Cleaning skins?

[cbcbd]

Playing around near evergreens and skinning after heavy winds/rains... the sticky side of my skins looks like a pine tree salad. Not a big deal, but eh.

Anyone have any tips on cleaning the junk off of it? I lead a fast paced playboy lifestyle and don't have the time to pick off the needles.

Perhaps a grooming monkey?

[footlong]

Get yourself a porcupine and let him have at it...


munch,munch,munch....oh, you wanted to use those skins again? Just think what great traction you'll get on the steeps with a porcupine stuck under you feet! LOL

[L&AirC]

cbcbd,
I ihad to clean my skins and followed the directions that came with the glue. Put strips from a heavy brown paper bag over the part you want to clean and iron with the iron on medium heat. The glue and the pine needles will transfer to the paper bag. I had to repeat it a few times and then reglue but it did work.
It isn't terrible fast but I couldn't find any monkeys.
Ken

[NtrentT]

How was the performance of the new glue? I'm about to do it, because my glue is totally shot.

[L&AirC]

NtrentT,
The glue I got was the gold label something or another from Black Diamond. I have Black Diamond Ascension STS. I guess the glue worked great but I literally have nothing to compare it to. It was my first time skinning and trimming my skins. I was trying to do too many things at once and let the non-shiny side of the white paper of the skins touch the glue side of the skins. So the glue was shot before I even used them! At least on half the skin.
After cleaning and reglueing, I skinned up Sunapee two Sundays ago and Friday (18th) I skinned up Tux. Neither time did the skins come off. Both times I had a 40/45lbs pack too. Both days were warm.

Ken

[NtrentT]

I have the same skins.

WOW That totally sucks about your glue story.

Gold Lable is what I was looking at. Did it take more than one can?

[L&AirC]

I hardly used any at all. One, I was only redoing the damaged part - 1/2 of one skin. I put it on heavy then ironed it in. I just followed the directions that came with it. I think one can would last a long time.

Ken

[NtrentT]

You think one can will be enough for both skins? I want to remove all the glue and re-apply.

[PWDR8S]

I heard using skins and/or skin glue can be substituted for doing Brazilian bikini wax jobs. :eek: :p

[Teledancer]

Under no circumstances allow your wife/sig other catch you using
the best cloths iron:mad: or her ironing board or.....................
the dining room table :badwords::doh:
Re-gluing really isn't as challenging as it seems once you get the knack
of it .......... I've had Gold cans go bad from lack of use.....
brush the stuff on in 3 thin coats allowing time for the stuff to set up between coats then touch up a couple of times during the "season"

if the spruce droppings arn't to thick on the skin I'll coat over them till I can do a proper re-glue
BOL

[skiyak777]

Went through the regluing process today (hung my skins on the shower rod to dry and the cat got a little too close and would up dragging one around the house) and here's my take:

1) Remove the fabric strip down the center of the skin.

2) Skip the paper bag/iron method of getting the old glue off, which made a big sticky mess. Get a heat gun ($30, well worth it) and a 4 inch paint scraper. Warm the glue and scrape it off in multiple passes until you just have nylon remaining.

3) Apply glue (Gold Label from Black Diamond) using a 1 inch brush. The little brush that comes with the can is useless. If you have the paper that came with the skins when they were new or something equivalent it will save you a lot of effort. Brush the glue on thick (1 can will cover 1 pair of skins) and let it dry overnight. It will stink up your house and it says on the can that it contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, so open the windows.

4) After the glue drys, apply the release paper (you didn't throw that away when you first got your skins, did you? Next time save it...) shiny side to the glue. Using your ski iron set on 135 F (clean the wax off) go back and forth over the release paper until the glue and fabric are warm. Apply enough pressure to smooth out any irregularities in the glue. Let the skins/paper cool for about 10 minutes and peel off the paper. For me, the glue looks smooth and shiny and is well bonded to the fabric, pretty much just like it did when I first got the skins. It would be nice if I had another fabric strip to put in the center of the skins to make them easier to get off the skis- maybe next time.

[PWDR8S]

Poor cat! http://www.techsourceconsultants.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10020/lauging_smiley.gif It probably thought you hung up cat paper instead of fly paper! :D You might have to bring the kitty to a cat shrink now. :p

Pretty good method for skin care. Especially important about NOT using the clothe iron for this! :eek: :rolleyes: Every guy should have a workbench for projects like this... even if it's a temp bench set up on top of the kitchen table... meaning a separate plywood piece just a little longer and wider than your skis/board that can be clamped to the table and you can clamp your plank on top and/or work on skins. That was the workbench setup I used when I used to live in an apartment. The GF then was cool with it and the table was fine but I had to remove it at mealtimes. :rolleyes: Got into a heap o trouble about the iron(wasn't the 1st one I ruined either! :p )

[NtrentT]

no one likes a sticky kitty.... (too funny)

[skiyak777]

Well, due to some longish treks over mud and bushes this weekend in between patches of snow, my glue has expired again. Anyone used the new Gold Label glue in the tube from Black Diamond? Is it the same as the stuff that used to come in the can? I'd rather spend $15 on a tube of glue than $40 on the iron on sheets which aren't wide enough for my skins anyway.

Went through the regluing process today (hung my skins on the shower rod to dry and the cat got a little too close and would up dragging one around the house) and here's my take:

1) Remove the fabric strip down the center of the skin.

2) Skip the paper bag/iron method of getting the old glue off, which made a big sticky mess. Get a heat gun ($30, well worth it) and a 4 inch paint scraper. Warm the glue and scrape it off in multiple passes until you just have nylon remaining.

3) Apply glue (Gold Label from Black Diamond) using a 1 inch brush. The little brush that comes with the can is useless. If you have the paper that came with the skins when they were new or something equivalent it will save you a lot of effort. Brush the glue on thick (1 can will cover 1 pair of skins) and let it dry overnight. It will stink up your house and it says on the can that it contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, so open the windows.

4) After the glue drys, apply the release paper (you didn't throw that away when you first got your skins, did you? Next time save it...) shiny side to the glue. Using your ski iron set on 135 F (clean the wax off) go back and forth over the release paper until the glue and fabric are warm. Apply enough pressure to smooth out any irregularities in the glue. Let the skins/paper cool for about 10 minutes and peel off the paper. For me, the glue looks smooth and shiny and is well bonded to the fabric, pretty much just like it did when I first got the skins. It would be nice if I had another fabric strip to put in the center of the skins to make them easier to get off the skis- maybe next time.

[wooley12]

I've done a few re glues, none with the sheets, the last one with the tube. Worked out fine. Only thing I do differently fro the above "how to" is I squeezed the glue sparingly directly on to the skin and spread it thinly with an old credit card. Let dry overnight and repeat for a 2nd thin coat. 1 tube did a pair iof 110 x 195 skins.

[Dan9]

this thread is a winner.

On the fabric side of the skin, I alternate between hot waxing (lightly! - using the crayon method followed by the iron) and brushing the skin hair with the grain with a stiff nylon brush, every couple tours or so. Found in wet snow using fluoro warm wax gets more glide out of nylon skins (big fat BD Tractor skins for splitboard). After ascending dirty resort snow in the spring, some citrus base cleaner applied, and wiped off with rags, prior to hot waxing gets most of that greasy filth off.

[FWEST]

I use a heat gun, clean off with a plastic scraper and then apply directly from the tube and spread with the same scraper, like wooley. They come out as good as new, maybe even better.