I have a pair of Reidel 133 TS skates, and... Well. I'm not the greatest at the caring for skates thing I'm still getting used to it and getting better that's why I didn't get a super nice pair I wanted to get better at taking care of them.

WELL I think they may be rusting a wee bit, I can't see them all that well so I'm not sure how badly... Will I need to replace them? Or what can I do for them? Can I replace them?

I really am getting better with them, I just sort of abused them a bit too much.

__________________
Science is the attempt to make the chaotic diversity of our sense-experience correspond to a logically uniform system of thought. - Albert Einstein

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.- Helen Keller

Usually sharpening your blade will clean up minor rust on the "working bit" of the blade. Have them sharpened by a reputable shop or skilled operator. Afterwards, start taking a little time after skating to keep the rust away.

When I'm skating weekly (or more), merely drying the blades with a towel after skating and putting on cloth "soakers" is good enough.

However I found that, in my house at least, merely storing dry skates in soakers is not enough to prevent rust over the summer. I now take a little oil and lightly wipe the the blades when they aren't going to be used for a while. That keeps household humidity from causing rust.

They say that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and it's true with skate blades too.

__________________
Bill Schneider

I use lime or any other citrus juice to get rust off. So far, I've used ReaLime juice and a key lime, and both have worked well. Use a liberal amount (don't let any get on the sole, or your skates will perpetually smell like limes) and use a cloth rag to put the juice on and use on the blade. (With the key lime I halved it and applied it directly to the blade, then used a cloth as cleanup.)

If it's not too bad a sharpening will take care of it. And it doesn't take a lot to keep it off, mainly you just have to make it a habit.
#1 Never use hard guards except to walk around in the skates with.
#2 Always dry the entire blade after skating.
#3 Put dry soakers on and take home.

You should take the soakers off at home and lay the skates out on the floor (make sure blade is not touching floor, lay skate on its side) because having a damp soaker on the skate is the same effect as having a hard guard on the skate. Breeding ground for rust.

__________________
Right Brain: In the distant future, I will land all of the doubles.
Left Brain: HAHAHAHAHA
Left Brain: You can't even do a backspin.
Right Brain: ...

figurekb on YouTube.

There are worse options, let me show you!!

In fact, from my experience, rust doesn't hurt your skating, especially if it is as minor as you said it to be.

Skate for like half an hour (not hanging at the boards) and they will be gone.

My blades have completely rusted and I just skated them away. No sharpening whatsoever. Don't need to be too paranoid about your skates. You'll learn as you go along.

Rust: soak in cola, wipe off with terrycloth, rinse and dry and take for a sharpening if they're blunt after. Tested and tried.

Lemon, lime, orange juice, grapefruit juice, vinegar, Coca Cola, Sprite, any carbonated water or soda, etc. are just mild acids, which compete with the iron for the oxygen which turns iron to rust. Any mild acid would do the trick, so maybe you can find one whose smell you like (Champagne?).

But I don't know enough to be altogether sure that applying acid to the blades is a great idea. Maybe the acid also disolves the outer metal and rust? I may be wrong, but prefer to just skate, and let the ice scrape the rust away, and sharpen when needed.

Like Bill said, prevention is better than cure. Keeping the blades dry when possible, and oiling if that isn't enough, is more elegant than bathing them in acid.

Were this not true, it would be easy to develop a device which kept the blade negatively charged, like the sacrificial anodes they sometimes use to slow rust on cars.

My Ultimas (stainless steel) don't rust the way my old MKs (high carbon steel) did, though that would be a silly criteria by which to pick a blade. It's enough to wipe them off after skating with a paper towel or my fingers (please don't cut yourself!), then put them in terrycloth blade covers, and leave them out to dry. But, like Bill, I oil them if I won't skate for a long while, just to be safe, because blades are expensive.

__________________
Mitch Grunes ModifyingBoots FallingGently HomePage