Soaker & Towel recommendation | Golden Skate

Soaker & Towel recommendation

iceskating21

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 10, 2018
I have bought many soakers for my daughter, more than I can remember. All soakers got holes on the ends quickly, no matter how thick they seemed to be. I doubt whether those expensive ones (like >$40) worthwhile or not. Any brand/type to recommend? I hope it can last longer.
 

tothepointe

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 4, 2018
If you can sew even a little it it's worthwhile to sew your own. They won't last any longer but your cost will be a lot less. THOUGH you can put in iron on reinforcement at the point where they are most likely to get holes.
 

Curlygirly81

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 8, 2017
The jerrys thick soakers, those will never get a hole lol
they have fun shapes.. Their actually padded soakers.
 

Elija

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 25, 2019
Definitely worth paying a bit extra for padded ones. I have edea soakers that have about a centimetre of padding on the bottom and are super thick. Have had them a year and they look brand new. My old ones that were just towel material got holes in quick.

Make sure your daughter isn’t walking with the soakers on too, i used to do that as a kid 😬
 

tstop4me

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 2, 2015
Country
United-States
It's not a simple issue of padded vs non-padded. When I was growing up, there wasn't the variety that there is now. I had simple thick one-piece terry soft blade covers, as they were called then (not sure when "soakers" came into vogue). I never poked holes through them. Eventually I would need to replace them when the elastic gave out, and they wouldn't stay put any more; one pair would last in excess of 5 yrs. Like many simple (non-hi-tech) things, they don't make 'em like they used to.

I've now been using the A&R Tuff Terry's cited in Post #2. Many pro-shops in my area carry them, and the Amazon reviews are mostly good. I thought they were solid terry reinforced with plastic strips along the inside and outside edges. But they aren't solid terry, as I was disappointed to discover after I bought them. They actually have a thin terry outside cover filled with some sort of fiber padding, batting, or stuffing (whatever you want to call it). The plastic strip on the outside is full length, wrapping around both ends; but the plastic strip on the inside runs along the bottom only, leaving the ends unreinforced. So what happens is that the picks and the heel of the blade can easily poke through the thin terry on the inside (any where on the inside, but especially at the ends), exposing the stuffing, which then starts to fall out.

To be fair, though, I skate 5 times/wk. And 2 pairs have lasted me for about 4 yrs; time to get new ones soon. That comes out to 1 pair/2 yrs; not too bad these days, I guess. [These days I alternate pairs (I didn't in the past): At the rink, I dry off my skates, and put on a first pair. At home, I remove the first pair, dry off my skates again, and put on a second pair, which I then take to the rink for the next session.]

OP: You didn't mention how often you've been replacing your daughter's soakers.
 

tstop4me

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 2, 2015
Country
United-States
To OP: Your Post #1 just mentioned soakers, but the title of your thread mentions "Soaker & Towel". Are you in fact using the soakers as a towel to dry off your daughter's blades ( I know some skaters do that)? If so, that would wear out the soakers much faster. In case you are doing that, just use a separate towel instead for drying: works better and preserves your soakers.
 

iceskating21

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 10, 2018
It's not a simple issue of padded vs non-padded. When I was growing up, there wasn't the variety that there is now. I had simple thick one-piece terry soft blade covers, as they were called then (not sure when "soakers" came into vogue). I never poked holes through them. Eventually I would need to replace them when the elastic gave out, and they wouldn't stay put any more; one pair would last in excess of 5 yrs. Like many simple (non-hi-tech) things, they don't make 'em like they used to.

I've now been using the A&R Tuff Terry's cited in Post #2. Many pro-shops in my area carry them, and the Amazon reviews are mostly good. I thought they were solid terry reinforced with plastic strips along the inside and outside edges. But they aren't solid terry, as I was disappointed to discover after I bought them. They actually have a thin terry outside cover filled with some sort of fiber padding, batting, or stuffing (whatever you want to call it). The plastic strip on the outside is full length, wrapping around both ends; but the plastic strip on the inside runs along the bottom only, leaving the ends unreinforced. So what happens is that the picks and the heel of the blade can easily poke through the thin terry on the inside (any where on the inside, but especially at the ends), exposing the stuffing, which then starts to fall out.

To be fair, though, I skate 5 times/wk. And 2 pairs have lasted me for about 4 yrs; time to get new ones soon. That comes out to 1 pair/2 yrs; not too bad these days, I guess. [These days I alternate pairs (I didn't in the past): At the rink, I dry off my skates, and put on a first pair. At home, I remove the first pair, dry off my skates again, and put on a second pair, which I then take to the rink for the next session.]

OP: You didn't mention how often you've been replacing your daughter's soakers.

It lasted long enough for you. My daughter skates 6 days/wk. Each soaker only lasted about 4 month. Well, she probably can still use it when it had small holes but I just changed it whenever there's a hole. Towel too. It had hole/cuts quickly. I guess one reason is that she couldn't dry her skates well. She did wipe skates with towel first, then put on soaker. But generally when she got home, I often found the skates are still sort of wet, and then wiped it carefully again. Yes, maybe I should try 2 soakers in turn and some better soakers.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
It lasted long enough for you. My daughter skates 6 days/wk. Each soaker only lasted about 4 month. Well, she probably can still use it when it had small holes but I just changed it whenever there's a hole. Towel too. It had hole/cuts quickly. I guess one reason is that she couldn't dry her skates well. She did wipe skates with towel first, then put on soaker. But generally when she got home, I often found the skates are still sort of wet, and then wiped it carefully again. Yes, maybe I should try 2 soakers in turn and some better soakers.

I've trained that much and more over my career and never went through that many soakers. And I used to have the cheap ones that there was only one brand 20 or more years ago.

It's something she's doing that's causing this issue. My recommendation is to buy the padded or reinforced tough ones. Any towel works, my mother used to give me old tea towels she wouldn't use in the kitchen anymore and I would wash them and use for my skates.

Make sure she completely dries the bottom of her boots (soles), blades, and doesn't store them overnight or long periods in her bag or in a trunk or something.
 

tstop4me

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 2, 2015
Country
United-States
It lasted long enough for you. My daughter skates 6 days/wk. Each soaker only lasted about 4 month. Well, she probably can still use it when it had small holes but I just changed it whenever there's a hole. Towel too. It had hole/cuts quickly. I guess one reason is that she couldn't dry her skates well. She did wipe skates with towel first, then put on soaker. But generally when she got home, I often found the skates are still sort of wet, and then wiped it carefully again. Yes, maybe I should try 2 soakers in turn and some better soakers.
You should observe how your daughter uses her soakers and towels. I suspect she's snagging them against the picks and tugging. For drying, I use inexpensive general purpose microfiber wipes (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BGCI8K/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I've used the same two wipes for 4+ yrs now. And, as the kids on the old Sunbeam bread commercials used to say, "Look, Mom. No holes!"
 

FigureSkater2625

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 27, 2020
Country
United-States
I have two, the purple CRS cross soakers and the Chloe Noel giraffe soakers, the giraffe soakers were bought on an impulse it was when I first had my skates and got off the ice and didn’t have soakers. They have lasted me a year now, and the only signs of wear and tear they have are just a few strings of the padded interior that my toe pick has caught on occasion, but the band hasn’t snapped and they still work effectively. I got the purple CRS cross soakers last year and they’ve worked out really well, in my opinion it feels like they get my blades up to room temperature faster than my giraffe ones. The only wear and tear on those are just a small hole which isn’t really a hole because the soaker hasn’t been punctured through exactly, just a bit of the white cotton or whatever they use shows.

As for towels, I got a terricloth from Chloe Noel and it works pretty well, the CRS cross towel is a little thin I think, but now I just use a washcloth. I don’t really think you need anything super fancy when it comes to those.
 

spinningdancer

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 27, 2020
Is it possible you are using ones that are too short/small? Some brands come in different sizes (small, medium, large) for different length blades. If the soaker is being stretched too far over the blade, I could see how that might make it develop a hole pretty quickly. I use A&R ones from Amazon that are about $10, and they last me a long time. Never even got a hole in any of them. I buy size large for my 9.75 inch blades.
 

FigureSkater2625

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 27, 2020
Country
United-States
Is it possible you are using ones that are too short/small? Some brands come in different sizes (small, medium, large) for different length blades. If the soaker is being stretched too far over the blade, I could see how that might make it develop a hole pretty quickly. I use A&R ones from Amazon that are about $10, and they last me a long time. Never even got a hole in any of them. I buy size large for my 9.75 inch blades.

I tried using the A&R ones but within a couple of months the band on one soaker snapped. [emoji23] I have the CRS Cross soakers as a large since my skate is a size seven but it could be something like what you mentioned.
 

Flying Feijoa

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 22, 2019
Country
New-Zealand
I've got the thickly padded Chloe Noel animal ones (a bit incongruous given my outward personality :biggrin: but it was a birthday present). They're a bit longer than the thinner basic soakers I had previously, and seem more resistant to getting holes (blades only started poking through at the ends after more than a year, versus a few months).

I find darning the corners helps to extend the lifetime. It only takes a few minutes with thick thread and a suitable needle.
 
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