Incidentally, I'm still using rental skates even though I've been skating since May and am doing waltz jumps and half-flips now (Free Skate 1).
My local rink does keep their rental skates in fairly good (not-stinky) condition, although my wife still doesn't allow me to put the socks I use for skating with the rest of the laundry -- instead I have to wash them separately by hand.
But one time when I went to another rink which was in a mall, the smell was so bad that my wife said to just throw the socks away. Also, I subsequently developed itchy red welts on both my shins (where the tops of the skates were) for a week afterward. Needless to say, I haven't gone back.
so much better than some of the music we've heard this season.....
