Rice Molding Instructions A La Intuition

[telepariah]

Oh, shit!!!

Line 'em up is what I should have said.

[XtrPickels]

I did the rice molding for the first time last night. Previously I've had the shop mold my liners once and done 3-4 pairs in the home oven myself.

I figured the rice method would be worth trying because I was moving liners between models of boot and just needed a little remold in the toebox and heel. Additionally, I was going into stiff overlap alpine boots that are a pain to put on. With no helper or stretcher, I figured the rice would be easiest.

Followed the OP's instructions. The first boot came out perfect. The second, I'm not sure the rice made it all the way to the very end of the toe box, which is still tight.

I would not mold boots with this method again. It was very difficult to tell if the rice had made it down to the toes or not. I swear I banged and poked and prodded and was pretty sure, but the toes on the second boot feel no different from pre-molding. I know the rice was in contact with the heel pocket and instep areas, which were fine. The toes and cuffs didn't mold. This was fine because it was just a remold.

Bottom line, if you aren't comfortable doing the oven method yourself, bring them to someone else. Don't use the rice method, there's a good chance your liners will be half molded.

[Shorty_J]

^^^ I agree. I tried rice molding some power-wrap plugs with this method for the same reasons you listed (didn't want a crease in the liner trying to put it back in the boot after baking). I feel like the toe box is still pretty tight, and I also didn't get much expansion of the liner with the amount of heat applied with the rice method.

I'm just going to ski them as is, I think... at least they shouldn't pack out much.

[fat yeti]

http://www.levelninesports.com/videos.php?video_id=87 Video instruction compliments of levelnine.

[haydukelives]

i have an never-baked intuition which is fine except i want it tighter around the heel/achilles area to keep the heel down.

would that be easy to do with the rice method?

[gisforgaper]

Okay, why not use a heat resistant plastic bag or even a thin pillow case to line the boot to start then pour the hot rice into the boot until it's full?

Come to think of it, saran wrap doesn't melt until 260ºF. Just line the interior as a prep step, then pour in the rice and yank the rice and saran wrap liner out when the heat has been transfered. That would solve the filling eveness issue.

Maybe I'll try this tomorrow with an old shoe, as I only have one set of boots...

[XtrPickels]

I was actually thinking of just pouring the rice into the liner and then dumping it out after it was heated.

Maybe I'll try a remold of the toe box that way.

[dk_alaskan]

Bottom line, if you aren't comfortable doing the oven method yourself, bring them to someone else. Don't use the rice method, there's a good chance your liners will be half molded.

So would this make you half baked?

[haydukelives]

I was actually thinking of just pouring the rice into the liner and then dumping it out after it was heated.

Maybe I'll try a remold of the toe box that way.

you will never get all the rice out before your foot goes in

[L7]

Tried it today. Need more heat really. Also put the whole liner with rice inside in the microwave. Put a heater in the shell while waiting for the liners. Think I'll try it with much less rice to make it easier to get into toe box since I'm not that worried about the rest of the liner. I think it has good potential though. Heat the shell too so the liner is getting heat from inside and out.

The issue is I need more room around the toes especially on one foot. They were damn tight and now are still quite tight there. My toe caps were ghetto style including toilet paper wrapped around toes and old sock I cut the toes out of. Next time, paper towel and more of it with more heat.

Did some ice skates too and that worked pretty well.

[Roxtar]

Tried it today. Need more heat really. Also put the whole liner with rice inside in the microwave. Put a heater in the shell while waiting for the liners. Think I'll try it with much less rice to make it easier to get into toe box since I'm not that worried about the rest of the liner. I think it has good potential though. Heat the shell too so the liner is getting heat from inside and out.

The issue is I need more room around the toes especially on one foot. They were damn tight and now are still quite tight there. My toe caps were ghetto style including toilet paper wrapped around toes and old sock I cut the toes out of. Next time, paper towel and more of it with more heat.

Did some ice skates too and that worked pretty well.

You say you microwaved the liners?
I'd be very worried about that due to how inconsistent microwave heating is, especially with expanding foam.
I'm picturing luke-warm rice with a huge bulge of boiling foam spewing out from the middle of the liner.

[L7]

You say you microwaved the liners?
I'd be very worried about that due to how inconsistent microwave heating is, especially with expanding foam.
I'm picturing luke-warm rice with a huge bulge of boiling foam spewing out from the middle of the liner.

The microwave technique was recommended by zipfit for awhile which has more varied materials in it than this liner. Of course maybe something like what you're describing happened and put the method out of favour. I just gave it a minute or so at the end to actually even out the heating. My biggest concern was metal but that was minimal.

[flip]

The oven method works, and works well, and can even be done solo, by hand, on a double-wrap boot, If you use the plastic-bag-and-silicon-spray technique and are prepared to swear a lot, sweat a lot, and really crank your boot open by hand. It just gives a much better fit than even the blowers and a preformed liner.

Recruit a friend if you need to, but skip the short cuts. Just not worth it. After dropping $500+ on boots and $150+ on liners, do you really want to not get the best fit because you were too lazy to get a friend to help or too cheap to pay a shop <$50?

[Crampedon]

"Open a beer and keep it near at hand, close to the oven"

see step #12...how can you make one beer last 15-20 minutes?

dUH!

40 oz. and you sip it!

[L7]

Did it again last night and this time heated the shit out of the bags of rice. Problem is I was using two socks at once for a full 2lbs of rice. Lots of radiation needed. It is a little tough getting the toe area full, mostly because the rice is so damn hot to the touch. My garmont liners kind of open at the middle though so that makes it easier. I used a heat gun around the toes a bit to make sure.

For all you guys who say they don't have a heat gun once again they were on sale for all of $10 in the last couple of weeks at Canadian Tire. Don't go home without one. I'm sure you yanks have some equivalent cheap crap place to get one.

Still could have used better toe caps but bottom line is the toes have enough room and they'll continue to pack as they're worn. Might have to stretch the shell in the toes a bit yet but they're functional.

Rice bags..... the new black.

[Wild4umlauts]

I still say the new rice method is a CYA maneuver on the part of Intuition and the heat stack method is a CYA deal from Dalbello. They came up with this crap to compensate for crappy boot techs that were lacking the skills and experience to do this right using the oven.

There are even warnings now in the paperwork that come with the Full Tilts to not exceed 180 degrees F or use an oven or you'll damage the multi-laminate construction of their Intuition liner. I say hogwash, but I haven't molded them yet.

I also just got a set of the Dalbello Gold IDs for my son and will be molding those too. Anyone feel like chiming in on whether or not using the full-on oven method for these "new" design Intuition liners is idiocy on my part?

[jhkvt]

I was worried about the end of the hot rice tube (which I ghetto-made out of panty hose) not getting all the way down to the toe. So I made a mini one that ended up about the size of a baseball and heated that with the big long tube. Dropped the small one in, let it tumble down to the toe, then slipped the big one in after it. Still not 100% sure it made it or not, but seemed like a reasonable bet. That being said, I still think the fit is not as good as it should be so am going do-over with the beer by the counter oven method.

[Roxtar]

One method I've kicked around that someone might want to try.
You'll need at least one person to help:

Heat the rice in something that can be poured, like an iced tea pitcher.
Slide the empty sock into the liner, making sure it gets all the way to the toe.
Have someone hold the boot/sock at an angle and pour the hot rice into the sock, making sure to keep knocking everything into place as you pour; expanding the sock to fill the liner.

You'd probably want to heat the rice a little more to make up for heat loss as you pour it in but it should fill all the voids in the liner evenly this way.
This method would also allow you to fill the liner all the way to the top for more complete heating.

[L7]

I thought about that but wondered if the separation of the little grains and exposure to the air might cause them to cool too much. I wonder at what point rice 'pops' like corn. TGR may come up with a new fat friendly treat.

[yo eddy]

I pulled the liner out of the boot, heated the tube o' rice, put it in the liner before it all went back in the shell. This way you can pinch the toe box to see if the rice made it all the way down. Seemed to work out all right.

[Wild4umlauts]

I pulled the liner out of the boot, heated the tube o' rice, put it in the liner before it all went back in the shell. This way you can pinch the toe box to see if the rice made it all the way down. Seemed to work out all right.

Seems like a damn good idea to me - not sure if I'll ever bother to try it that way though (maybe if I "de-lam" the Intuition ID or Full Tilt liners using the oven method ).

[YoEddy]

I saw this ^^^ and thought perhaps I killed too many brain cells during the holidays and posted while blacked-out.

Then I realized there is another .... yo eddy?

Awkward ...

[Shorty_J]

After being unhappy with the fit of my power-wrap plugs, I took them to a local boot-fitter and paid $30 to have them heated in the proper convection oven.

Don't be cheap, do this. It's only $30 and works WAAAAAY better than the rice method.

[Roxtar]

After being unhappy with the fit of my power-wrap plugs, I took them to a local boot-fitter and paid $30 to have them heated in the proper convection oven.

Don't be cheap, do this. It's only $30 and works WAAAAAY better than the rice method.

Good on ya for your location.
Here in Chicago, Viking Ski Shop wanted $75 for some way-too-much-attitude-for-the-midwest douchebag to cook them.
I did it in my own convection oven at home for free.
Came out perfect.

[skiing-in-jackson]

I charge $60.00 if you didn't get the boot from me.

This is a primo mold with excellent results. It is not difficult to do, just lots of little steps that ensure a great mold the first time.