Skating with Damaged Blades

Ice skate blades are precision tools. Their condition directly affects performance, safety, and enjoyment on the ice. Skating on damaged or rusty blades is more common than many skaters realize—and it can lead to poor control, faster fatigue, and increased risk of falls.

Can you skate with rusty or damaged blades? If the damage is slight, it's possible, but not advised. Read on to find out more about damage and how it impacts skating.

Skate blades are made from high-carbon steel, which is excellent for holding an edge but prone to rust. Rust is simply oxidization, but much like tooth decay, it builds on itself deep into the blade. Sharpened steel is very smooth, which doesn't allow water to adhere very easily - rust on the other hand forms small holes that can hold water even after wiping the blade down.

Common causes of rust include:

• Leaving skates wet after use
• Storing skates in damp bags or cars
• Not using blade soakers
• Touching blades with bare hands (skin oils and moisture accelerate corrosion)

Light surface rust can form in as little as a few hours if blades aren’t dried properly. Please see our Skate Maintenance guide for details on how to prevent rust.

Nicks and Gouges are effectively where the steel has been physically damaged by an impact against a hard surface of some sort. Common causes for nicks include:

• Walking on hard surfaces (including the plastic step between the side of an ice rink, and the ice itself)
• Treading on a hard object discarded on or off the ice; for example small stones that were lodged in the treat of outside shoes, and subsequently work their way out around the ice
• Blade clashes with yourself or another skater on the ice
• Failing to use guards when transporting your skates, causing blade clashes or impacts of the blade against other hard services - even if they're in a bag!

Very light surface rust is generally ok for a session, but it will very rapidly become difficult to skate.

The first impact is how much harder it is to skate. Skating involves a sharp, smooth edge cutting into ice. With rusty or nicked blades, the edges become more serrated, causing them to "saw" into the ice, and the edges and hollows will have a much higher friction against the ice.

What's more, a rusty edge will last next to no time before blunting - and with blunt skates you'll risk slipping/sliding off the edge during corners and spins - even on the straights.

Because you'll have reduced and inconsistent glide, grip and control, falls are much more likely.

The best course of action is to have the skates sharpened. This doesn't just give you an edge, but skate technicians using TheRinks Visualizer tool can effectively remove holes and damage left behind.

Do not:

• Try to skate rust out. This drives water into the holes and speeds rusting
• Use wire-wool or any other abrasive pad. You'll ruin your edges

Some people use a hand held edger tool; this will temporarily improve the edges, but do not fix the issue.

Toe picks can easily be blunted through:

• Walking on hard surfaces without hard guards to protect both edge and pick
• Clashes with walls or other hard surfaces

It is worth noting that toe picks are not sharpened with the blade, nor should they be! If you have blunted your toe pick, these can sometimes be refreshed, but rarely is the fix advisable.

Toe picks should only used for jumps, and therefore if the pick is damaged most skaters will not notice or be impacted for normal skating and spins.

Jumps however can be impacted with even minor amounts of blunting of the pick; when the pick is used to engage with the ice there will be less bite and power transfer.

The only recommended course of action is to bring your skates to an experienced skate technician, such as Rich@TheRink to assess.