Skates are made in layers that move and stretch which cause these layers to separate. As a result, eyelets are one of the leading areas you’ll begin to see wear and tear. Meanwhile, the player keeps tying the laces tighter to keep the foot stable.
If the damage goes unnoticed, the hole becomes so stretched that the eyelet itself will turn and fall out or keeping holding on by a small area until it pulls out of the eye row material and rips the skate. You may have experienced this and so you just keep putting the lace through the hole without an eyelet.
A hole without an eyelet cannot support skating movement.
Although, eyelets seem like a small part of your skate, you need strong ones in order to support your ankle. You will simply skate better – stronger strides and turns, and better control.
Now the skate may have been compromised before you even left the store from too much heat while heat fitting! It’s a free service many retail stores provide, but you might better off skipping it. Often, retail stores have no idea the possible damage from improper heating time.
Take a moment and look at your skate. Because let’s face it – when was the last time you physically picked up your skate, checked it over, and knew what to look for?
If you see that any of your eyelets have some damage, here’s a quick tip: keep skates dry! Using a tiny bit of water repellent on the front and back of the eyelet will help to shed the water that rots the material.
Also other players step on your skate in the game. Their skate cuts your lace and then into the eyelet which may result in the eyelets breaking down in chunks. Use a bit of lube or wax to protect; this ricochets other skate blades away from your skate.
While sharpening your skates, we look for proactive ways to help you catch problems in the early stages. We can even quickly stitch the eye row if the hole is still round and replace the eyelet. It’s good to go and pretty inexpensive!
If the eye row is completely torn, we use a few different techniques to get the shape back.
We replace the material one eyelet above and below the torn area to achieve a strong repair. We double up on the material that makes the eye row strong for additional strength and run many stitches in the material to stop it from stretching again.
The end result is usually stronger than the factory.
You have to remember that quality does not always partner up with price when it comes to skates. And the most expensive skate is the first one to wear out. How would the skate manufactures make any money if your skate lasted you ten or twelve years, right?
That’s why we have been focusing, this winter, on the variety of ways you can take control of your skate maintenance.
Stop in the shop and ask us about some easy, inexpensive things you can do to increase the quality of your skate – your skates will be ready for next season without breaking the bank!
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