How to Take Care of Your Ice Hockey Skates

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Ice hockey is one of the most expensive sports to play these days. You have to buy a ton of equipment just to get out on the ice in the first place but then you have to rent the ice time or join an ice hockey league. In today’s economy saving money should be a top priority so it is important that you take proper care of the ice hockey equipment you do have to avoid needing to purchase any new gear.

Ice hockey skates are the most important piece of equipment, aside for maybe the ice hockey stick, in the game so you will want to take extra precautions with your pair of hockey ice skates. Even a pair of cheap ice hockey skates can run you about $100 you’d be throwing that money away if you don’t treat them well. There are a few key things you can do for your ice hockey skates after every game that will extend the lifespan of your skates and keep them in tip-top condition for play.

Bauer Vapor X Ice Skates

Let Your Ice Hockey Skates Breath

Have you ever noticed that used ice hockey skates have a distinct odor to them? That smell you’re sensing is the buildup of bacteria and decay brought on by sweat and heat. The more you play in your ice hockey skates the more you will sweat in them. It is important that after every game you take your ice skates out of your sports bag and leave them out to dry off. If you keep your skates cooped up in the dark of a bag with the rest of your hockey equipment they are going to fester and smell.

It is also a good idea, while you are drying out your ice hockey skates, to spray them down with bacteria killing solutions like Fabreze or Lysol. You could also use various foot odor powders inside the boot of your skate to kill off as much bacteria as you can. The cleaner you keep your ice hockey skates the longer they will last.

Wipe Down the Blade of Your Ice Hockey Skates

Playing on ice has its benefits. You can move faster, go farther, and slide cleaner on ice than you could on concrete or grass but ice skating also tends to create snow. As you skate down the ice you are carving up the ice surface and those ice shavings will stick to the blade of your skate. It is always a good idea to wipe down the blade of your skate as soon . . . → Read More: How to Take Care of Your Ice Hockey Skates

How to Break in Your New Hockey Skates

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Sports equipment is notorious for being difficult to wear right out of the box. Most sports pad their players in stiff leathers and polymers to protect them and these rough materials can do a number on your skin, especially during an intense game. One of the most infamous sports for chafe causing gear is Hockey. From head to toe the player is stuffed into rigged foams and leather padding to protect them from the high impact style of the game. If you want to avoid skin irritation, blistering, and other generally uncomfortable feelings it is a good idea to break in your equipment before you actually start using it.

Hockey skates are probably the worst pieces of hockey equipment when it comes to breaking them in. It takes a long time to get the groove in the padding of the boot and playing in cold, dry, unforgiving climates doesn’t help much either. Hockey skates must be broken in before serious competition if you want to be comfortable in them, just like baseball gloves. Unlike baseball gloves, however, there is no easy method for breaking in your brand new ice hockey skates, roller hockey skates, or inline hockey skates.

Basically it just takes a bit of pressure and time to break in your hockey skates but there are three ways to help speed up the process a little bit and get your feet comfortably planted on the ice as soon as possible.

Wear Them

If you ever find a good pair of used hockey skates for sale that fit you well and aren’t too beat up, you should buy them. It seems that the best way to break in your hockey skates is usually just the old fashioned way: wear them a lot. Hockey skates are designed like a turtle with a hard, unmovable, shell on the outside and a soft (or relatively soft) padded layer on the inside.

Most skate manufacturers will stuff extra padding into the boot so that when you stick your foot in you will push some of the padding to the sides and conform the hockey skate to the shape of your foot.; the tighter the fit the better the protection. To properly break in your skates you just need to give the padding time to get out of the way.

Wear your hockey skates around your house (remember to keep the blade protector on if they are ice hockey skates) while you are watching television or playing video games. Walk around in them as much as possible and do a few practice skates here and there until you feel comfortable with the hockey skates. The more you wear . . . → Read More: How to Break in Your New Hockey Skates