Ice skate accessories

Two types of blade guards

Every pair of skates needs two types of guards. Hard ones, rubber or plastic, go on for the walk from the changing room to the ice. Soft fabric ones are for storage: after skating you wipe the blades dry and only then put them on.

Don’t leave hard guards on the blades in your bag. They trap moisture and the steel starts to rust, and rust on the edge means another sharpening.

Laces

Waxed laces keep their tension once tied and don’t loosen while you skate. Regular laces are easier to tighten and undo, but slacken faster. Choose the length by the number of eyelets in the boot — the easiest way is to measure your old laces.

When sharpening helps rather than accessories

If the skate slides sideways or doesn’t grip on a curve, the cause is a dull edge. Then you need skate sharpening, for recreational skating on average every 10 hours on the ice. We cover choosing the skates themselves in the guide how to choose ice skates.