Thermoflex-baking for all you cupcakes.

[bumpyride]

Saw this and I thought it was a pretty good explanation on how to.

About the only thing I would add is DON'T ROCK HEEL TO TOE when molding the liners. It will create a bump in your arch that will feel like a hot poker after an hour on the slopes. If you're not a crossdresser and don't have a pair of nylons to use for socks, use the thinnest socks you can find. Also if you use exceptionally thick board socks use a thinner sock for the molding session.

The following was cut and pasted

When molding thermo liners for backcountry skiing (or alpine skiing) use a nylon stocking instead of a sock. When doing so, mold with the usual toe cap (under the stocking), but add a small wad of duct tap to any toe areas that tend to need more room (cover with tape so the spacer doesn’t stick to the inside of the toe cap). Liners molded this way may feel slightly tight for a few days, but after a few days use they’ll usually pack out to perfection. If not, re-mold with a thin sock.

You can mold thermo liners at home, but doing so can be a real freak show the first time you try it. Best is to do it at a shop with expert help, then mold at home after you’ve seen how the pros do it.

Here are thermo boot liner baking instructions gleaned from my own experience and various sources on web:

Put the liners in a convection oven at 210º- 225º F for 12-13 minutes, or use regular oven with plank of wood on aluminum foil to keep radiant heat from scorching the liners. With nearly all ovens, use some sort of accurate oven thermometer to check temperature.

When the liners are “baked” they will look big and puffy.

If you have any sensitive areas on your foot that could result in rubbing/pressure problems, duct tape foam spacers on such areas to create extra room in the liner. Ditto for ends of toes that may not have enough room. If you use thick spacers, bevel the edges.

Put your footbeds on the bottom of your feet, and a toe cap over your toes. If you don’t have a toe cap, use tips from 2-pair of socks. Place a women’s stocking foot over everything to hold the parts together. Don’t wear any sort of sock, as the liners will pack out and compress quite a bit as you use them, and fitting them without a sock will eventually make them fit perfectly with a sock, usually after just a few days of use.

The toe cap should cover your toes and come down to the ball of your foot.

Prepare backcountry skiing boot shells by making sure buckles are easily worked and power strap is out of the way. Switch randonnee boots to walk mode. Sprinkle some talc powder in shells to ease entry of puffy baked liner. Make sure there is nothing inside the boot that will catch the liner and tear it, or keep it from going in smoothly. If such things exist, cover with some duct tape or something so the liner can go in easily. Many randonnee boots have a vertical tongue of plastic in inside the shell in the rear, take care this doesn’t get folded down while you’re molding.

Following must be done quickly:

Take the liner out of the oven and wrap it around your foot, making sure the overlap is done correctly. Have an assistant shift the liner around so that the seam on the bottom of the liner sole goes exactly down the center of your foot. Having help from an assistant is important.

Stand in the liner and pull up on the cuff to make sure your foot is all the way in. Then put your foot (with the liner) into the shell. This method prevents wrinkles from forming in the liner due to compression, and it also prevents the footbed from getting warped. When placing foot in shell, have your assistant hold the shell open and help the liner slide in.

To further make sure that your foot is all the way in the liner, have your assistant hold down the shell of the liner, and lift your heel and the liner up about 2 inches. Then while pulling up on the liner, push the liner back down into the shell with your foot. Do this procedure twice, but don’t over-stretch the liner by pulling it up too much towards your knee. Too much stretching and pulling will result in the liner being too thin and high.

Tighten the buckles half-tight, so that the liner just molds to your foot. Do not tighten the buckles any further while the liner cools.

Hit your heel on the floor several times, and flex a few times, to get your foot into the heel pocket of the boot. Do the process with the other foot. Then wait 10 minutes while standing with your toes up on a book or some kind of spacer that’s an inch or two high, so your heels are low. Stay in the boots until the liner cools completely.

To fine tune, you can re-heat parts of the liner with a heat gun to puff it out a bit, or compress on a boot press at a boot fitter if it’s too tight in spot areas.

You can re-bake liners a number of times, but each time they will puff slightly less.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 26th, 2005 at 8:23 pm and is filed under Boot Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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[Michelle]

Hmmmm seems to almost mimic the explanation we have on our web site, minus the photos.

http://www.bomberonline.com/store/boots/sizing_boots.pdf