It is important to keep your ice skate blades in tip top condition, especially if you have invested in a new set of blades. Rust on the blades will have several disadvantages.
The first is that the rust will dull the blade, so you will loose some of the blade efficiency and the skating edge.
The second is that it will look unsightly. Having a blade covered in rust, really spoils the esthetic effect of a blade.
The Third issue, is that rusted blades look really unprofessional. You can hardly imagine an Olympic skater taking to the ice in their greatest hour on a pair of blades, that look like they have been kept in a garden shed for the last three years.
Essentially, you need to dry them after skating, store them in a aired place and get some soakers on them. Luckily for us, there are some brilliant techniques that help us with this. There are also some simple tips to keep your blades in tip top condition. To get your blades to stay in a beautiful condition, please read the following points.
Why should I dry my ice skate blades after skating to prevent rust?
Drying the blades immediately after skating will have a huge effect on how log they stay polished and how long they remain rust free. I personally recommend using a micro fiber cloth. As you can get small microfiber cloths that easily fit into your skate bag. They are light weight, hardly take up any room and come in an amazing array of colors. The microfiber technology will remove a tremendous amount of water for the size of cloth. This is due to microfiber having a very high surface area, per area of cloth. Micro fiber cloths are very affordable and have amazing water absorbing qualities, who knows what funky design will suit you, check out the prices on Amazon. (Link to Amazon – Commissions earned)
When you dry your skates, first shake off any excess ice, then wipe off the blade with the microfiber cloth. Don’ forget to wipe all of the mountings of the blade as well, including the screws. You will find that it will take several attempts at drying to get all of the water off the blade.
When you have finished the drying process, the blade blade will almost immediately mist up. This is because the blade will almost certainly be colder than the surrounding air. Condensation will begin to form on the blades. This is why we use soakers.
Why should I use soakers on my ice skate blades?
Soakers are a soft porous cloth. After drying your skates, putting soakers on straight away will have a huge impact on the condition your blades stay in. The soakers have several functions.
Soakers absorb water and continue to absorb water formed by condensation during the time it takes for the blades to warm up. They assist the blade in warming up. Once the blades are warm and dry, the soakers remain porous, wicking away moisture from the blades. This moisture is then evaporated from the outside of the soakers. The soakers will then continue to keep the blades dry for the duration of storage.
Soakers come in thousands of different varieties, everything from serious single colors, to bold designs, fun animal and character shapes.
Getting a pair of soakers could be the single greatest investment that you will ever purchase with regards to preserving the life of your ice skates. They hardly cost very much at all. Soakers dry your blades, warm your blades and keep them dry in one package, they cost relatively little and you wouldn’t believe the array of colors and designs they come in. Check them out at Amazon here. (Link to Amazon – Commissions earned)
Why do my blades mist up, even after I have wiped them dry?
Your blades ‘mist up’ when you come off the ice, even after you have wiped them dry because they have cooled down. They are refrigerated. The temperature of them has been lowered by being in contact with the ice, for the duration of your training session. The blades are now considerably cooler than the air around them.
The air in the rink, although most rinks do have dehumidifiers, does till carry a considerable amount of moisture. The moisture is naturally occurring. The moisture in the air in the ice rink could be coming from people breathing and water evaporating on wet surfaces around the rink.
This air, that is laden with water is all around. The water is evaporated into the air and is kept there by the temperature of the air. Once the warm air meets your cool blades, the water will begin to form into droplets. You will see those droplets on your ice skate blade. Even once you have wiped off the majority of the water, your blades will still continue to get wet. This is why it’s important to use soakers immediately after you have wiped your blades after skating. You should keep the soakers on for the duration of the storage of the skates, until you skate next time.
Why is it bad to store ice skates in blade guards?
Please do not store your ice skates with the blade guards on whilst in your skate bag. Blade guards are made from a non breathable material. Often made from plastic, nylon or a polymer.
Blade guards are designed to defend your blade from the impact of walking on the ground. So when you walk and you hit a piece of grit, the grit hits the blade guard and not the skating edge of the blade. Blade guards are brilliant. They do a great job of protecting the edge of the blade, from physical impact and damage when walking over over surfaces that may be harder or have parts of them that are harder than the skating edge of the blade.
Blade guards however, are utterly terrible when it comes to rust. When you come off the ice, if you dry your blades and then put blade guards on your ice skates before you put them into your skate bag, your blades will soon be just as wet, as when you came off the ice. The worst thing is, the blade guards are going to hold that water on the blades until they begin to rust.
The blade guard increases the amount of time that the water stays on the surface of the blade. Unlike soakers, the blade guard does nothing to warm the temperature of the ice skate blade and nothing to wick away the water that is forming on the surface of the blade. What is worse. They actually do the opposite. If you look inside a blade guard, it’s basically a trough, a cut out that your blade fits into. So when the guard becomes wet, they act like a swimming pool as they hold the water around the blade. The water cant escape, as its surrounded by the plastic guard. So your blades sit in a little pool of water, where they slowly rust away until the next time you skate.
The guard will of courses eventually dry out, but by that time, the damage will already be done.
Why is it important to have a breathable ice skate bag?
It is important to have a breathable skate bag because the air around your ice skates needs to be exchanged for fresh air without such a high moisture content in.
Whilst your ice skates are in your skate bag and your blades and boots are warming up, water is evaporating off both the boots and the blades. If the moist air that has been created by evaporation from water off your skates is held in the bag, you create a perfect environment for rust, for an increased duration. Ideally you will have a skate bag that is breathable with mesh sections on. These are affordable. last a log time and greatly preserve your blades.
Not only will a breathable skate bag help to preserve your blades, but will help to preserve the boots themselves. A major reason for the leather on boots degrading and becoming soft and losing some of their structural integrity is not because the leather has just worn out. Though all skates soften with repeated bending, there is also the large factor of breaking down. This is because, bacteria has eaten away at the leather. Bacteria that live in the boot and love, like most bacteria, warm wet conditions.
So drying your boots out properly has several functions. It will reduce rust on your blades, help prevent your boots from smelling and preserve the structural integrity of the boot itself.
Why should I consider getting a Transpack
Answer – because they are ace. They are strong, really strong. They are breathable. They work as a back pack. They hold your skates comfortably either side of the pack. This means they are either side of your back when walking. The most comfortable way to carry your skates. They are really tough wearing. I have given mine years of throwing round and its still going strong. They come in loads of colors and designs, check out the great pockets and features on Amazon. (Link to Amazon – Commissions earned)
What do I do if I don’t have a breathable skate bag?
You don’t necessarily have to get a skate bag with a woven mesh section in, although they are the best. You can get less expensive models where the bag is made from a breathable weave or at least has some vent holes in.
If you don’t have access to a breathable skate bag, then it’s not the end of the world. If you are in a position where you can’t afford to buy another skate bag, then there is a way of keeping your skates dry during storage. That is, to leave your skate bag open whilst storing your skates. So unzip your skate bag and keep it unzipped in between skating. This lets your skates breath. It lets the leather dry out, lets the blades dry out and allows an exchange of air occur in the bag. This prevents your skated sitting in a moisture rich environment of water saturated air.
To summarize
Dry your skates and blades as soon as you have finished skating. Dont use blade guards to store your blades in. Use soakers instead. Use a breathable skate bag. If a breathable skate bag is not available, then leave your existing skate bag open.
