I promised I was done, but guess this was addressed to me, so...

I've only tried it on two pair (a "custom" pair that was grossly misfit, and a used pair which was really far off - the second partly to see just how far I could take the method), both of which had unlined leather (one normal, one suede), so it stuck directly. (Leather is similar to skin.)

You've made a very good point - Moleskin might not stick well to furry linings. It sticks to skin, so you could attach it there - but I personally don't like walking around the rest of the time with moleskin stuck to my feet. Doesn't come off all that easily.

I stay with medical stuff like athletic tape and Moleskin because it is hyperallergenic and pretty safe to have near skin. But none of it is all that sticky.

If you are taking up space on the insole, you can just stick athletic tape to the boot under the insole, or the underside of the insole. If you are taking up space beside the foot near the insole, like in the heels or around the arches, the obvious answer is what I call wings - tape stuck to an insole, that extends upwards besides the foot. I prefer to leave the original insoles unchanged, and trace them onto something else to play with, cut to the same shape.

The rest of this is speculative, as I have not tried the suggested methods! I'm basically telling you to experiment - for which you don't need me.

Wonder if athletic tape would stick to the lining...

Craft stores sell glues for working with leather. Since most of it is worn (like in mocassins), I guess the dried glues might not be too unsafe to have near skin, and it probably pretty sticky. Read the label on any glue!

The lady in the other forum used multiple layers of 1/8th inch thick neoprene foam from an upholstry store, stuck with carpet tape, rubber cement or commercial adhesives. But I don't know whether her leather was lined either. Have no idea how safe those adhesives are near the skin. Boot and shoe makers use some pretty severe adhesives, including when they attach the linings in the first place. Perhaps a shoe repair store could advise you on what is used to glue linings. It is almost irreversible if you make a mistake, though it might sand off.

You could also try hot melt glue. You can buy a glue gun and glue sticks in the dollar store. If you make a mistake, the glue may come off pretty easily, if you use a hair drier to get the boot hot.

You could wrap sports wrap (cheap stretchable strips that stick to themselves under tension) the part of your foot you are trying to fill space near. Bunga Pads or other gel pads, which are available in all kinds of shapes that wrap around parts of your foot, could do the same thing.

I was thinking about the sock thing. Thick socks are certainly a possibility. I wonder if you could sand the fleece socks they sell in camping and ski shops where they need to be thinner without their coming apart. But thick socks are usually squishy, so your foot will move around inside the boot, reducing the precision with which you can control the blade. Guess you could take extra thin non-squishy socks, and cut them where they weren't needed, then use the chemicals they sell in fabric stores to prevent them from unraveling at the cut edges. But if slippage occurs between sock layers, you again have motion inside the boot. Also, remember that you probably need empty space around the sides and front of your toes, to prevent a wide variety of foot ailments.

I would love to know the results of your experiments.

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Mitch Grunes ModifyingBoots FallingGently HomePage

Can you sew? Perhaps try sew an inner sock using a quilted arrangement of soft fabrics. Trace your foot for the base, and draw 2 sides. Overlock all around.. just a thought. I used to make cushy soft nappies, so have some experience of nice soft fabrics and padding. You'd need to have room in the boot though....

You sure have put me off these boots! (I was thinking about them). There is a good pro shop in Sydney, at Canterbury Ice Rink. They have the proflex boots there, as well as the rest of the Jackson range. Perhaps you could try calling them and asking for some ideas about how best to deal with Jackson. Have you tried asking there?

Good luck! I am happy to help with the sewing if you want to try it. I'm in Sydney though, but we could email/post things.

Deb

It's also not much better in every part of the US either. We have access to someone who can fit us for skates, BUT it's nearly impossible for us to get to a "real" proshop. What we have to do is figure out based on the experience of others and based on what the coach and fitter suggests and hope for the best. There aren't places that carry a variety of boots for us to try either! We are lucky in that if we wanted to drive several hours, we can get to a place that carries some boots but to be honest, the money spent in gas to do that would be money we could spend on skates! It would take us an entire day or more to get to a real pro-shop.

Anyway... to the OP I hope you can find a way to get a hold of Jackson and find a solution every one can be happy with. I'm sorry you are having problems with your skates. NO FUN.

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

I bought them through Iskate Canterbury, as they are the Australian distributor. They were very helpful with the order. I admit I haven't got back to them about my problems. Because the boots are over a year old now, I am thinking there would be no comeback for me really, which is why I am thinking of trying some other solution.

Please don't let my experience put you off these boots. There are a lot of postives, especially for adult skaters, and especially for ice dancers. As adults often struggle with knee bend, the extra ankle bend can really help. And the next-to-no-time wear in counters time getting used to the unusual sensation. And please remember, I also changed blades radically from what I'd always had, which did add to the time it took me to get used to them. It was hard to tell which is weirdly different boot, and which was new blade.
And of course, my weirdly shaped feet were a major player in my problems.

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Katz

Saved by Synchro!
I was over it, now I'm into it again !

Our boot fitter uses Barge shoe cement to fix anything inside the boots. I have proflex boots as does my daughter. I have near perfect fit in regular stock proflex - ho heel movement, alright in toes. My DD had more problem but we got her boots a bit bigger because she is still growing. Our boot fitter glued little circles made out of dense moldable foam inside the heel and it seems to help a lot. We both experienced tong foam break after about a year of use but it was easily corrected by the boot fitter by glueing extra layer of the same dense foam on top of existing. It works fine for now. But if it breaks again we will need to take old foam completely off and glue new. I think breakage happened mostly because of tong twisting because of pronation. Later we have both got custom insoles (made in ski shop) and it helps a lot with twisting and also in general with edges. My DD pronates more then me and she also has hook installed on the tong which keeps it from turning outside.

I had toe problem similar to katz's in many boots, actually in all boots I had. I think it is related to mostly curling toes inside the boot either from them being too small or too big. It's like I'm grabbing for support inside the boot while skating. In proflex if I'm in a hurry and don't lace my boots properly and tight enough in toe area and snag around ankle - I get those red bumps on top of my toes. They go away if problem is corrected. But one time I had them constantly because the boots (different brand) were too small and my toes were curled all the time anyway.

I think that your boots can be fixed but you have to look around for a good technician. Maybe good shoe repair person or somebody who does custom orthotics and has access to different kind of materials and foams can help. Some things you can try to fix yourself like I did. You skate and you know exactly where you need padding.

I want to point out that proflex are really good for keeping knees and ankles healthy if you lucky to get decent fit in them. My dd had very bad ankle and knee pain in Graf boots before switching to flexi boot (she is doing 2-2 and 2-axel, getting to 3's). No complains so far in about a year already.