How to Heat-Fit Hockey Skates

Sometimes when you buy a new pair of ice skates they can be pretty stiff. A recent fad has been to heat-fit your ice skates. Basically what you do is put a lot of heat on the ice skate and then slip the ice skate on your feet. Then the warm part of the ice skate molds around your foot and ankle.

Things You'll Need

• Skates
• Oven
• Baking sheet

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees F.

2. Take the wheels off first if you decide to try this with online skates. Place your skates on a baking sheet before putting them in the oven. You don't want your skates lying on the oven because it will leave burn marks on your skates. Make sure the laces are loose enough that you can fit your foot in the hockey skates but not too loose.

3. Turn the oven off before you put your hockey skates in the oven. This is a very important step. All you want to do is heat your hockey skates and the heat from having had the oven on is enough to heat-fit your hockey skates. If you leave the oven on then you will bake your hockey skates.

4. Place the baking sheet with the hockey skates in the oven. Most instructions will tell you to leave the hockey skates in for 8 to 10 minutes but you should check every once in a while to see if they're ready in case it doesn't take that long. Basically what you're looking for is you want to be able to feel the ankle foams and make sure they are warm enough that they will mold to your foot when you put them on.

5. Take the hockey skates out of the oven and put them on your feet. For molding purposes you want to tighten the laces as tight as you possibly can, even if it is tighter than you normally wear them. It is very important when you tighten your laces to pull the laces outward. You do not want to pull the laces upward. The hockey skates are very soft and pulling the laces upward might pull off one of the eyelets.

6. Sit, don't stand, with your skates on and let them cool. Sit down on the couch or chair with your legs out in front of you and with your skates flat on the ground.

7. Take the hockey skates off after 15 minutes. They will still be a little soft so again be gentle with the laces and don't pull on any of the eyelets. Let the hockey skates cool for 24 hours before skating in them.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have a hockey supply store then heat-fitting your hockey skates is very easy. Most hockey supply stores will do this for you if you don't want to attempt it yourself.

• It is possible to ruin your hockey skates if you do this incorrectly. Leaving the hockey skates in the oven too long will ruin them. Pulling one of the eyelets off while it is soft is a possibility. If this happens then your warranty will probably not cover it. Do not try this unless you are willing to take the risk that your hockey skates might be ruined if you mess up. If you've just bought a new pair of hockey skates then perhaps try it once on your old skates first.