Tips for Skateboard Bearings Maintenance and Cleaning
Wandering the road riding a skateboard sounds fun. But not until your skateboard wheels start throwing tantrums to run smoothly. It will turn into a nightmare if your skateboard stops moving along the street, carrying you.
The bearing of a skateboard is the base of its strolling system. Skateboards run best when the bearings are free of muds and specks of dirt. To keep them dirt-free, you need to regularly clean and maintain the skateboard bearing.
This article is all about the handy tricks and tips that you can follow to keep your skateboard clean and add some more time to its lifespan with proper maintenance.
Tips for Cleaning and Maintaining Skateboard Bearing
If you ask how you can keep your skateboard bearing at its best performance? We’d say lubricating the bearings is the best way. lubricant for skateboard bearings has shown significant change in the performance in skating. Here are some of the top suggested maintenance and cleaning tips by professionals:
Using lubricants on bearings
Lubricating your skateboard bearings can boost up the speed magically. This process increases the performance of a skateboard’s wheels. Oil and Grease are vastly known as lubricants on any type of wheel.
Oil works fine as a lubricant and boosts the speed of the wheel. And as for Grease, it works more like a protector for the bearings rather than lubricating.
We suggest you go for Lubricants that are only made for skateboard bearings so that you can have both benefits from just one source.
Cleaning Skateboard Bearings
Skateboard cleaning is not very hard, nor does it need many ingredients. Professional skaters follow two methods to clean dirt from the bearing. These two methods only require essential elements like soap, washing clothes, clean water, a brush, etc. Here are the two processes you can follow in cleaning your skateboard bearings.
- With Soap Waters
The first method is to use lukewarm water and any kind of soap. We suggest you use liquid soaps as they will dissolve in water easily.
The bearing of skateboards is detachable. So to clean them, first, you need to remove them part by part. Now mix lukewarm water with liquid soap and soak the bearing parts into the mixed water in boul for a certain amount of time.
After quite a while, now use a brush to clean the dirt still stuck in the bearing part. After cleaning the bearing parts, rinse the dirt and soap water with clean water.
Keep them in a clean cloth to dry them out. And when the bearing parts are wholly dried out, you can attach them back to your skateboard.
- With Citrus Cleaner
The Cleaning process of bearing using a citrus cleaner is the same as with soap water. The only difference is, you need to replace the soap with Citrus cleaner.
Any citrus cleaner contains citric acid or extract of lemon or orange to rinse off the dirt.
And a well-known citrus cleaner ensures the complete safety of the bearing with 0 damage as it doesn’t contain any harsh chemicals.
Changing Bearings
If you have been using your skateboard for quite a few years, consider changing the bearings. Good quality bearings can deliver performance up to its lasting time. But depending on it for long years won’t be a good idea.
You will also find many updated versions of skating bearings that can help you increase the skateboard’s performance level and do flashy skate moves you couldn’t do earlier. So you can also consider changing the bearings.
Maintaining Skateboard Trucks
The skateboard trucks hold the wheels and attach them to the board. The trucks of your board will decide the speed of turning the skateboard. If you cannot maintain the trucks properly, the performance can reduce to a lower point.
- Tightening the Kingpin
The kingpin connects the truck with the board by hanging on it. If the kingpin loses, then not only will the performance hamper, you can also face a fatal accident on the road. Check and tighten the kingpin every time you clean your bearings.
- Replacing the Kingpin
As a kingpin bears the maximum weight, it can damage more quickly than the other components. If you see any damage in the kingpin, replace it immediately. While replacing it, don’t try to remove it forcefully. It can result in more damage both to the board and the truck.
Replacing and Maintaining Grip Tape
Grip tape is the top cover of the skateboard. Grip gums are the ingredient that can help you quickly clean the grip tape after your skating trips. If you can’t get your hand on any grip tape, just use water and a soft brush to clean the dirt from the top of the boards.
Another way of cleaning the grip tape is using a hairdryer to melt the wax layer. After melting the wax layer, use a towel to remove it from the top.
The replacement time of grip tapes is 1-4 times per year. The time varies if you regularly overuse the board for 7-8 hours.
When to clean Skateboard Bearing?
Apart from cleaning regularly, here are some signs when you should immediately wash your skateboard bearings:
- If you hear any squeaky noise from the wheels while riding the skateboard.
- If your skateboard requires more effort to move forward or slows down in a short time.
- If one of the wheels is not spinning correctly.
- If sounds from the wheel seem like there’s sand or mud stuck.
When you face any signs, pull out your skateboard from the road and clean it immediately before any major damage occurs.
How frequently Should I Clean the Skateboard Bearings?
Routine cleaning your skateboard bearing depends entirely on you. That doesn’t mean you can overdo it and damage the bearings. As cleaning includes water, lubricating ingredients like oil or grease, we suggest cleaning the bearing every 15 to 20 days. And also to keep an eye on them to know if anything is causing the bearing to stop working.
Conclusion
Cleaning your skateboard’s bearing routinely will help you in extending its sustainability. This article is a proper guideline for all skating beginners.
Using lubricants on the bearing will help you to bring the best of your skateboard while performing. If your skateboard bearing is not speeding up how it used to, you should get your gear and start cleaning the board.
Store your skateboard away from warm temperatures and roam around the city to explore the unseen. If you’ve any suggestions or tips for us, then feel free to share them in the comment box. We’re looking forward to your comments.