boots, as I did, and the mother showed me how they'd had her daughter's heels and soles laminated. Do people do this often? Does it really help prevent damage from the elements? I also want to guard against any uneven-ness in the heel and/or sole. My current skates are like that and I've been told it may have happened over time. I personally think the boots came that way, but I would certainly want to prevent it in my new skates.

I must admit I haven't used Sno-seal on my boots, but I now have a friend who has some, so I might blag a helping.... After skating, I dry off my blades, put them in soakers, and put each skate in a separate cloth bag inside my skate bag, making sure the laces are tucked inside the skates and that the blades are completely dry. Every so often I polish them with a beeswax-based polish, Renapur, which keeps the leather supple and in good condition.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I checked them - they were a bit loose. I can't believe I forgot about checking them! I took 3 (adult) freestyle tests a once last year and discovered a few days later that I had loose screws - scary!

Well! I just ran out to my car and rescued my daughter's skates from the elements. What exactly does the heat do to damage the skates?

I read in skating magazine that if you have heat molded boots, it can really screw them up. Mine are not heat molded, but I figure better safe than sorry !

That's completely true!!! I have heat moldable boots that were absolutely perfect-- but notice the past tense. I went over to a friends after our practice a couple of weeks ago and, instead of taking my skates in with me, I left them in my car for a few hours. It was only about 100 F out, not too bad for this time of year. Well, my boots actually shrunk a bit and because they were in my bag, they somewhat reshaped. Oops! They're back to normal now, but the first two days were quite interesting!!

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass

I use sno-seal only a few times a year.. but it usually doesn't take me 2 hours

After each time I skate I dry of my blades and boots and put on my (I call them poofies but I think most of you refer to them as soakers?) And then when I get home I take them out of my bad right away and take OFF THE SOAKERS and put them out to dry. Works well for me! because I find if I even leave them out with my soakers my blades will rust because the soakers still have moisture in them.!

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beks~
"winning isn't everything... wanting to is."

" the only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary"

"It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at pracitce that counts; it's what you put into the practice."

Learned something new this AM at Klingbeils. Don said that if you have to go a week without skating, put skates in plastic bag to keep from drying out. Knew already that if they seemed too big after not skating for a few weeks, pour water in and hang to dry upside down overnight.

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