No socks with skates?

[jlspink22]

Is my daughter going to ruin her skates if she doesn't wear any socks or tights. She has always always hated socks but now she has boycotted wearing them with her skates as well.

I air her skates out when she is done and don't think her feet sweat that much but I've smelled some of her shoes after a long day and its not pretty.

[CaraSkates]

I know plenty of skaters who skate barefoot. Most of them store their skates with Stinz-eez in them to help with smell.

I personally could never skate barefoot, I'd hate it but to each their own! If it makes her happy, that's great!

[jlspink22]

I know plenty of skaters who skate barefoot. Most of them store their skates with Stinz-eez in them to help with smell.

I personally could never skate barefoot, I'd hate it but to each their own! If it makes her happy, that's great!

If she doesn't have to wear socks, its one less battle getting dressed (she has her quirks about clothes  )

[lutefisk]

To sock or not to sock seems more or less a personal preference kinda thing.  I wear some of my wife's thin trouser socks mainly because I dislike the idea of putting my naked feet into cold, clammy boots which have the potential of sporting irritating seams and stitchery.  Our daughter, on the other hand, does the bare foot thing. 

In terms of pros and cons, the interior of the boots will stay cleaner if socks are worn, but if your daughter is of the age of growth spurts, she don't be wearing a given pair all that long anyway, however, bare foot boots might be harder to sell or swap when she outgrows them.  A possible advantage of going sock-less is that one's foot might be less likely to slide around inside the boot as may be the case with thin, nylon trouser socks or tights.

On the plus side, socks might lead to warmer feet but that's just me thinking out loud without any personal experience.  It seems logical that even a thin layer would provide some insulation, but I have no data to back up that notion and I don't plan on going without socks just to find out! 

[Christy]

To sock or not to sock seems more or less a personal preference kinda thing.  I wear some of my wife's thin trouser socks mainly because I dislike the idea of putting my naked feet into cold, clammy boots which have the potential of sporting irritating seams and stitchery.  Our daughter, on the other hand, does the bare foot thing. 

In terms of pros and cons, the interior of the boots will stay cleaner if socks are worn, but if your daughter is of the age of growth spurts, she don't be wearing a given pair all that long anyway, however, bare foot boots might be harder to sell or swap when she outgrows them.  A possible advantage of going sock-less is that one's foot might be less likely to slide around inside the boot as may be the case with thin, nylon trouser socks or tights.

On the plus side, socks might lead to warmer feet but that's just me thinking out loud without any personal experience.  It seems logical that even a thin layer would provide some insulation, but I have no data to back up that notion and I don't plan on going without socks just to find out!

It may just be my odd feet but I had real problems with cold feet in ski boots until a friend suggested skiing bare foot - OH thought it was hilarious until the first time I tried it and I skied all day without complaining 

I know a fee people who skate with bare feet and the only difference is that the interiors of their boots do seem to wear faster (but less of an issue if feet are growing anyway)

[Query]

It may just be my odd feet but I had real problems with cold feet in ski boots until a friend suggested skiing bare foot - OH thought it was hilarious until the first time I tried it and I skied all day without complaining 

Maybe your boots were a little too tight. Skating barefoot gives you a little extra space.

I think my feet were a little allergic to the leather of the boot and my insoles, so it didn't work out for me.

There are so many different variables with boot fit, how much your feet sweat, how much they smell and how much you care, what the interior of your boot is made of, how well your boot breathes, what type of skating you are doing, and how you take care of your boots, that it isn't plausible that everyone is going to come up with the same best answer.

It is conceivable that that skating without socks would, on average, reduce the lifetime of the boots, and may require a little more maintenance in terms of drying out and de-stinking the boots. But boots are tools for skating, not museum pieces. If it makes her happy...

[jlspink22]

Her skates aren't worth reselling anyways, learning = falling = pretty nicked up. HA. Stinky feet it is.

[Nate]

From a sanitary standpoint, I could never do it.

I was forced to once, because I forgot my socks (this was back when I would go to the rink in street clothes and change before/after skating).  The amount of grip I got in the boot (especially on a leather insole) after I got going was massive, and I personally don't like that.  Also, it's hell when the rink gets really cold.  Your feet are way less insulated.

A lot of people prefer the extra grip.  There's a coach at our rink who skates bare footed and that's one of the reasons she cited for doing it.

But, socks exist for reasons other than keeping your feet warm, so I prefer to use them.

The skating socks/stockings from Mondor and others (Designed for skating) are too thin to really gain much room in the boot unless the skater is outgrowing the boot or had them fitted very tight.

[rd350]

I forgot my socks and skated barefoot once recently.  I loved the grip but my feet hurt after about an hour.  My skates don't quite fit right though (getting new ones soon).

A lot of people don't wear socks so I think it's fine.  I don't know how young she is, but if really young, maybe check her feet for blisters/irritation or very red spots when she removes the skates first few times.

[AgnesNitt]

You might want to consider Pingi de-humidifier inserts. I think they work better than stinkeeze  to dry out the skates and they don't smell. On the other hand you may wan to cover up the smell!

[Nate]

Also, how does a child boycott socks? Lol

Want to skate? Here they go! Have a nice day.

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[jlspink22]

It takes me 20 min just to put her skates on because the ties, tightness, socks all have to be perfect. She has major sock angst, tags-on-clothes-angst, its a sensory thing that this mom doesn't have time to deal with.

Also, how does a child boycott socks? Lol

Want to skate? Here they go! Have a nice day.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk.

[rachelplotkin]

its a sensory thing that this mom doesn't have time to deal with.

Like any wise parent you choose your battles carefully.  This would not be one worth having.

[Cush]

  I have a major issue with tags and seams even now at my age. Hate them. I would wear my clothes on the wrong side just to be comfortable. I go out of my way to find seamless everything including socks.

[aussieskater]

I have a major issue with tags and seams even now at my age. Hate them. I would still do wear my clothes on the wrong side just to be comfortable.

I though I was the only one who does this  , plus for the things I can't wear inside-out, I cut the tags off so they don't scratch.  Has caused the occasional problem when long after I cut the tag out, I needed the information it contained.  Oops.

[twinskaters]

I am suddenly grateful after reading this thread! One of my girls is pretty sensory-sensitive, complains about all sorts of clothes and tags and such. But she never does about skates!

[davincisop]

I've only skated barefoot due to time constraint (running into the rink after work to teach a class after getting held up at work even though boss KNEW I had to be gone and the other two designers left early). That being said, I don't feel like I have more control of my feet barefoot and don't much care for it.

However, I have friends that LOVE skating barefoot. They say they get more control of their boots and don't feel like they're slipping around. Two coaches at my old rink skated barefoot and would leave their skates in the front office (her mom worked front) and the smell.... oh god the smell.... But they didn't air out their skates or put any odor control things in them....

[jlspink22]

I've only skated barefoot due to time constraint (running into the rink after work to teach a class after getting held up at work even though boss KNEW I had to be gone and the other two designers left early). That being said, I don't feel like I have more control of my feet barefoot and don't much care for it.

However, I have friends that LOVE skating barefoot. They say they get more control of their boots and don't feel like they're slipping around. Two coaches at my old rink skated barefoot and would leave their skates in the front office (her mom worked front) and the smell.... oh god the smell.... But they didn't air out their skates or put any odor control things in them....

We've done the no sock thing a couple times now, and its the fastest I have every gotten skates on her. Although they did need a punch out in one spot where she noticed it was rubbing without a sock - but all good. I loosen the laces up and air those suckers out as soon as they come off.

[Nate]

I've only skated barefoot due to time constraint (running into the rink after work to teach a class after getting held up at work even though boss KNEW I had to be gone and the other two designers left early). That being said, I don't feel like I have more control of my feet barefoot and don't much care for it.

However, I have friends that LOVE skating barefoot. They say they get more control of their boots and don't feel like they're slipping around. Two coaches at my old rink skated barefoot and would leave their skates in the front office (her mom worked front) and the smell.... oh god the smell.... But they didn't air out their skates or put any odor control things in them....

Yes, especially with leather insoles...  Your feet don't move once they start to sweat, pretty much at all, so you can sometimes get a bit more control of the skate (the skates react quicker to any movement you initiate).  I found it made my feet cramp, and the place where the skate collar/tongue rubbed against my foot got destroyed.  It also made my skates feel too big, and I wear Mondor Knee highs so it wasn't that much space gained, Lol.

I think in these newer super padded skates it would be less of an issue.  In the skates I was wearing, it felt like putting my feet through a shredder.

That, and Socks are there to absorb perspiration and stop some fungus and bacteria from getting from your foot to the footwear.  I prefer to put a lot of that stuff through the washer and not directly into my shoe.  Sometimes, that can be very hard to get rid of in athletic footwear.

[lutefisk]

A question which I have concerning bare foot skating is this:  Does it  increase the risk for top of the foot bursitis and lace bite without a sock intervening between boot tongue and bare flesh?  The tongues of my boots tend to migrate towards the outside of the boots as I skate.  Granted I have entry level Jackson Freestyle boots which don't have much in the way of tongue padding, but I suspect even boots with well padded tongues also do this because of the way the ankle moves inside the boot, particularly during forward stroking.  I'm thinking about cutting small slits in the tongues of my boots so that I can pass the laces through the tongue in an effort to limit the amount of "travel" that occurs.  Has anyone tried that solution?  I have noticed that higher priced boots sometimes come with an extra hook on the tongues.  Is this extra hook effective in preventing the tongues from moving to the outsides of the boots?  OK, I now realize I've asked 3 questions...

[Nate]

I think on most newer models that issue is dealt with gracefully in the skate designs.

This is what it looks like on SP-TERI boots:



Some boots have ridges that channel the laces and keep it in check. Others put double padding to alleviate it. The boot manufacturers are solving the issue in different ways.

I don't think skating barefoot would have a huge impact on that. Skaters wear such thin socks already.

Skate fit for the skaters boot type and the design of the tongues on that boot are a bigger issue for that. Soft tones are fine if they're designed properly since they don't tend to deform as hardly during use.

I had lace bite issues in my stiffer Klingbiels because the tongues heavily creased which basically forced me to lace a little tighter over it to get the boot to fit over my instep correctly. Even the softer ones crease, though, but I'm not having those issues with these boots because the tab down the tongue makes it extremely hard for the tongue to deform the way those a Klingbiels tongues did:



The stiffer boot with the memory foam tongue padding was horrible because it is virtually impossible to get rid of the crease unless the tongue is redone. The padding is set, and won't loosen up enough to straighten the tongue back out.

The lighter ones were better since the tongue is thinner leather and backed by foam.

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[aussieskater]

I'm thinking about cutting small slits in the tongues of my boots so that I can pass the laces through the tongue in an effort to limit the amount of "travel" that occurs.  Has anyone tried that solution?

Yep my current synchro boots (old model) did not come with tongue lace hooks, but the tongues moved horribly.  I took the boots to an old cobbler recommended by my podiatrist, and together we came up with a solution.  He opened up the pre-existing horizontal slits in each tongue, and I threaded a double thickness length of skate lace in through one slit, along the inside of the tongue between the leather and the padding, and out the second slit (my fingers were smaller than his), then he sewed the lace ends together to form a vertical "loop" on the outside of the tongues, and closed up the tongue padding again.

Now when I lace the skates, the laces are passed inside this loop before the first hook, then reversed, so the lace coming from the inside-edge final eyelet is passed through the "tongue-loop" and then to the inside-edge first hook (not the outside edge hook as you would normally do).

Works a treat.  Next pair of boots will have a tongue hook pre-installed...

[Nate]

Yep my current synchro boots (old model) did not come with tongue lace hooks, but the tongues moved horribly.  I took the boots to an old cobbler recommended by my podiatrist, and together we came up with a solution.  He opened up the pre-existing horizontal slits in each tongue, and I threaded a double thickness length of skate lace in through one slit, along the inside of the tongue between the leather and the padding, and out the second slit (my fingers were smaller than his), then he sewed the lace ends together to form a vertical "loop" on the outside of the tongues, and closed up the tongue padding again.

Now when I lace the skates, the laces are passed inside this loop before the first hook, then reversed, so the lace coming from the inside-edge final eyelet is passed through the "tongue-loop" and then to the inside-edge first hook (not the outside edge hook as you would normally do).

Works a treat.  Next pair of boots will have a tongue hook pre-installed...

If you look at the Klingbeils in my picture (second picture), you can see that I had the fitter cut the Loops off and retrofit Lace hooks into them (the Loops never seem to work well enough for me, and I'm always worried about them snapping).  Took him like 2 minutes per pair, and he did it at no charge.  It's basically the same as the ones that came on the SP Teri's.  They work well.

Tongue Bite is a bigger problems in these SP-Teris now.  The Foam Tongue just rubs the crap out of my Right Ankle.  It gave me a pretty nasty Blister, but Putting a large bandage over the area completely prevents it.  I'm getting some gel Sleeves to deal with it, at least for the immediate future.

Get rid of one problem, add another one :-(

[lutefisk]

Thanks to Aussieskater and Nate for the feedback.  I'll look into having lace hooks installed on the tongues my boots.  I'm also looking at getting a pair of the combo lace bite and Achilles "boot bumper" ankle sleeves: http://www.bungapads.com/bunga-boot-bumper-bb-en.html

[Nate]

I don't have room in these boots for those and it seems like the crease/seam can hurt your arch while skating... the instep pad looks really nice though.

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