How To Make Your Roller Skates Feel Fresh On A Budget

We all know that feeling when you’ve had the same set of skates for a long time and they’re looking a little tired and just not giving you the spark of inspiration or motivation to lace them up and have a roll. The thought runs through your mind, “Should I just get new skates?!”

You could get new skates, or you could try some more budget-friendly tricks to give those tired skates a new lease on life. We have some tips on how you can make your skates feel fresh and (almost) new. Give them a go!

 

A bunch of roller skate wheels, bearings and tools on a purple background

 

A LITTLE SKATE CARE GOES A LONG WAY
Give those sad skates a little TLC with a good maintenance session. We’re talking a deep clean! Pull your skate set up apart as much as possible and give everything a good going over:

  • Clean your bearings. If you’re not sure how check out this blog.
  • Give your wheels a scrub.
  • Remove any built-up dust and grease from your trucks.
  • Clean off your plate.
  • Get any gunk out of your toe stop thread and housing. Make sure to lube them up before putting them back in.
  • Clean your boots! You can use suede or leather cleaners to try and budge stubborn stains or you could get creative with a dye job or paint a cool design on your boots.

Take this opportunity to give all your skate parts a once over with your eyes to make sure everything is still in good working order:

  • Truck axles are not bent.
  • Pivot cups don’t have holes or tears.
  • Cushions aren’t cracked or pancaked.
  • Cushion caps aren’t bent or broken.
  • Threads on your truck axle, kingpin and toe stop housing are all in good condition.

Don’t have the whole kit and kaboodle for skate maintenance? That’s all good, we’ve got all the skate care and maintenance goods you need over here. You can’t go wrong with the Better Bearings Essential Service Kit, the Bones Cleaning Unit helps with getting those bearings sparkling and make sure you’ve got the right kind of tool for your skates. If you’re doing your deep skate clean and notice some bits are looking a little funky (not the good kind) some replacement parts or upgrades could be in order. If you’re not sure what you need shoot us a message with info on what roller skates you have and we’ll point you in the right direction.

 

roll-line beginner indoor wheel the Fox.

 

TIME TO UPGRADE
One of the reasons you might not be loving your skates is that you feel like they’re a little sluggish or holding you back from progressing in some way. Upgrading some of your skate parts could be a solution to help bring back that spark. Anytime our skaters want to make upgrades to their set up our go-to suggestions are:

  • New bearings – you don’t need to get the most expensive ones, you just need them to roll!
  • New cushions – either going softer or harder or for a different shape to suit your skate desires. You can read all about cushions here.
  • New wheels – choose some new wheels, softer or harder, that can solve your wheel problems.

Want some more info on these simple ways you can improve your roller skates, check out this other blog that flowed from our fingertips.

 

Derby Laces Spark roller skate laces in 5 colours.

 

ACCESSORISE, ACCESSORISE, ACCESSORISE

Nothing gives your skates that new-ish feeling like a little makeover. Try changing up your aesthetics with a new colour palette or theme. It’s the skate equivalent of a new haircut, getting your nails done or a new tattoo.

The level of accessorising one goes to is 100% personal preference and style. But just remember accessorising your skate life doesn’t have to be expensive, there’s something out there to spruce your skates for every budget. Here are some ideas to get you going:

  • Under $10 – add some lace charms, give your helmet some love with new stickers.
  • Under $25 – get new laces, add some lace locks, fresh toe plugs, try some pom poms, or make yourself excited with new socks (the perfect skating socks are SO important).
  • Under $50 – get some new toe stops, add some protection with toe guards or toe caps, and support your skate shop or other skate creatives by purchasing some of their merch.

You can shop all the roller skate accessories you could possibly want here at the RollerFit Shop!

Now that you’ve got some inspiration on ways you can get those sad skates looking and feeling (almost) new, get cracking so you can get rolling. We’d love to see what you do to breathe some new life into your skates, send us an email or get in our DMs with some before and afters. As always, if you have any skate questions or want some product advice, get in touch, our staff are always keen to lend a hand.

Back to Blogs