How often to Sno Seal?

[Ethereal Ice]

I have searched many threads and other places online and cannot seen to find an easy answer to this question as far as how many hours of skating do you go before resealing. I had my Reidell boots sno sealed about 3-4 months ago, I probably have around 60 hours of skating on them since the sealing. I was noticing last night what appeared to be some softening on the heel region. Evidence of water damage was the reason I originally took then in to be sno sealed, I was noticing water spots on them. The sno sealing took care of it until now.

What do other people average as far as hours between sealings?

[rd350]

It varies for me.  There was a time during the winter I had to do it once/month, or even more often at one point.  Now I haven't had to do it for a few months.  I do it when I notice water marks on the soles after drying my blades/soles post-skating.  For me, it's always in the same spot on the same boot before anywhere else.  I'm sure there are many factors, including how wet the ice is (like in the summer at some rinks, or warm winter days outside), how well you dry them after skating, etc.

You can do it yourself though.  Don't need to have it done.  Just need a blow dryer and the Sno Seal.

[Ethereal Ice]

It varies for me.  There was a time during the winter I had to do it once/month, or even more often at one point.  Now I haven't had to do it for a few months.  I do it when I notice water marks on the soles after drying my blades/soles post-skating.  For me, it's always in the same spot on the same boot before anywhere else.  I'm sure there are many factors, including how wet the ice is (like in the summer at some rinks, or warm winter days outside), how well you dry them after skating, etc.

You can do it yourself though.  Don't need to have it done.  Just need a blow dryer and the Sno Seal.

Yes, I will be doing my own this time. I ordered some last night. Well this makes me feel a little better, I check my soles carefully after each skate, have a whole system to  keep the soles dry, I thought maybe I had fallen down on the job seeing that water damage starting, but if others wait until they see it wearing off, and it wears off at different rates, that all makes sense. Also explains why I can't find a specific number of hours for Sno Sealing frequency.

[FigureSpins]

Skatingforums.com has a skate maintenance event on the 8th of each month on our online calendar.  http://skatingforums.com/index.php?action=calendar   

I skate 5-6 days a week for 2-5 hours at a time, mostly coaching/standing.  (Or, as my skate fitter calls it, "directing traffic.")   I have to apply Sno-Seal at least four times a year and it's always overdue - it usually takes me 2-3 weeks after I first see the darkness to actually do the deed.

There's no real "timer" that can be applied universally to all skaters.  When to re-apply Sno-Seal depends on several factors:

. How "wet" is your environment?  (Rinks with puddles require more protection than cold, hard hockey ice rinks.)
. How new are your skates? (New boots usually come with some polyurethane or other finish that keeps snoseal out.)
. How often do you skate and for how long?  (Half-hour freestyles twice a week don't expose the skates as much as daily 4-hour sessions.)
. How well were they last treated? (If it was a quick application and more could have been absorbed, it won't last as long.)

To make it easier, I acquired an old hairdryer that no one wanted and put it in a storage tub along with the packets of sno-seal and plastic bags/gloves.  I used to hook the skate over our single-knob faucet in the sink but one accidental push led to having to dry out the insides of my skates, so I switched to using the garage workbench's vise.  I just close it on a broom handle and use that to hold the skate in place.

My new skates should be coming soon and the soles are supposed to be maintenance-free.  *crosses fingers*

[AgnesNitt]

And conversely, I never Sno-seal.
I store my skates in the skate bag with some Pingi dehydration bags. I don't even get rust anymore.

[icepixie]

I heavily sno-sealed my skates before I got the blades mounted about 18 months ago and haven't had to re-apply since.  I skate 4 days a week for an hour at a time on very hard hockey ice.  I have yet to see a dark/wet spot on my soles.

(I used a good chunk of the can when I did it...at least four or five thick coats, let them dry overnight between coats, etc.  I figured patience then would mean not having to repeat the process, especially given the dry conditions I skate in.)

[lutefisk]

And conversely, I never Sno-seal.
I store my skates in the skate bag with some Pingi dehydration bags. I don't even get rust anymore.

I've never Sno-sealed either.  My last two pairs of boots have been Jackson Free Styles and it appears that the soles have some sort of coating already on them from the factory.

[nicklaszlo]

I am also in the "never" camp.

[rd350]

Yeah sounds like you should be good.  I misplaced my Sno Seal and none of the pro shops at the rinks I go to have them.  Oh OOPS!  I had a sharpening in Hackensack today.  I bet they had it!  That's what I get for bringing my dog with me.  And, the freestyles turned out to be empty because of Mid-Atlantics.  I could've skated too.

I also need to order online.  I'm due.

[sampaguita]

I Sno-seal whenever I notice some spots in my boots -- and that's quite often. That's why I switched to waterproofing with varnish -- just makes things a lot more convenient.