You want the grip tape on your skateboard to be at its best. Trust me on this.
If you’ve had your deck for a while and your grip tape is starting to look a bit grubby, it’s more than just looking bad. It will affect how you skate, so it’s a good idea to give it a quick clean.
Why should I clean my grip tape?
Dirty grip tape can look really gross. You can get all sorts of muck on there and while some of it is harmless, you definitely don’t want too much of it. Cleaning your grip tape every now and then will keep your board looking fresh. While a worn board that’s well used looks cool, a board coated in mud and grime doesn’t.
It can cover up your cool grip tape!
If you’ve put time, effort (and probably money) into getting some nice grip tape, you don’t want it covered up. White and transparent sections of grip tape in particular will look really bad after a while as it gets dirty.
It can make your board slippery.
This is the last thing that you want. Grip tape is supposed to keep you on your board, not hold on to mud that will make you slip off. Giving your grip tape a regular scrub-down will make sure that you can skate at your best every time. Not only will it be easier to skate faster and do tricks, but you don’t want to be the guy who keeps slipping off his board because it’s coated in mud.
It can make your grip tape wear out faster.
Grip tape can be a bit of a pain to replace, so you want to do it as infrequently as you can. Making sure that you clean your grip tape (and do it properly) will mean that it will last longer and cost you less in the long run. Not only does new grip tape cost money, but so does a new deck if you muck up getting the old grip tape off.
How do I clean my grip tape?
So how do you actually clean your grip tape? It’s not difficult, but it’s important that you get it right.
Get a scrubbing brush.
You want a simple scrubbing brush. A $2 one from the supermarket will do nicely. Don’t overthink this and get a fancy wire brush like you would use to clean a barbecue though, these things will wear out your grip tape fast.
If you’ve got a really grotty board, it might be worth trying to scrape some of the mud off it first before you get it wet. Getting the caked-on stuff off first can avoid a lot of pain and mess later.
Use a little water, but not too much.
Get a little clean water on the top of you deck and scrub in circular motions. Circles means that you get all of those crevices from different angles and will be a lot more effective.
You want just enough water to loosen the dirt, and then a little more to rinse it off. I would have to highly recommend against hosing your board down or dunking it in a bucket because you can ruin your board if you get it too wet.
Don’t use anything else.
Don’t use dish soap. Don’t use vinegar or anything else that someone recommends to you. You really don’t want to make your board slipperier that when it had the mud on it, and you also don’t want to dissolve the adhesive that’s keeping your grip tape on your deck. Water will be plenty to get off your standard mud, it might just take some time.
What if it doesn’t all come off?
This is a skateboard. They get abused, and their job is to get under your dirty feet. You’re never going to get it clean enough to eat off.
What you really want is something that you can use without significant risk of slipping and hurting yourself (or that looks like an artefact that’s been buried for hundreds of years) so you need to accept that a little dirt is going to stick.
If you want to try and get a little more off, it’s worth letting your board dry completely and giving it another go with the dry scrubbing brush to get the last loose bits of dirt off.
Wait, shouldn’t I keep my board from getting wet?
You should really try to keep your board dry if you can, but this is a time when it is definitely worth it. Just make sure that you don’t submerge your board in water and use as little as you can to get the job done. Once your board is as clean as it’s going to get, set it out in the sun or somewhere it will dry quickly to further reduce the risk of any damage.
When do I need to replace my grip tape?
You may need to replace your grip tape if you just can’t get it clean. Simple mud shouldn’t do this, but if you’ve got oil (such as motor oil or from food) on your deck it’s going to be very difficult to get off.
Replacing your grip tape is something that you can do yourself, or you can go to your local skate shop and they will be more than happy to do it for you.
Happy skating!