How to Clean Grip Tape

You clean grip tape in five steps, working from dry to damp so water only goes where it's needed. Grip gum and a soft wire brush do most of the work:

1. Knock off the loose dirt. Tap the board on its side and sweep the grip with a dry brush to clear grit and dried mud.
2. Rub grip gum over the whole sheet. Work back and forth over small sections, the way you'd use an eraser.
3. Brush out stubborn patches. Use a soft brass or steel wire brush in small circles, without pressing hard.
4. Add a little water only if you need it. Dip the brush, blot the excess on a rag, then work the patch again.
5. Dry it, then finish with the gum. If you used water, dry the grip and deck completely with a hairdryer. Then give the sheet a final rub with grip gum to lift the loosened dirt.

These steps follow grip maker Jessup's own guide. It was written for clear grip, but Jessup says natural rubber is "excellent for cleaning any type of grip tape", and it rates a soft wire brush above a toothbrush, which it calls too weak for ground-in dirt. Several other guides use a firm toothbrush instead, so try that if you don't have a wire brush.

Grip gum is a block of natural rubber, also called crêpe rubber, that lifts dirt out of grip tape as you rub it over the grit like an eraser. It's the first thing to reach for on a dirty sheet, because it works dry and doesn't wear the grit down.

You'll also see it sold as griptape cleaner. A few skate brands rebadge the sanding belt cleaners sold in hardware shops, as Concrete Waves points out.

Grip gum works best on dust, light dirt and chewing gum. For caked-on mud, use the damp-brush steps above first, then finish with the gum.

We stock the MOB Grip Cleaner, made to lift mud stains and wet spots, and Pepper Grip Gum. You'll find both in our skateboard tools range.

To clean grip tape without grip gum, use a rubber cement pickup eraser instead. It's the same crêpe rubber under a different name. You'll find rubber cement pickups in art supply and DIY shops. If you have no rubber at all, a soft wire brush and a little water will still do the job.

For the rubber-free method, do steps 3 and 4 above, dry the board, then wipe the grip over with a clean, dry rag to lift what the brush loosened. Use a rag rather than paper towel, which can break up and leave bits stuck in the grit.

A little water won't mess up grip tape if you dry it straight away, but use as little as you can. Grip maker Jessup says to "try to not get it wet", warning that water "can lessen its lifespan", and some guides say never to use water on a board at all.

The reason is the wood underneath. Many grip tapes are perforated to stop air bubbles, so liquid can soak through to the deck, and a maple deck that soaks up water can swell and lose its pop. That's why step 4 uses a dampened brush, blotted on a rag, rather than a wet one.

If your grip tape gets wet in the rain, dry it with a hairdryer as soon as you can rather than leaving it to drip. Wait until it's fully dry before you clean it, too, because wet grip tape is hard to get clean.

You clean grip tape without ruining it by keeping the pressure light, keeping chemicals off it and taking care around the bolts and edges. The grit is what gives your shoes their hold, so anything that strips or loosens it costs you grip. Avoid these three things:

Concrete Waves explains the mechanism: grip tape is an adhesive sheet with small crystal grains, and too much scrubbing makes them fall off. As it puts it, "Don't go overboard cleaning your grip tape."

Grip tape is too worn to clean once the grit itself has worn smooth, or when your feet still slide after a proper clean. Until then you can clean grip tape back to life, but no amount of grip gum will bring worn grit back. That's the point to regrip.

If you're buying a new deck from our skateboard decks range, you can pick a free MOB or Jessup 9" sheet on the product page, and ask us to apply it for you. Gripped decks can't be returned, so choose your sheet first. Keeping your deck? Fresh sheets are in our skateboard grip tape range.

Doing a full service while the board's upside down? Our guide on how to clean skateboard bearings covers the next job.

How often should you clean grip tape?
There's no fixed schedule. A quick dry rub with grip gum whenever the sheet looks dull or your shoes start slipping keeps dirt from building up, and it needs no water or drying time.

Do you need to take the trucks off to clean grip tape?
No, you can clean grip tape with the trucks still on. Some skaters take them off first, but it isn't necessary.