Quick and Easy Surfboard Care Tips
It’s easy to damage your new surfboard in the water, and even easier to do so on your way out of the shop. This article will teach you how to properly care for your surfboard, avoid serious damage, and embrace ding repair to maintain the life of your precious board.
1. Grab a bag.
One of the easiest ways to care for your surfboard is to stick it in a board bag. Board socks are better than nothing, but a padded surfboard bag will protect your board from serious damage while stored in your garage, on the roof of your car, and even—if packed correctly—in precarious airlines cargo bins. However, not all bags are made equal, and specific bags are designed for specific purposes. If you think wrapping your custom surfboard in board shorts, beach towels, and other beach gear before stuffing it in a board sock will keep it safe on an international flight, think again. If you need help choosing out the right bag, check out our surfboard bag guide.
2. Protect your board from prolonged exposure to the elements.
While sun, heat, and saltwater make for a great time at the beach, they can also potentially damage your board. After a great session and a warm day, it’s pretty tempting to leave your board on the sand and lay out in the sun. But, extended exposure to direct sunlight is one of the quickest ways to delaminate your board and yellow the glass. Heat or any kind of extreme temperature change can cause the fiberglass and resin to separate from your board’s foam core, resulting in air bubbles that can worsen over time. To properly care for your board, store it in a bag immediately after exiting the water and store it in a temperate space sheltered from sun rays like a garage, shaded shed, or room in your home. If it’s a hot day and you plan to hang around the beach after your session, leave your board in a ventilated bag in your car with the windows cracked to ensure that your board doesn’t bake. For those of you with roof racks who strap your boards to the roof of your car, store your bagged board inside or under your car, or somewhere shaded until you’re ready to leave the beach.
Beyond sun protection, it’s crucial to rinse your board with fresh water after a session. Fiberglass is resilient but salt is corrosive and if left to cake and dry on your board, it will eventually degrade the glass and reach the foam core. Rinsing your board will prevent this from happening and is essential to proper surfboard care. Salt water can also eat away at your surfboard leash and surfboard fins so make sure to rinse your gear, too.
3. If you ding it, fix it—immediately.
As hard as you think you shred, it’s easier to ding your board out of the water than in it. That said, if you do ding your board while surfing, it’s crucial to have a surfboard repair kit on hand and fix your dings as soon as possible. Unless the waves are worth risking the life of your board, get out of the water as soon as you notice a ding. Even small chips and cracks in fiberglass and resin can take in water and cause serious damage and eventually rot your board’s foam core. This is especially important if you have a board with an EPS core and epoxy resin. Epoxy rapidly soaks up water and noticeably takes on water weight. Whether you fix it yourself with a ding repair kit or take it in for professional surfboard repair, it’s important to make sure your board is water-tight before taking it back out for another session.
4. Be mindful when storing and transporting your board.
Whether you’ve got a soft top beginner surfboard, a thick board or an ultra-light high performance shortboard, it’s important to treat your board like the fragile and expensive piece of equipment it is. When using roof racks, make sure to properly secure your board to avoid losing it on PCH, or worse, ending up on Kook of the Day. Once you arrive at the beach, avoid standing your board on its tail or leaning it up against your car—one gust of wind and you’ll be dealing with ding repair instead of a solid surf session. In addition to a surfboard bag, another easy way to care for your surfboard is to invest in a decent surfboard rack (or build one yourself). If you have the wall or floor space, it’s far safer to leave your board on a sturdy, padded rack than to lean it against a wall in your garage.
It’s easy to take care of your board by following these simple and easy precautions. By doing so, you’ll prolong the life of your boards allowing you to add to develop your quiver and save you money, instead of having to constantly replace broken surfboards. To recap, grab a board bag, avoid direct sunlight and extreme temperature change, consider sun protection when storing your board, fix your dings, rinse your board with fresh water, and be mindful.
Feel free to reach out with any questions, and follow Ridershack on IG for more tips, tricks, and updates!