Customizing skateboards is more than simply changing the wheels, trucks, or other parts. You can add aesthetic accessories like stickers or paint your decks with various colors.
What’s good about it is you have all the styling options and combinations that show your personality. But you have to remember that applying these designs on your skateboard also has restrictions.
Say you came across an Amazon post of a hundred sticker packs. The first question you’ll probably ask is, “where to put stickers on a skateboard?”. Ideally, these artworks stick either on the stepping surface or the bottom side of the deck. Keep reading as I share everything you need to know about skateboard stickers.
Table of Contents
What’s the Best Location for Skateboard Stickers
The best place to put stickers for skateboards is on your deck. Let’s specify below which parts of the deck.
- Bottom side
Skateboard’s bottom side is otherwise known as the graphic side. This place is where the logo usually sits with other heat-transferred designs. Here, you can put cool skateboard stickers almost anywhere you want.
If there’s one place you can’t utilize your stickers, it’ll be on the trucks and wheels. Applying skate stickers to these locations may bear performance-related issues. Also, you don’t want to struggle to clean the adhesive remains of these designs after deciding to pull them out.
- On the stepping surface
Riding a skateboard with stickers under your feet is visually soothing. In addition to your scenic routes, you get to enjoy your customized skateboard with the designs of your choice.
But like in the previous location, applying stickers on the top of a skateboard also has restrictions. In this case, you can’t put stickers on top of the deck if you plan to use solid-colored grip tape. You can’t either put stickers over the grip tape.
So, the best solution to this is to use transparent grip tapes. But take note that the stickers should go under clear grip tape. So, you’ll still have 100% grit coverage on the skateboard deck.
Besides, stickers installed after the grip tape don’t last long compared to when you stick them on smooth surfaces.
How to Put Stickers on Skateboard
Now that you know the best locations to install your stickers, it’s time to learn the best practices for putting stickers on skateboard. Take note of these steps.
- Step 1: Clean the bottom side of your skateboard from any dust and dirt build-up. You can use a damp cloth or any cleaning agent to ensure the deck is squeaky clean.
- Step 2: Plot the sticker on your desired location but don’t peel its non-adhesive side yet.
- Step 3: After finalizing the sticker’s location, start to remove the non-adhesive side of the sticker from the corner.
- Step 4: Place the bare part of the sticker on the deck based on your planned location.
- Step 5: Use a card or any similar object as you sweep the sticker while pulling its non-adhesive side. That way, you’ll eliminate air bubbles during the process.
- Step 6: Use a razor blade to cut any part of the sticker exceeding the edges of the deck.
These steps apply whether you’re installing stickers on the bottom side of the deck or its stepping surface. But as mentioned, you can’t put stickers with the grip tape already seated on the deck.
So, the best way to apply stickers on the stepping surface of the deck is by installing them before the grip tape. And to ensure it’s not a waste of money, use transparent grip tapes.
How Many Stickers Should I Put on a Skateboard
Applying skateboard decals is mostly creativity and partly technique. Some sellers offer 1000 skateboard stickers in one pack, others have half of it, and some brands also come with less than a hundred.
There are no quantity limitations when applying skateboard stickers. Like others on Reddit, you can have your skateboard covered in stickers or only a handful of them.
But regardless of how many stickers you want to install, you have to consider the restrictions on the application process. That way, the skateboard still performs as expected.
How to Remove Skateboard Stickers
The material of skateboard car stickers doesn’t last that long, especially when the stickers sit below the nose of the deck, where sliding occurs often. Similarly, there can be a time when we’d finally get rid of these designs and decide to take them off.
With that, let’s get into these steps to removing skateboard stickers.
- Prepare cleaning agents, such as alcohol or acetone, whichever is available. Also, secure a damp cloth to wet the sticker’s residues.
- Begin by pulling the body of the stickers from the skateboard deck.
- Wipe the damp cloth over the sticker’s residues.
- Wet a paper towel with alcohol and place it over the stickers’ locations for around 5 minutes. This process will soften the adhesive properties of the stickers.
- Scrape the softened sticker residues gradually until they’re off. Make sure you don’t scratch the skin of the deck.
Conclusion
Besides flawless tricks, one more thing that satisfies skateboarders is a good-looking skateboard. It can happen through new parts, shiny wheels, or aesthetic applications like stickers.
And now that you know where to put stickers on a skateboard, you can finally achieve your dream deck look. Always remember you can only put it on the deck, not on the wheels and trucks, and never after the grip tape.
Ready to get new stickers for your board? Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments section.
Hi, I am Charles Harris. I opened this site to write as much as I can about my biggest passion – skateboarding!
I started as a clumsy yet passionate rookie 10 years ago to now a still passionate yet much better skateboarder! But I have to tell you, the whole journey has always been fun and rewarding, indeed not without hardship.