What can I do to make my roller skates more comfortable? It’s a question that’s on your mind, isn’t it?
Could this problem discourage you from pursuing your passion – roller skating?
Roller skates can be uncomfortable at first, but with our helpful tricks, you will soon be able to get used to them.
Now let’s check out!
Why do you sometimes feel uncomfortable while wearing skates?
Before we learn how to make your skates more comfortable, let’s find out why this happens.
In the beginning, your skates are likely to be stiff and uncomfortable.
Your skates may be to blame for this phenomenon.
Take a look at your skates. Do they fit well? This means that your skate hasn’t broken in yet (it takes time for your foot to mold to it).
In that case, do not automatically conclude that this sport is not for you.
Uncomfortable roller skate can fix it.
Here are some tips to help you avoid this problem.
What can I do to make my roller skates more comfortable?
To make your roller skates as comfortable as possible, you need to ensure they’re as soft as possible.
Otherwise, you’ll get blisters after 30 minutes of the skating session.
So, How do you break in your roller skates? The following tips will help you make skating more enjoyable and comfortable.
- Heat Molding
- Lacing
- Condition
- Wear Frequently
- Flexible Movements
- Punch Out Your Skates
1. Heat Molding
It is best to mold your skate boots to the shape of your feet to make them comfortable.
The roller skates of the same brand that are of the same size are mostly identical. What is not identical are the feet.
By applying heat to your boots and molding them according to your feet’s shape, you get a super comfortable skating experience.
Most good skate shops have heat molding ovens from which you can heat mold your new roller skate boots.
If you are new to roller skating, it is great to have a professional handle it for you.
You can, however, heat mold your boots at home on your own too.
Hairdryer method
Skate shops have special ovens and skills for molding boots. Rather than baking your boots in your oven, you can do it at home in a safer way (fewer chances of turning them into roasts).
For heat molding, follow these steps carefully to avoid overheating (or even burning) your skate boots.
- Using a hairdryer, heat your skate boots evenly and ensure they are warm from all sides. Be careful not to overheat your shoes. Additionally, your skin may crack or even burn if you overhead leather.
- Put on your roller skate socks, and then put your feet in warm boots.
- Once the boots are laced up, keep wearing them for 10 to 15 minutes until they cool off and take the shape of your feet. Spend these 15 minutes skating around the house in your warm skate boots so the skate boot can conform to your feet’s exact curves and flat areas.
Oven method
The oven method is a bit riskier than a hairdryer, but many skaters use it to make their roller skates more comfortable. Here’s how to do it.
- Ensure your oven is completely off when you put your skate boots inside after preheating it at 79 degrees Celsius/Centigrade. Keeping your boots at a higher temperature may cause permanent damage.
- Put your boots in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Remove the boots carefully and allow them to cool. You should not place your feet into them immediately. Instead, check with your hands if the temperature is warm enough to mold without burning them.
- Lace them up and allow 24 hours for them to cool and adjust.
- Try these skates on now. Try this method if you have worn your skates a few times and find they cause blisters or pain.
You should not let the oven go over 20 minutes.
If you are in a hurry, don’t increase the heat to decrease the heating time. Your boots may be permanently damaged if you do this.
Don’t make a habit of baking your skate boots constantly (no more than 3 times), as this will result in permanent damage.
2. Lacing
If you want your roller skates to be more comfortable, you can experiment with the lacing technique. To make your new skates less stiff, try the following:
- Put on your skate boots and lace them up. Tie the laces loosely and skip the two holes at the top.
- After that, skate for about four to six hours.
- In your second skating session, lace up until you reach and skip the top hole.
- Once again, skate for 4 to 6 hours.
- In the third session, lace up your stakes to the very top. Once again, skate. Doing so will make your stiff boots more comfortable without compromising ankle support.
3. Condition
Applying leather conditions will soften the stiff leather of your roller skate boots. Here’s how:
- You can purchase a leather conditioner for around $20- $40 (they are not expensive). Take off the laces so that you can apply them more easily.
- Rub the conditioner into your boot’s tight and uncomfortable areas with a soft cloth.
- When applying it to all the stiff leather areas, bend the leather backward and forward to break the stiffness.
- Do it once and try the boots to see if the difference is noticeable. To completely soften it, repeat this process three to four times.
4. Wear Frequently
Many roller skate experts recommend wearing them as often as possible to break in your skates.
The more you skate in them, the more they’ll adapt to your feet and skating motion.
At first, if you feel that they are stiff, begin with a small skating session and gradually increase it.
Like old shoes or jeans, the more you wear them and the older they get, the more comfortable they become.
It is common for skaters to wear their new roller skates for long periods without skating – such as while watching TV or reading a book.
Even though it may be a bit uncomfortable initially, you and the boots will get used to each other after some time.
What’s the result of doing this? Well, The result is comfort in the skating sessions to follow.
5. Flexible Movements
It has been mentioned above that frequency and time will greatly impact the comfort level of your roller skates.
As you skate, your boots will adapt to your feet’ shape and structure.
You can also practice different movements that allow you to bend your knees and ankles is a good idea.
Furthermore, you can also experiment with different lacing styles to achieve different levels of flexibility.
When you use a new pair of roller skates, deep curving motions may feel uncomfortable in the beginning, but such movements will help you break them in.
Therefore, you can roller skate for hours without feeling a thing as the inflexible leather skin loosens up as you move and maneuver.
6. Punch Out Your Skates
Punching out involves removing the areas of the inside skates that are bothering you.
You can use a specialized machine to punch out these tight and uncomfortable areas in the skate shops where you bought them.
Your feet will fit better in the skates if you use this method. Be sure to ask how much they charge for punching out a pair of new roller skates, or you may end up paying through the nose!
Note:
- You should avoid punching out nearly perfect skates as it could damage them. The reason is that you might not be able to use your skates as well as you used to if you choose to punch them out.
- Punching is not something you should take on all by yourself. The local pro shop has more knowledge about skates, so we recommend you take them there. In addition, it is impossible to punch it out without a specialized machine.
How Will These Helpful Tricks Benefit You?
If you try these tips, you will minimize the chances of friction blisters or pinched toes when you wear roller skates.
Additionally, these tips will also help you get a better understanding of the sport of skating as well.
Conclusion
Roller skating is an exciting and challenging sport.
In our post on ‘How to make my roller skates more comfortable,” we hope you will be motivated to skate more and that you will be able to reduce your pain as much as you can.
Be sure to follow our guidelines.
Last but not least, have fun skating!
