I wonder what order you do things in after skating. I find I take my skates off, then finish changing into street clothes before I dry the blades and put the skates away. But I'm sure others do it differently. So, just out of interest, here's a little poll.

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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 always dry my blades off before I even take off my skates! The only exception is competition time, when I sometimes leave my skates on for a long time, and then by the time I take them off the blades are dry. But even then I still put my skates in their "boot bags" before changing.

I'm drying as I'm unlacing . I finish drying them after I take them off, then let them air a bit while I stretch and change (that's about 1/2 hour). When I get home, I take them out of the bag and let them air over night.

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"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown

I used to wipe off blades, wrap towel round the blade, get tracky bums on then finish cleaning skates .... so I guess that I do half and half.

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The best whisper is a click

Well, actually I rarely change from skating clothes at the rink. I usually wait until I get home or get to work... better facilities.

I take both boots off, put my street shoes on, then dry the blades. For me, giving the blades a chance to warm up a tad seems to help them dry off a bit easier.

Weird thing, but I find that the treatment that my Ultimas have to make them black seems to make them easier to dry off.

I usually don't change clothes at the rink, either. I take my boots off, dry the blades, put the soakers on and throw them in the bag, put on my shoes and go.

However, given forethought and time, I would do a preliminary drying, let the blades warm up, and then finish drying any condensation before putting them away. Doesn't usually happen, though.

I take them off and put my trainers on, then dry off the skates/blades. This is all at the side of the ice (on the bench), so I get changed in the toilets afterwards, when I've stretched and got all my stuff together.

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"It’s never too late to skate at any age." - Alexei Mishin.

Since I live just 3 minutes from the rink I don't bother to change. I just hope to God I don't ever crash my car between home and rink. Therefore I generally take off my skates, put on my trainers and then dry my blades before putting them away in my skate bag!

Nicki

This reminded me of one time where I was going home from a rink after working. I didn't feel like changing back into my work clothes, especially since it was summer and I was skating in a sleeveless top anyway. The only shoes I had were my heels, but I figured that didn't matter. So I got into my car and sped off.

Well, once I got on the freeway, I looked at the gas gauge and realized that I did not have enough gas to get home. The only gas station between where I was and home is a huge truck stop. So, there I am pumping gas while wearing a skating skirt, sleeveless top and high heels. Boy did I ever get the looks!

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"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown