Curling Equipment Maintenance and Tips

Follow these curling equipment maintenance and tips to get the most out of your curling equipment.

The information below will help to provide the most performance and longevity out of your BalancePlus products.

• New shoes will break in faster when worn at room temperature.
• Cover your slider with an anti-slider (slip-on gripper) when not on the ice to avoid damage to the slider. Keep your gripper and anti-slider clean by washing regularly with soap and water. This will improve traction and keep dirt off the ice. Wipe excess dirt from the exterior of the shoes with a damp cloth. Polish. Avoid storing your shoes in extreme cold temperatures prior to games (i.e. the trunk of your car)
• Gripper toe wear is not a manufacturer’s defect. Avoid unnecessary gripper wear with proper hack foot placement. Grippers and anti-sliders are like tires: they wear out and must be maintained, and repaired or replaced when they become worn or damaged.
• Keep anti-sliders away from natural crepe rubber grippers as a deterioration of the crepe rubber will occur.
• Curling shoes receive a lot of abuse from stopping and kicking rocks. Some curlers also rub their shoes together while sweeping. Check your habits to avoid unexpected wear.
• The trailing shoe is subjected to abuse while dragging over the pebble during the delivery. Should you notice wear in a particular area, take the necessary precautions to reduce damage. Have all problems corrected promptly. The toe of the trailing shoe is designed to change shape. This design will increase the life of the shoe and increase surface area contact. Applying low friction materials such as toe coating to the toe will decrease drag, providing a faster trailing shoe speed.
• Let your shoes dry fully at room temperature (remove them from your equipment bag). Remove the insoles from your shoes between games to aid removal of perspiration. Additionally, cedar shoe-trees are recommended if your feet perspire excessively.
• The wear on the black dye on the leather welt of Delux shoes is natural and not a defect. It can be touched up with an indelible black marker or shoe polish.

• Most of us have one foot that is larger than the other, so fit your shoes to your larger foot.
• Your heel should fit comfortably in the shoe with a minimum amount of slipping (ie. the shoes should not ride up and down on your heel when you walk).
• Make sure the ball of your foot fits comfortably into the widest part of the shoe.
• Don’t buy shoes that feel too tight and expect them to stretch to fit. The leather on BalancePlus shoes will stretch slightly to conform to your foot.
• If you’re between sizes a thicker or thinner footbed (insole) may help to achieve the perfect fit.
• Be sure to wear the socks that you will use for curling when trying on shoes.