Advice: Baking Bauers Vapor 2.7 at home?

PatagonianSkater

Registered User
Jan 7, 2020
3
0
Hi everyone! I'm back to skating after A LOT of years. I bought myself some Bauer Vapor 2.7 in Sweden (I'm from Patagonia Argentina).

I have two rinks in the small town I live, but no hockey shop. Thing is, in Sweden they offered to bake them; but after doing an awful service on sharpening (I had them sharpened twice, they mauled my blades and couldn't do a hollow either), I had them reserviced in Frankfurt with no problems.

Skates feel comfortable enough without baking them (and I've only used them twice), but I do notice that the skate in itself seems to really need baking (mostly for tying the upper eyelets).

HERE'S MY BIG QUESTION: (and I could really appreciate advice from people who's had or knows someone with the same exact model).

I've watched several videos on how to bake at home. But the thing is, the boot having many cosmetic details on shiny plastified black 'leather' and the parts that are 'chrome' coloured. Am I gonna mess those up?

I would bake them on a towel or a tea towel, so they don't come in contact with any metal part of the oven, but my fear is that, softening the boot in order to be moulded, these cosmetic parts become damaged or changed in any way.

Mostly because since I live 15000kms away from any hockey store, I have to take a 13 hour flight to Germany or Sweden to buy my skates. Imagine I would like these skates to last as much as possible, and also to stay as pretty as they are already!

Thanks for any input!
 

Anomie2029

Registered User
Oct 10, 2013
3,860
4,023
Melbourne, Australia
You can, but if you aren't confident - you probably shouldn't.

Baking itself realistically just reduces the break in time (it doesn't eliminate it), so it's not a necessary thing to do.
 

PatagonianSkater

Registered User
Jan 7, 2020
3
0
You can, but if you aren't confident - you probably shouldn't.

Baking itself realistically just reduces the break in time (it doesn't eliminate it), so it's not a necessary thing to do.

Thanks! I thought the same, but the very hard shell of the boot kinda looks like it's not gonna mould to my very skinny foot unless I force it a little bit.

Like, the uppermost part of the boot is still too "open" and not wrapping my foot. The size is the correct one though.

It's not like I'm not confident, it's just that beforehand, I would like to hear experiences of people baking the same model and not causing any damage to the boot, but thanks anyway for the info!
 

Anomie2029

Registered User
Oct 10, 2013
3,860
4,023
Melbourne, Australia
Thanks! I thought the same, but the very hard shell of the boot kinda looks like it's not gonna mould to my very skinny foot unless I force it a little bit.

Like, the uppermost part of the boot is still too "open" and not wrapping my foot. The size is the correct one though.

It's not like I'm not confident, it's just that beforehand, I would like to hear experiences of people baking the same model and not causing any damage to the boot, but thanks anyway for the info!

As long as the temperature is correct, and the boot isn't in there for too long, it will be fine.
 

shoeshine boy

Registered User
Aug 14, 2008
756
123
there's nothing special about the skate ovens in hockey shops. they're ovens that just don't have very high max temps.
in the end, no, you don't HAVE to bake them but they will fit your feet a million times better if you do bake them.
 
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Filthy Dangles

Registered User*
Oct 23, 2014
28,356
39,703
How to Bake a Hockey Skate | Ice Warehouse

Preheat oven to 175 farenheit
Place skates on a baking sheet (to avoid direct contact and overheating with oven surfaces)
Bake for 2-3 minutes > take them out after a couple minutes make sure the quarter package/boot feels nice and pliable/malleable
Don't overbake (5-ish minutes max)
Take skates out and put them on, leave on your feet for 10-15 minutes. I usually walk around a bit after too, make sure you put skateguards on the blades.
 

jayarebee

Registered User
Oct 17, 2012
20
6
Union County, NJ
Sounds similar to my scenario. Just purchased a similar pair (maybe the same), I feel the same as you with tying the upper part.. More so on my left foot which is a little larger (longer/wider) than my right foot.

What everyone said above is absolutely accurate. I had mine baked once at the shop I purchased them at. I think I am going to bring them back this weekend and have him do them again. Like mentioned, it's nice to put them on after taking them out of the oven and walk around in them a bit.. when I had mine done I was walking around the store a bit (figured I should) but the employee told me no need for that and to just sit down, so I probably walked around for 5 minutes and sat down for about 10.

I've heard people literally dunking their skates into hot water, whether their bath tub or whatever.. I absolutely feel very worried completely dunking them under water.... even for a few seconds and I believe one video I saw they said close to 3-5 minutes.. No thanks, I would use my oven before that. But I do know guys that dunk their skates into their swimming pools to kill the odor/bacteria, as my one friend dunks his once a year when they shock his pool with all the chlorine or whatever... he says it helps keep them "odorless" and softens them up a bit. Sorry but I am not brave enough for that.... I don't think I'll be dumping any pairs of skates into my bath tub or pool heh.

Good luck, I am hoping just to get my Left skate better "broken in" as it's annoying and painful whenever I tighten it up.. doesn't even have to be too much. I thought they were too tight at the bottom, but like you said when you get to the upper rings/loops that's where the pain starts.. my right foot feels perfectly fine, it's just my Left foot right now :(
 

Anomie2029

Registered User
Oct 10, 2013
3,860
4,023
Melbourne, Australia
Sounds similar to my scenario. Just purchased a similar pair (maybe the same), I feel the same as you with tying the upper part.. More so on my left foot which is a little larger (longer/wider) than my right foot.

What everyone said above is absolutely accurate. I had mine baked once at the shop I purchased them at. I think I am going to bring them back this weekend and have him do them again. Like mentioned, it's nice to put them on after taking them out of the oven and walk around in them a bit.. when I had mine done I was walking around the store a bit (figured I should) but the employee told me no need for that and to just sit down, so I probably walked around for 5 minutes and sat down for about 10.

I've heard people literally dunking their skates into hot water, whether their bath tub or whatever.. I absolutely feel very worried completely dunking them under water.... even for a few seconds and I believe one video I saw they said close to 3-5 minutes.. No thanks, I would use my oven before that. But I do know guys that dunk their skates into their swimming pools to kill the odor/bacteria, as my one friend dunks his once a year when they shock his pool with all the chlorine or whatever... he says it helps keep them "odorless" and softens them up a bit. Sorry but I am not brave enough for that.... I don't think I'll be dumping any pairs of skates into my bath tub or pool heh.

Good luck, I am hoping just to get my Left skate better "broken in" as it's annoying and painful whenever I tighten it up.. doesn't even have to be too much. I thought they were too tight at the bottom, but like you said when you get to the upper rings/loops that's where the pain starts.. my right foot feels perfectly fine, it's just my Left foot right now :(

As far as I'm aware you should walk around on them after baking until they have cooled as it places pressure on the eyelets and could damage them.
 

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