How To Bake Your Ice Hockey Skates

There’s no better feeling than unboxing a fresh pair of ice skates — apart from that first session on the ice with them!

Intermediate and advanced-level ice hockey skates are stiffer for better performance during your games, but breaking them in can take a few hours of ice time. Baking your ice hockey skates reduces this break-in time, so you can get a near-custom fit without the uncomfortable breaking-in process.

Baking your ice hockey skates is entirely optional, but we highly recommend getting suitable ice skates baked!

What Is Skate Baking?

Also known as heat moulding, baking your skates involves heating them up to soften the outer materials, then lacing them up with your feet inside and sitting with your blades on a soft surface for 15 minutes while they cool and mould to your feet.

Can All Ice Hockey Skates Be Baked?

While you can bake most ice hockey skates, recreational or beginner-level skates usually aren’t suitable for baking as they contain too much plastic and typically the foams/ padding isn’t thermoformable.

Should I Bake My Hockey Skates?

While baking your ice hockey skates isn’t mandatory, we highly recommend it — and even offer ice skate baking for free on all suitable skates bought from us!

Aside from reducing your uncomfortable break-in time, baking your ice hockey skates also helps you get a near-custom fit without the custom skate price tag, moulding to your unique foot shape better and elevating your performance on the ice. 

How Can I Bake My Skates At Home?

While we recommend that you bring your skates to us for baking, we understand that not everybody can make it to Willies but will still want to bake their ice hockey skates.

With some know-how and preparation, you can bake your skates at home!

Please Note, Whilst we have taken every care to ensure the information provided is correct, Willies accepts no responsibility for the outcome of skates baked at home.

Make sure you only bake one skate at a time and use an oven glove so you don’t burn yourself.

1. Preheat your oven to a low temperature. We recommend 80°C.
2. Prep your skates. Undo the laces so the tongue of the boot can wiggle around. This will mean you can get your foot into the boot and lace it up once it’s been heated. After that, put one boot on a baking tray covered in greaseproof paper.
3. Check your oven. If the oven has reached 80°C, switch it off and wait around 30 seconds to a minute before you place your boot into the oven.
4. Put your skate in the oven. Place the baking tray on the middle rack.
5. Check your skate. After 4-5 minutes, pull the boot out of the oven and check to see if it has softened; if it hasn’t, put it back in for another minute or two.
6. Put your skate on. If the boot has softened, remove it and put your skate on your foot. Be careful of the blade and any other metal components — they will be hot!
7. Lace the skate up. Once your foot is in the correct position in your skate, lace up your boot TIGHT, but not too tight that it will damage your eyelets.
8. Let your skate cool for 15 minutes. Sit down with your knee at 90° and your foot slightly pushing down onto a softer surface like a carpet. Get comfy for 15 minutes while your skates cool and mould to your foot!
9. Repeat with your other skate. Once you’ve moulded one skate, turn your oven back on and repeat the process with your other skate.

Aside from ensuring that your skates are suitable for baking, it’s super important to keep an eye on them while you’re baking them. Uneven heating, too much heat or too long in the oven can cause your skates to melt! 

If the thought of melting your ice skates in your oven gives you nightmares, bring them to us at Willies in Coventry to get them professionally baked.

Baking Ice Skates At Willies

If you’re looking for a fast and professional skate-baking service, bring your ice hockey skates to us! We believe that baking intermediate or elite skates help you to get the very best from your kit — that’s why all suitable skates purchased from us come with a free skate bake!