Lace Break In

[sk8great]

How long would it usually take to break in laces? Would it be fine to break in new skates with already broken in laces from my previous skates or would that be not advisable?

[FigureSpins]

Without any sarcasm:

. It takes only a few hours of skating for new laces to get rid of their new-lace-stretchiness.  You can expedite it by lacing the skates, tying the laces together, and then hanging them over a hook or rod to stretch out.  (My DH once referred to this as the "World's Most Dangerous Wind Chimes.")

. Personally, I wouldn't waste my time putting old laces into new skates.  The skates take longer to break in than the laces do to stretch out.

Just use the new laces and plan on retying your skates after 20 mins of skating for the first few outings.  Don't overthink the process. 

Leave the top hook undone for the first few outings - it gives you some knee bend to prevent toepick! trips and face plants.

[icedancer]

Interesting question.

I have many times "shored up" my older, softer, more broken-down boots with new cotton laces - so they do hold their stiffness for a while - polishing them helped too although I think that was probably more psychological.

[tstop4me]

Laces do stretch in the beginning.  But I've never needed a break-in period in this sense:  If I use new laces on a well broken-in pair of boots, I've never had to re-lace during a session because the laces had stretched substantially during the session.  The next session, the laces are stretched from their original length, but that's automatically taken care of during the new lace-up.  How much stretching occurs depends on the laces:  e.g., the Riedell cotton/poly laces don't stretch that much; the Jackson poly laces stretch more. But they're usually stable after 3 or 4 sessions.

If your question is whether you should intentionally use broken-in laces to break in a new pair of boots, the answer is no.  Makes no difference.  You will need to re-lace several times during the first several sessions anyways, but that's because the boots are new and need breaking in.

If your question is whether it's OK to use broken-in laces to break in a new pair of boots, the answer is yes.  That is, if the laces are of the right length, in otherwise good condition, and you would have no other use for them anyway, no need to chuck them, just go ahead and use them.

[beginner skater]

Someone posted that their skate tech recommended using poly laces for their new boots, then switching to cotton. I could have that wrong, it might have been the other way round. Not sure if anyone else agrees with that or has an explanation

[nicklaszlo]

I prefer that new lace feel.

[tstop4me]

Someone posted that their skate tech recommended using poly laces for their new boots, then switching to cotton. I could have that wrong, it might have been the other way round. Not sure if anyone else agrees with that or has an explanation

I've tried

all cotton
all nylon
cotton/poly blend
all poly.

My preference is the cotton/poly blend with all poly a close second.

All cotton stays tied down the best, but it has poor wet strength; they go ker-snap when wet (there's usually water on or around the benches, and it's hard to keep the laces totally dry).  Even when dry, they also tend to go ker-snap without much warning (visually looks OK, no obvious fraying).  They have the shortest service life, even when well cared for.

All nylon has the longest service life and is impervious to water, but they become untied easily.


(Edit to add)  I don't see a compelling reason for using a different lace material during break-in of new boots.  However, if you normally use all cotton because they stay tied down the best (and are willing to live with the shorter service life), then I could see saving your "good" laces for after the break-in period and using a more durable lace during the break-in period, since, during the break-in period, you will be frequently readjusting and retying your laces anyway.