Rice Molding Instructions A La Intuition

[1000-oaks]

I wouldn't drop $150 on a quality variable temp heat gun just for one pair of liners, but if you already need one for home, auto repairs or work it makes sense to spend the extra $75 compared to a standard dual heat setting gun. Pretty handy to have one around.

[klikboom]

I have a heat gun i've used a couple times, but it is the $25 one that is a POS, was looking for a better one for other duties as well.

[chaka]

I plan to try the rice method... give me some specific examples of socks/tubes used? Can I raid my wife's pantyhose drawer or would those melt?

[Kim Jong-un]

I plan to try the rice method... give me some specific examples of socks/tubes used? Can I raid my wife's pantyhose drawer or would those melt?

The rice can get real hot --so I would not use a synthetic like nylon. I 've used a baseball sanitary sock I had laying around. Long, thin, 100% cotton and you can buy a pair at your local sports store for 2.99. Thicker socks don't work well as they are hard to stuff down to the toe.

[wanghoeby]

I plan to try the rice method... give me some specific examples of socks/tubes used? Can I raid my wife's pantyhose drawer or would those melt?

Nylon's melting temperature is plenty high enough for this application. What do you think the soft lining of the liner is made of? I used some misc. nylon dress socks I had that were about the thickness of tights. If one decides to use pantyhose, I would suggest double or triple bagging it. Not because of the temperature, but because 3-4 lbs is a fair amount of weight, and 3-4 lbs of rice on your floor is not fun to clean up.

[Kim Jong-un]

Nylon's melting temperature is plenty high enough for this application. What do you think the soft lining of the liner is made of?

Fyi, I've played around with this both ways and found one thin cotton sock easier to work with.

Maybe your microwave has a more precise temperature control for this, but I found nylon hose also has some spandex in it which melts at a much lower temp, and when it gets sticky/tacky will make putting the sock in the liner much harder. Synthetics are also hotter to handle w/o gloves than cotton.

At the end of the day for home molding, I find the "heat the liner in the convection oven method" to 225F with a well calibrated thermometer consistently works better than the rice method.

[Jamez]

I was thinking a bit about this air and rice method...

What about stuffing a plastic or other waterproof bag into the liner and put the liner into the boot. Then you simply fill boiling water into the plastic bag...
It should fill up perfectly and transfer heat very efficiently. And water has brilliant heat capacity. Easy to remove when you're done...
Should work fine and be very consistant?

[liv2ski]

^^^^use a heavy duty trash bag and it may work well. Try it and let is know.

[randosteve]

I was thinking a bit about this air and rice method...

What about stuffing a plastic or other waterproof bag into the liner and put the liner into the boot. Then you simply fill boiling water into the plastic bag...
It should fill up perfectly and transfer heat very efficiently. And water has brilliant heat capacity. Easy to remove when you're done...
Should work fine and be very consistant?

don't see why this shouldn't work. the only thing i can think of is that this rice has a better heat capacity? OR...if the pressure of the water would push the liner open? easily removable strategic applications of duct-tape on the liner may help?

this actually sound like a really great idea IMO...no?

[Wild4umlauts]

If I had to guess I would say that the challenge with the water method would be in finding a bag that can handle the heat while also being flexible enough to really get down into ALL of the liner. The advantage of the rice would be the flexibility of the sock along with the ease of the rice to adapt to any shape.

Of course I think everyone should just stick to the tried and true oven method, but that's just me I guess.

[Jamez]

Water has heat capacity way better than rice!
And pressure from the water should be less than from fiddling with the rice-sock!

And for finding a bag. wikipedia on polyethylene plastic: "For common commercial grades of medium- and high-density polyethylene the melting point is typically in the range 120 to 130 °C (248 to 266 °F). The melting point for average, commercial, low-density polyethylene is typically 105 to 115 °C (221 to 239 °F)."
Although it wont melt, it may soften from the heat, so I would want to check that the bag can hold the weight of enough boiling water first!

I find it weird that nobody have done this before...

[Wild4umlauts]

^^^^ You just struck on the problem I was alluding to. If the bag needs to be thick enough to not burst due to the heat and weight of the water then it's going to have a tough time really filling the entire liner cavity uniformly.

Personally I'd rather not deal with boiling temp water now soaking the liner due to a burst bag.

The oven method is so easy if you're even slightly competent. Intuition came up with the rice method to cover their ass when "follow the instructions challenged" individuals would fuck up their liners in an oven.

[gonzo_lives]

1 really good thing about the rice method is that you can reheat the ankle/calf area and leave a nicely fitting foot shape as it is

[Kim Jong-un]

The oven method is so easy if you're even slightly competent. Intuition came up with the rice method to cover their ass when "follow the instructions challenged" individuals would fuck up their liners in an oven.

100%.

Boiling water, and rice? Use it to make dinner.

[Meadow Skipper]

I was thinking a bit about this air and rice method...

What about stuffing a plastic or other waterproof bag into the liner and put the liner into the boot. Then you simply fill boiling water into the plastic bag...
It should fill up perfectly and transfer heat very efficiently. And water has brilliant heat capacity. Easy to remove when you're done...
Should work fine and be very consistant?

Whoa, I was having this exact same thought a few days ago. Wish I had a reason right now to try it out, but I will next time I have a need.

[XXX-er]

I was thinking a bit about this air and rice method...

What about stuffing a plastic or other waterproof bag into the liner and put the liner into the boot. Then you simply fill boiling water into the plastic bag...
It should fill up perfectly and transfer heat very efficiently. And water has brilliant heat capacity. Easy to remove when you're done...
Should work fine and be very consistant?

I heard of somebody using hot water either here or on ttips with no problems, the big thing would be having a very tough plastic bag, I don't see why it wouldn't work as well as rice or the hot air method

not everyone has a convection oven, a regular or convection oven would be more likely to really fuck things up, isnt starting with the liner in the boot more likely to have a good out come for people who are not moulding liners every day ?

[Jamez]

Oven bags can take the heat without problem...
I dont know about the strength, but they are pretty thin, so using two wont insulate the water too much...

[weasel1]

A suggestion on footbeds... put them under the liner. This has several advantages. First, when oven-baking, it's easier to get your foot in without things getting out of place. Second, it puts the footbed on the bootboard, which is solid, versus foam, which moves. Since most of us use footbeds to stabilize our feet in the boot, a footbed that rocks around on foam isn't ideal. Third, its REALLY comfortable, especially when it's cold. Puts your foot in contact with the foam all around the foot. This is easiest if you are using a foot bed like ALINEs or Superfeet Trim-to-fits, which you can leave untrimmed to fill the entire bottom of the boot. A final advantage, if the forefoot section of the footbed takes up too much volume in the boot, you can cut it and the liner will mold around it such that you won't feel the ledge as much.

[Meadow Skipper]

A suggestion on footbeds... put them under the liner. This has several advantages. First, when oven-baking, it's easier to get your foot in without things getting out of place. Second, it puts the footbed on the bootboard, which is solid, versus foam, which moves. Since most of us use footbeds to stabilize our feet in the boot, a footbed that rocks around on foam isn't ideal. Third, its REALLY comfortable, especially when it's cold. Puts your foot in contact with the foam all around the foot. This is easiest if you are using a foot bed like ALINEs or Superfeet Trim-to-fits, which you can leave untrimmed to fill the entire bottom of the boot. A final advantage, if the forefoot section of the footbed takes up too much volume in the boot, you can cut it and the liner will mold around it such that you won't feel the ledge as much.

I wonder why professional bootfitters never do it this way.

[Jamez]

I just tried the watermethod on my brand new boots...
Used a large normal clear plastic bag. The bags are deforming by the heat, but have no problem supporting the water inside the boot. Poured in boiling water and let it sit there for 10minutes. And of course, I just poured the water out when done, so the bag wont brake.

My conclusion: great method

[userA]

after reading enough intuition advice to really overload me, i decided to bake em in the oven.
this was a great success that pleased my feet.
bobbyf

[Mailman]

I have a pair of Powerwraps showing up in a day or so and plan to give the rice method a go. I'm going to be continuing to use my Instaprint CustomForm footbeds with these.

My plan right now is to heat the liners in the boots using the rice method, remove the rice, position the footbed in the liner and then insert my foot with toe cap in a thin sock.

It seems like a lot of people put the footbed taped to their foot inside the sock. Is there a reason this would work any better or worse than inserting the footbed into the liner after heating? I have some range of motion issues with one of my ankles, and may find it a little harder to get into the boot with the footbed attached to my foot. Given that it's already in there whenever I wear the boots, I figure it's OK to mold it that way too, but maybe I'm missing something.

Also, re Instaprint CustomForm footbeds, they're thermo moldable. I doubt that putting them into the liner after heating is going to warm them up enough to change the current shape, but I can't find anything on the web that gives me an indication one way or the other. Does anyone know for sure, or at least make a more educated guess than I can?

Thanks

[userA]

rice wont do as fulfilling a job of molding the liner to the nuances of the shell liner interface imo. works well enough to reform the inside, not so on the outside.
jmo
bf

[jegyed]

I have a scarpa closeout liner, looked up how to cook them here and checked the Scarpa website so 245 degrees for 12 minutes. They came out nice and soft, got them into the shell, when I finished I had a nice crease at the boot overlap. Just above where the boot curves above the 2nd buckle and below the 3rd.

These are Technica PHX 100's. I have large calves so the boot spread seems to barely close when buckled. Any tricks to get it smoother in this area or is this a problem that is caused by the wrap design. They feel OK so will it be worth the trouble to fix them?

[OldSchool1080s]

Picked up some Krypton Pros with Intuitions... believe they have been baked once for the previous owner.... putting some relentless pressure on my ankles and toes.

Any chance there is a local SLC mag that could show me the ropes of a home bake? Full strength sixer for any taker...