Frequency at which to change boots and blades?

As the subject says... I've had my skates for a year and a half now, and the blades are causing problems right now (although they're sharp, I feel like I'm skidding all over the place), on jump landings (losing the edge), spins (not gripping at all), even 3-turns (!), so I was wondering, could it be because it's time to change my blades? My boots are still fine, but, since they're lower level skates, I'm thinking about changing both... is there any way to check if the rocker of the blade has been thinned out or something over time and or a bad sharpening?

Thanks!!

Kypma

yeah, if you have sombody good sharpening your skates he/she should be able to let you know when to get a new pair. Ask. Alos consult your coach. I did and she helped me a lot getting new blades. If your boot can hold up another year, i would say get new blades fitted on the old boots. If you feel like you will neer a higher level boot or just a newer boot within months you might as well swich both at the same time.

Thanks Tinymavy!!

I'm not sure whether I can have new blades put on my boots, because they're the lower-end ones with a plastic-like sole, so I'm not sure how well a new blade would screw in. I'm also not sure it's worth it to buy a new pair of my blades, since the skates are so cheap. Time will tell, but do you know how often skaters normally change their skates?

Kypma

Did you get a really bad sharpening? It seems like you haven't had your skates for too long, yet the blades are wearing down really badly. Perhaps you should just get new skates (blades and boots), especially if you were thinking of getting new boots anyways. Perhaps look into getting a new skate sharpener also.

High level free skaters change their boots at least once a year generally, but dancers keep them longer beacuse the more broken in they are the better the knee bend. I'm not sure about blades.
I've had my boots and blades for 2 1/2 years now and their fine. I have a friend whose had her boots and blades for almost 5. It really depends on how much you skate and how much you jump and the difficulty of the jumps. The blades tend to last longer than the boot. Make sure the person sharpening your skates speciallizes in figure skates or the blades will probably wear out faster and you'll get much better results with properly sharpend blades.
Check the bottom of your blades, there should be a sligtly lighter, less shiny strip of metal, if it's gon you probably need new blades.

I am on my first doubles and typically get about and year and a half from skates. I would defintitely consult your coach but also make sure that you have a good sharpener and skate dealer.
One thing that happened to my skates once was that they were sharpened for hockey skates. Make sure that this is not happening to you or you will have no outside edge!

Wow -- thanks for all the replies!!

Bruises: Yes, I had one bad sharpening at the beginning, when my parents weren't aware that figure skates require a special sharpening (different than for hockey skates). I remember having trouble with my salchow after that, but figured it was just me. Later when I had my blades sharpened by a proper figure skating shop, I was told my blades were really unenven, so maybe that's when the problem was caused and now it's just more obvious.

Silver.blades -- my blades have practically nothing of the shiny strip left on some sections of the blade, and on others it's still fairly present, though I'm told it's normal...

Skatergirl45 -- I learned not to have them sharpened the hockey way the hard way!!

Anyways, thanks to all of your for your answers, and I'm thinking I'm going to be buying new skates in a very short while... 3-turns have become troublesome!

Kypma

When I was learning I killed a pair of Ultima Mirage blades in less than nine months. My boots were fine, though-they were a decent pair. (Wore out in a year and a half. My new ones I expect to have much longer.) I would consider, though, if you have a pair of blades with the cheap soles, to just get a better pair entirely, especially if you're jumping!

Thanks Julietvalcouer... my dance coach will look at them tomorrow (he competed internationally as a junior, so I'm guessing he knows a thing or two about blades!), but I have a feeling I'll just need a new pairs of skates entirely. As it is, my current skates (Jackson Classique) are worth just a little more than a decent pair of blades, so I think I'll just change both

Kypma