Minor scuffs/skate tape

[Ethereal Ice]

So, newbie question here. I know many see their skate scuffs as badges of honor for hours practiced and elements learned, but I do love my white skates. I usually cover the back 3/4 with leg warmers or long pants and it is starting to show....only the toes have scuffs, though they are fairly minor. I got some sk8 tape and just used it to kind of patch where some of the finish has come off, and along one of the edges next to the sole where I see a wear pattern. My theory being that if it were covered, the existing scuffs would be less likely to continue to grow larger or new ones develop in that area near the sole.

I did some skate forum searches and did not find much info on patching them up, most of the info was for use of larger amounts of tape for performances/programs. Folks did seem to be saying to change the tape every month or so, does the tape trap moisture? Anyone else use it as a preventative bandage on smaller blemishes, and if so, how did it work?

[Query]

I looked into leather repair a while back, after one out of town pro shop guy mentioned that he did such repairs on skates. Basically, he stripped off the old clear coat and probably the old polish, buffed the leather, and applied a leather prep, new polish, and maybe a new clear coat layer. There are also leather repair fluids that can fill large gashes.

A fair number of people have just applied new polish - probably not as durable, but fast.

But I never got around to doing it myself.

You might affect the breathability of your skates, which might matter if you have warm sweaty feet.

I often use the thin nylon boot covers that many pro shops sell. It reduces wear and makes it easier to do lunges, but they sometimes need to be replaced. Some of the kids around here have done elaborate paint jobs on their covers, and some of the girls use over-the-boot tights instead. (I wonder how often tights need replacement.)

I never tried the thick warm neoprene covers - perhaps they don't need replacement.

I'll leave talking about tape to those who use it.

[nicklaszlo]

I use electrical tape.  If you have black boots, it's almost identical to sk8 tape and much cheaper and easier to find.  You may be able to find it in white and a range of other colors at a hardware store, but black is standard.

Tape does not trap moisture in any harmful way. 

I only replace it when it has worn away, or if I want to skate a performance without it.

The leg warmers and long pants do almost nothing to protect the skate.  Normally nearly all the wear is on the lower front of the boot.  I get holes in my pants too, but they are usually much higher up.

I wear boot covers, but I put holes in them really fast.  The commercial boot covers are probably not designed for boots as big as mine, so your mileage may vary.

[skatemom189]

When my DD gets new boots, before she steps on the ice we apply white skate tape to the inside side of the boot from the toe to just past the ball of the foot along the sole edge.  This protects the boots from all her lunges- her favorite spin entrance is a lunge into a sit spin to start, so this saves a lot of wear and tear.  We also put tape on the outside side of the right boot from the toe to the ball of the foot, going from the laces to the sole.  This protects from the left blade hitting the boot during jumps and prevents most gouges in the leather.  We may add multiple layers when she gets to double axles for even more protection..

We remove the tape for competitions or performances.  We also use a Magic Eraser to remove any other black marks, and it works great for that.

[Loops]

I use white electrical tape that I get at the local home depot like store. Works great!

[lillian641]

I found classroom floor tape at the dollar tree that seems to work pretty well as I didn't want to ding up my pretty new skates. It comes in green, yellow, blue, and white that I saw. I goes on pretty easy and removes with no residue. I don't know how it compares to actual skate tape, but at $1.00 a roll it is a lot cheaper.

[cittiecat]

I often use the thin nylon boot covers that many pro shops sell. It reduces wear and makes it easier to do lunges, but they sometimes need to be replaced. Some of the kids around here have done elaborate paint jobs on their covers, and some of the girls use over-the-boot tights instead. (I wonder how often tights need replacement.)

I never tried the thick warm neoprene covers - perhaps they don't need replacement.

I'll leave talking about tape to those who use it.

My coach has a pair of sort of fleece-y/ Terry cloth like boot covers that she has had forever with minimal damage and she does a fair amount of demonstrating. The only thing that wore out was the elastic which is where I came in because she asked if I could see new elastic in for her.


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[Meli]

I've used it on the lunge side, and really only replaced it if the edges started getting loose or if it got dirty. It did keep the abuse down. I probably should have taped my toes a bit as they have some nicks and such from scratch spins gone awry.

[lutefisk]

Some of the kids at my rink cover their entire boots with the fancy, patterned duct tape that clever people use for hobby applications--like making duct tape wallets.  Don't know how they get the tape to lay smoothly over the curves of the boot without puckering, etc.  I have enough trouble getting masking tape to "do right" when I'm attempting to paint something around the house!

[Query]

Don't know how they get the tape to lay smoothly over the curves of the boot without puckering, etc.

In connection with a class, I was taught how to wrap an ankle with athletic tape to reinforce it. I had to practice many times before I could get the tape to lay smooth. But that method won't work on skates, because of the blade at the bottom, which you obviously don't want to cover. (At least you don't need to do a pre-wrap with gauze (or equivalent), as is sometimes done on ankle and wrist wraps, to prevent the tape from sticking to your skin.)

Maybe these instructions, from "Mr. Edge", a very well respected Chicago area skate tech, will help.

http://www.askmredge.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Sk8tape_Instructions1.pdf

However, from the ankle wrapping experience, I can suggest several things:
1. Orient the roll of tape so the tape unrolls onto the boot from the bottom, not the top. Most of the time you want a few inches of unbound tape hanging from the point it unrolls.
2. Keep a fair amount of tension on the tape at all times. Most tape can stretch a little, and you are using this to create a clean wrap. I.E., there will be places where one side needs to stretch a little more than the other to lay flat against the boot. In addition, the adhesives are probably designed to activate best if the tape is stretched - especially true of plastic electrical tape. (Incidentally, most plastic electrical tape is designed to work best if the initial wrap is sticky side out, and later wraps are stick side in - but you can't do that here. Fortunately, you don't need as strong an adhesion for purely cosmetic purposes.) (Or was the mention of electrical tape here meant to refer to cloth electrical tape, rather than plastic electrical tape?)
3. I suggest you sit on a chair, with the boot in your lap, and with blade guards on so you don't have to worry about cutting yourself. When you cut or tear the tape, you may need to hold the boot between your knees, because most of us only have two hands. You could alternately clamp onto the outsole with a vice instead - but not so hard that you damage the adhesion between the outsole and the boot, or warp the outsole. Avoid the vice if you can.
4. Try to do it holding onto the tape with the same hand throughout - if you switch hands, there is a good idea that you will lose tension, or accientally introduce an unwanted twist. This can be hard with your ankle, if you have flexibility limits - but, since you don't have to wear your boot while you wrap it, there should be no problemIf you are right handed, use your right hand, and vice-versa. With your foot, you probably did have to pass it hand-to-hand, unless you are hyper-flexible, but with the boot, and the short lengths Mr Edge advises you to use, you can turn the boot instead.
5. Practice first using something like a dollar store ace bandage. That will be too easy, because it stretches more than most tapes - but it will get you in practice to do clean wraps. Of course, it won't stick, so you won't be able to save your wrap, and can only do part of it at the same time, but it should still be good practice.
6. Use good quality reasonably new tape, that preferably hasn't been exposed to high temperatures. After a while, tape becomes much more difficult to handle. That is probably a bigger problem with athletic tape (where good brands include Johnson & Johnson) than with Skate Tape (or electrical tape). E.g., bad brands of athletic tape, or old tape, won't tear cleanily across. However, most Skate Tape is cloth tape too - so maybe it has the same characteristics, in that it is designed to tear cleanly along exactly two axis - laterally across the tape, and longitudinally along the tape. In Mr. Edge's diagram, he uses a scissors, which may be more awkward than clean tears, in that it will make you wish you had 3 hands, but will work with other kinds of tape, or with old or poor quality tape.
7. Don't be surprised if it takes a fair # of attempts before your succeed. With athletic tape on my ankle, I think it took over an hour for me to get it right. But this will probably be easier, because Mr. Edge has segmented the wrap into many successive pieces of short length tape, rather than trying to wrap it in one go.

Hope that helps.

[lillian641]

The floor tape I used from dollar tree stretches pretty well & contoured to the curves of my skate pretty easily. I was able to stretch it without getting ripples on the inside of the curve. I was able to lift it up & reposition it as I need & it has stood up well to skating. The adhesive isn't as tacky as electrical tape & doesn't seem to leave any residue.